My fellow citizens:

Today, we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.

This ceremony is held in the depth of winter. But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring.

A spring reborn in the world's oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America.

When our founders boldly declared America's independence to the world and our purpose to the Almighty, they knew America, to endure, would have to change.

Not change for change's sake, but change to preserve America's ideals--life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless.

Each generation must define what it means to be an American.

On behalf of our nation, I salute my predecessor for his half century of service to America, and I thank the millions of men and women whose steadfastness and sacrifice triumphed over Depression, fascism, and Communism.

Today, a generation raised in the shadows of the Cold War assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by the sunshine of freedom but threatened still by ancient hatreds and new plagues.

Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy still the world's strongest, but weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality, and deep division among our people.

When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slowly across the land on horse-back and across the oceans by boat. Now the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world.

Communications and commerce are global; investment is mobile; technology is almost magical; and ambition for a better life is universal. We earn our livelihood in peaceful competition with people all across the earth.

Profound and powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world, and the urgent question of our age is whether we can make change our friend and not our enemy.

This new world has already enriched the lives of millions of Americans who are able to compete and win in it. But when most people are working harder for less; when others cannot work at all; when the cost of health care devastates millions and threatens to bankrupt many of our enterprises, great and small; when fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom; and when millions of poor children cannot even imagine the life we are calling them to lead--we have not made change our friend.

We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps. But we have not done so. Instead, we have drifted, and that drifting has eroded our resources, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence.

Though our challenges are fearsome, so are ourstrengths. Americans have ever been a restless,questioning hopeful people. We must bring to ourtask today the vision and will of those who camebefore us.