Bush Vows to End 'Tyranny in Our World'
Jan 20, 1:14 PM (ET)
By DEB RIECHMANN
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush sought in his second inaugural speech to define his new term as a fight for freedom in every nation with the "ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." At home, he urged a divided nation to find the unity it had felt after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Looking ahead to history's judgment, Bush asked two questions in his speech Thursday from the Capitol steps: "Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?"
Bush, the 43rd president and the 16th to be elected to a second term, spoke briefly about his new term's domestic goals, including overhauling Social Security. But his 21-minute address to the nation - and the world - focused on freedom, a word he uttered 27 times.
"There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment and expose the pretensions of tyrants and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom," the 58-year-old president said.
His father, former President George H.W. Bush, looked on.
More work is needed, the president said, to both protect America from future attacks and to advance its ideals in other parts of the world - a mission he said was the "calling of our time."
"It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world," he said.
Later he added: "We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: the moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right."
Seeking to soften an image sometimes seen as aggressive around the world, Bush said America does not want to impose "our own style of government on the unwilling." And while he led the nation into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq during his first term, he said that spreading freedom is not "primarily the task of arms."
"Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way," he said.
He never mentioned Iraq or Afghanistan in his speech, which was interrupted more than two dozen times by applause. But he spoke of the more than 1,360 U.S. troops who have died in Iraq, saying the nation honored the sacrifice of those who have "shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives."
War and the deaths of American troops have led to divisions at home as well as abroad, and Bush recognized the splits.
"We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes and I will strive in good faith to heal them," he said, adding that he did not believe the separations defined the nation.
He recalled the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when Americans from all walks of life and political ideologies united and "our response came like a single hand over a single heart."
Bush also talked about extending freedom at home by building what he has dubbed an "ownership society" where people, not government, have more control and say over their own lives. That's the philosophy driving Bush's desire to let workers put more of their Social Security earnings in private retirement accounts, a second-term goal that has powerful opponents on Capitol Hill.
"We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance, preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society," Bush said. "By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear and make our society more prosperous and just and equal."
In his second inaugural message, a speech distilled from 22 drafts, Bush spoke first to the world and then to his fellow citizens.
Though he didn't mention Iraq, the war that dominated his first term and caused friction with other nations, he sought to reassure U.S. allies that America did not want to stand alone.
"All the allies of the United States can know: We honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel and we depend on your help," said Bush. "Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies."
To Americans at home, Bush pledged to continue his push for education changes, urged young people to serve their country to add to its character and said the fabric of the nation was made up of many races and cultures.
"Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth," he said. "And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time." |
