My Fellow Citizens ...

Browse the inaugural address President Clinton isn't giving Jan. 20. Find out who wrote it.

My fellow citizens:

Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless.

And so today a chapter begins, a small and stately story of unity, diversity, and generosity - shared, and written, together.

We will not rest until every American enjoys the fullness of freedom, dignity, and opportunity.

Let us learn together and laugh together and work together and pray together, confident that in the end we will triumph together in the right.

This means black and white together, as one nation, not two.

In a land rich in harvest, children just must not go hungry.

Whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.

Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America.

The old imperialism - exploitation for foreign profits - has no place in our plans.

Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty.

The animosities of elections should have no place in our government, for government must concern itself alone with the common weal.

I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people.

I had rather submit our industrial controversies to the conference table in advance than to a settlement table after conflict and suffering.

Sanitary laws, pure food laws, and laws determining conditions of labor which individuals are powerless to determine for themselves are intimate parts of the very business of justice and legal efficiency.

We should have an Army sufficiently large and so constituted as to form a nucleus out of which a suitable force can quickly grow.

We wish peace, but we wish the peace of justice, the peace of righteousness.

Our diplomacy should seek nothing more and accept nothing less than is due us.

Our relations with the Indians located within our border impose upon us responsibilities we cannot escape.

It is very gratifying to observe the general interest now being manifested in the reform of our election laws.

The danger which arises from ignorance in the voter cannot be denied.

Universal suffrage should rest upon universal education.

I would deal with nations as equitable law requires individuals to deal with each other.

Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people?

The squandering of the public money sinks into comparative insignificance as a temptation to corruption when compared with the squandering of the public lands.

The advantages of trade and international intercourse must always present a noble field for the moral influence of a great people.

I shall make honesty, capacity, and fidelity indispensable prerequisites to the bestowal of office.

One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities.

The entire remedy is with the people.

I bring with me a settled purpose to maintain the institutions of my country, which I trust will atone for the errors I commit.

I shall keep steadily in view the limitations as well as the extent of the executive power.

A rigorous economy and accountability of public expenditures should guard against the aggravation and alleviate when possible the burden of taxation.

Our manufacturers will likewise require the systematic and fostering care of the government.

The present situation of the world is indeed without a parallel, and that of our own country full of difficulties.

Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things.

What other form of government, indeed, can so well deserve our esteem and love?

It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to the Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect....

Each paragraph is from an inaugural by a different president, starting with Clinton in '92 , going back in order to Washington (omitting five not inaugurated): Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman, F.D. Roosevelt, Hoover, Coolidge, Harding, Wilson, Taft, T. Roosevelt, McKinley, Cleveland, B. Harrison, Garfield, Hayes, Grant, Lincoln, Buchanan, Pierce, Taylor, Polk, W.H. Harrison, Van Buren, Jackson, J.Q.Adams, Monroe, Madison, Jefferson, Adams, Washington.

Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty.

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