Tiffany: Inaugural Speech

When listening to President Obama's Inaugural Speech I was deeply moved like most were, but there were parts of the speech that stood out to me more than others. The fact that he aknowledged and reminded Americans of the past and how far we have come along, was a very important part of his speech. Many times we complain about the things that we are still struggling with as a nation, but never celebrate on how far we have come. If we would even just take the time to compare ourselves to other nations and measure the amount of progression America has made, we would be astounded. From the work of our forefathers, African-American slaves, and immigrants from all over the world, the United States has grown to be the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world. Of course we have things that need to worked on, as with any country, but look at how far we have come in comparison to other country's; in such a short amount of time. Below I have extracted a portion of the speech that moved me greatly. Please take the time to read and reflect on it.


"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/20/obama.politics/index.html