President Obama’s 2013 Inaugural Speech

By Cinterra Lucas

President Barack Obama gave his final inaugural speech on January 21, 2013, symbolically the same day as Dr. Martin Luther King Day. During the speech President Obama made some key points on what the United States needs to do to make sure we understand what makes us Americans. President Obama said “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights...”

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” is often repeated throughout this speech because he wants each citizen to understand that we all have the same rights. No one is superior or inferior to the next individual.

President Obama honored individuals who came before us, and paved the way for us to be where we are today. President Obama wants citizens to understand that our job is never done.There is always an opportunity for the United States as a nation to do better.

“The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob,” President Obama said. “They gave us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.” This is a very powerful statement, because those who came before us meant for us to keep these United States a safe place. We must make it our business to do just that.

Throughout the inaugural speech the word “together” was repeated. President Obama put emphasis on this idea of togetherness because he wants citizens of America to know that everything that the United States encounters involves them as well.  Following the repetitive words of together are “we determine”, “we discover”, and “we resolved”; this shows that not only will President Obama accomplish things and overcome incidents but we as a nation will.

This last message given by President Obama stood out for me the most. 

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law - for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” he said. This statement shows that Obama stands for equality. No matter what an individual’s sexual preference is, we are all created equal. If anyone thinks otherwise then they know that we are all Americans and we want the same goal, which is for America to succeed as a nation.