Bush pledges unity in
inaugural speech
New president
sets Medicare and education reform as priorities
By Ken Fountain
Senior Staff Writer
George W. Bush became the 43rd president
of the United States Saturday in a ceremony that was particularly notable
after the most bitterly contested election in more than a century.
Bush succeeded Bill Clinton, the man who
defeated his father, former President George Herbert Walker Bush, in 1992.
Thus, Bush became only the second son of a former president to hold the
highest office in the land. The first was John Quincy Adams in 1824.
Bundled against the damp chill, dignitaries
from both major political parties, as well as thousands of spectators,
watched as Vice President Richard Cheney and then Bush took their oaths
of office at the steps of the Capitol.
In keeping with tradition, people of every
political stripe smiled broadly, including outgoing Vice President Al Gore,
who won the election's popular vote but lost the ensuing 36-day legal wrangle
over the electoral votes of Florida.
Acknowledging the divisive events that
led to his victory, Bush began his 15-minute inaugural address by thanking
Clinton "for his service to our nation" and Gore for "a contest conducted
with spirit and ended with grace."
Bush's address strongly echoed his campaign
theme of being "a uniter, not a divider."
"While many of our citizens prosper, others
doubt the promise -- even the justice -- of our country," Bush said. "The
ambitions of some Americans are limited by failing schools and hidden prejudice,
and the circumstances of their birth."
"We do not accept this, and will not allow
it. Our unity, our union, is the serious work of leaders and citizens in
every generation. And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a
single nation of justice and opportunity," he said.
Bush went on to name the priorities of
his domestic agenda -- reforming schools, Medicare and Social Security
programs, and reducing taxes "to recover the momentum of our economy and
reward the effort and enterprise of working Americans."
He also pledged to build national defenses
and "confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared
new horrors."
Bush also gave voice to his campaign theme
of "compassionate conservatism."
"Government has great responsibilities...
Yet compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government. Church and
charity, synagogue and mosque, lend our communities their humanity, and
they will have an honored place in our plans and laws," Bush said.
"I ask you to seek a common good beyond
your comfort, to defend needed reforms against easy attacks; to serve your
nation, beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens. Citizens,
not spectators. Citizens, not subjects. Responsible citizens, building
communities of service and a nation of character."
The good feelings evident at the Capitol
were starkly contrasted afterward by the motorcade route down Pennsylvania
Avenue, where hundreds of protesters jeered the new president. Environmentalists,
abortion-rights supporters, and others -- particularly African-Americans
-- who felt that Bush's victory in the election was unfair shouted and
waved signs that read "Hail to the Thief."
Clinton, who spent the last days of his
scandal-plagued presidency in a whirlwind of executive orders and pardons,
addressed well-wishers before taking Air Force One to New York. He was
accompanied by his daughter Chelsea and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton,
the newly elected senator for that state.
Although the Clintons own a suburban home
there, the former First Couple will maintain a residence in Washington.
"I left the White House," Clinton told
his supporters, "but I'm still here."
One of the youngest ex-presidents in history,
Clinton is expected to continue to play a role in public life in hopes
of shoring up the "legacy" of an administration which began with high ideals
but became mired in numerous investigations.
Bush begins his presidency with controversies
of his own. His first nominee for secretary of labor, Linda Chavez, withdrew
after information surfaced that she once gave money and shelter to an illegal
immigrant in her home.
Last week, his nominee for attorney general,
former Senator John Ashcroft, faced an acrimonious confirmation hearing.
