Barack Obama’s “Inaugural Address”

President Barack Obama plays an important role not only for being elected as the first African-American head of state in the United States of America but also because he is greatly responsible in the fate of the Americans during this time. One of the most important speeches that a president could give to the citizens that he will govern is his or her inaugural address. This could be attributed from the reason that this speech is recognized as his or her first official way of communicating with the public. It is his or her way of informing them of the course of action of his or her administration.

This kind of adage is greatly exemplified by the inaugural address of President Barack Obama wherein one of the most important and even controversial lines that he said are, “Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land – a nagging fear that Americans decline is inevitable, and the next generation must lower its sights” (Obama, 2009). This abovementioned statement made by President Obama points out the fear that most Americans are experiencing because of the different problems that they are facing including issues on terrorism and the current economic crisis.

These problems are threatening the security of the United States to the point that some critics are saying that this could cause the weakening of the country. As such, President Obama discussed in his inaugural address that these contemporary problems that the country are facing tend to leave some Americans with the fear that their country is not as powerful as compared before, which creates a sense of insecurity among the people. The future generations of America is also said to be capable of only dreaming less as compared to the grand goals of their forefathers because they need to lower their sights in order for it to be attainable.

Nevertheless, President Obama assured the American people that the challenges that they are facing would be addressed. As such, he is assuring the people that in his administration, he would do something in order to address these issues and Americans would need not to worry of settling for anything less than what they need and what they deserve. Being the case, the fear of the country’s declining power and lowering their sights should not be the case anymore. The idea of the American dream is also greatly related with the statement made by President Obama.

Some critics are asserting that achieving the American dream is quite impossible nowadays especially with the challenges that the country is facing. However, on my personal point of view, I still believe that the American dream is still attainable today, as the history of the country is a proof in itself that the United States of America could emerge stronger after this crisis. The critics of the United States have a declinist view about almost every problem that the country has to address.

However, the Americans have proven that they could emerge victorious even in the most difficult situations. This could be best exemplified by the end of the First World War wherein European countries are regarded as the dominant power in the world. Nevertheless, the United States started to take a bolder role in international affairs to the point of even participating in the Second World War. In line with these, it was also the United States that helped some of the most devastated countries after the war.

Moreover, during the time of the Cold War, there are also some criticisms that this could be the downfall of America but the exact opposite took place. The United States was able to reign supreme in the Cold War which eventually paved the way for their global domination (Haas, 2009). “History repeats itself;” as this saying goes, I believe that in the case of America, this still holds true. The American dream is still attainable because the country could be able to surpass the challenges that they are facing right now.

Electing President Barack Obama also shows how America is changing its traditional views in order to become open to changes. This is great evidence that they could surpass the problems that they have now. Sooner or later, the United States will once again prove that the American dream was, is, and will be attained. References Haas, L. J. (2009). Don’t Bet on America’s Decline. Retrieved August 3, 2009, from http://www. democratiya. com/review. asp? reviews_id=252. Obama, B. (2009). The Inaugural Address of President Barack Obama.