Remarks

Remarks for the Inauguration of Barack Obama
The 44th President of the United States
Ambassador Mathieu
Windhoek, Namibia
January 20, 2009

Good evening and welcome to the American Embassy's celebration of the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America – Barack Hussein Obama. 

I’d like to thank all of you for joining me this evening to celebrate this landmark event.

Tonight we’ll witness the culmination of an historic American presidential race, the swearing in of President-elect Obama.  Historic because Barack Obama will be the 1st African-American president of the United States.  Historic because this inauguration marks the 43rd time that American presidents have peacefully passed power from one to another, transitioning from president to president and party to party without violence or incident. 

This peaceful transition is one of the hallmarks of American democracy.  In many ways this election cycle was momentous as well.  It was the longest presidential campaign in American history, with some candidates campaigning during the party primaries and the general election for more than 21 months. 

A record 130 million Americans cast ballots in the general election.  Women candidates played at the highest levels of politics, with Senator Hillary Clinton almost clinching the Democratic nomination, while Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was chosen as the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate.  I can also say with much pride that America has come closer to the dream that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. articulated in Washington 45 years ago when he said:

        “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they
        will not be  judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

But in many ways, the transition since the election hasn’t been out of the ordinary.  For more than 200 yearsthe citizens of the United States have come to expect a peaceful transition, as is written in our Constitution. Senator John McCain understood this expectation completely. In his concession speech, he pledged his support to President-elect Obama, and urged his supporters to do the same.  Let me read briefly from his speech as I think it sums up a powerful and compelling part of American democracy:

         “I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next        
         president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary    
        compromises to bridge our differences, … and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better 
        country than we inherited.”

The outgoing Bush administration has worked with the incoming Obama transition team to ensure continuity and to brief them on the difficult and significant issues ahead.  President Bush organized a luncheon of former Presidents, who in the spirit of bi-partisanship, Republicans and Democrats alike -- offered the next President their best advice and goodwill.  

As President Bush stated: 
        the office of the presidency “transcends the individual.”

For his part, President-elect Obama has been assembling his new White House staff and selecting his Cabinet Secretaries, those men and women who will run the United States Government agencies and carry out his agenda.  And he’s assembled a leadership team that reflects the diversity of the United States -- men and women; captains of industry seasoned government officialssoldiers, teachers, and politicians; African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, and Arab-American; Democrats and Republicans.
 
As you know, his nominee for Secretary of State is his former political rival Hillary Clinton.  His nominee for Secretary of Defense is Robert Gates, who served in that capacity for President Bush.  The President-elect has made it clear that he welcomes a wide range of views and voices.  But perhaps that shouldn’t surprise anyone, for when he became President-elect on November 4, Barack Obama promised to be a president for all Americans.
  
Allow me to read an excerpt from his acceptance speech, since he put it so eloquently:

        “… I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face.
         I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.”  …

        “…And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn –
        I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices,
        I need your help, and I will be your President too.”

 

American citizens will call on their new president to represent all of them without regard to political party, race, sex, ethnicity, religion, or age.  And he has promised to do so. This is the compact between the American people and their elected representatives.  It doesn’t require 200 years, though, for such compacts and peaceful transitions to develop. It can happen, and in fact has just happened in Africa.  Ghana has just completed very close elections and the peaceful alternation of power.  I congratulate Ghana and its new government.

In conclusion, I would again like to read an excerpt from Barack Obama’s victory speech which I feel is a message to all of us here tonight:

He said:
        “And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores,
         from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled
        around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our
        stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new
        dawn of American leadership is at hand.”

Thank you, once again, for joining us in this celebration of American democracy on this historic night. 
Please join us in food and drink, and we’ll tune the monitors to the inauguration ceremony as soon as it begins. 

Happy New Year and Thank you.