美国总统演讲稿中英文

在思想开放的今天，演讲稿成为了表达思想的重要方式。编写出逻辑合理、观点明确的演讲稿，可让我们获得更多的支持，让更多人愿意深入了解我们的观点。以下是小编精心整理的《美国总统演讲稿中英文》仅供参考，大家一起来看看吧。

第1篇：美国总统演讲稿中英文

美国总统奥巴马的就职演讲(中英双语)

美国总统奥巴马的就职演讲

《Change Has Come To America》 《美国的变革时代已经到来》 Hello, Chicago. 芝加哥的市民们，你们好!

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference. 如果还有人对在美国是否凡事皆有可能这一点存疑，还有人怀疑美国奠基者的梦想在我们所处的时代是否依然鲜活，还有人质疑我们的民主制度的力量，那么今晚，这些问题都有了答案。这是设在学校和教堂的投票站前排起的前所未见的长队给出的答案;是等了三四个小时的选民所给出的答案，其中许多人都是有生以来第一次投票，因为他们认定这一次肯定会不一样，认为自己的声音会是这次大选有别于以往之所在。

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America. 这是所有美国人民共同给出的答案--无论老少贫富，无论是民主党还是共和党，无论是黑人、白人、拉美裔、亚裔、原住民，是同性恋者还是异性恋者、残疾人还是健全人--我们从来不是“红州”和“蓝州”的对立阵营，我们是美利坚合众国这个整体，永远都是。 It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. 长久以来，很多人一再受到告诫，要对我们所能取得的成绩极尽讽刺、担忧和怀疑之能事，但这个答案让这些人伸出手来把握历史，再次让它朝向美好明天的希望延伸。

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America. 已经过去了这么长时间，但今晚，由于我们在今天、在这场大选中、在这个具有决定性的时刻所做的，美国已经迎来了变革。

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead. 我刚刚接到了麦凯恩参议员极具风度的致电。他在这场大选中经过了长时间的努力奋斗，而他为自己所深爱的这个国家奋斗的时间更长、过程更艰辛。他为美国做出了我们大多数人难以想像的牺牲，我们的生活也因这位勇敢无私的领袖所做出的贡献而变得更美好。我向他和佩林州长所取得的成绩表示祝贺，我也期待着与他们一起在未来的岁月中为复兴这个国家的希望而共同努力。

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. 我要感谢我在这次旅程中的伙伴--已当选美国副总统的拜登。他全心参与竞选活动，为普通民众代言，他们是他在斯克兰顿从小到大的伙伴，也是在他回特拉华的火车上遇到的男男女女。

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure. 如果没有一个人的坚决支持，我今晚就不会站在这里，她是我过去16年来最好的朋友、是我们一家人的中坚和我一生的挚爱，更是我们国家的下一位第一夫人：米歇尔?奥巴马(Michelle Obama)。萨莎(Sasha)和玛丽亚(Malia)，我太爱你们两个了，你们已经得到了一条新的小狗，它将与我们一起入驻白宫。虽然我的外祖母已经不在了，但我知道她与我的亲人肯定都在看着我，因为他们，我才能拥有今天的成就。今晚，我想念他们，我知道自己欠他们的无可计量。

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done. 我的竞选经理大卫?普劳夫(David Plouffe)、首席策略师大卫?艾克斯罗德(David Axelrod)以及政治史上最好的竞选团队--是你们成就了今天，我永远感激你们为实现今天的成就所做出的牺牲。

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you. 但最重要的是，我永远不会忘记这场胜利真正的归属--它属于你们。

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. 我从来不是最有希望的候选人。一开始，我们没有太多资金，也没有得到太多人的支持。我们的竞选活动并非诞生于华盛顿的高门华第之内，而是始于得梅因、康科德、查尔斯顿这些地方的普通民众家中。

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory. 我们的竞选活动能有今天的规模，是因为辛勤工作的人们从自己的微薄积蓄中拿出钱来，捐出一笔又一笔5美元、10美元、20美元。而竞选活动的声势越来越大则是源自那些年轻人，他们拒绝接受认为他们这代人冷漠的荒诞说法;他们离开家、离开亲人，从事报酬微薄、极其辛苦的工作;同时也源自那些已经不算年轻的人们，他们冒着严寒酷暑，敲开陌生人的家门进行竞选宣传;更源自数百万的美国民众，他们自动自发地组织起来，证明了在两百多年以后，民有、民治、民享的政府并未从地球上消失。这是你们的胜利。

I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair. 我知道你们的所做所为并不只是为了赢得大选，我也知道你们做这一切并不是为了我。你们这样做是因为你们明白摆在面前的任务有多艰巨。因为即便我们今晚欢呼庆祝，我们也知道明天将面临我们一生之中最为艰巨的挑战—两场战争、一个面临危险的星球，还有百年来最严重的金融危机。今晚站在此地，我们知道伊拉克的沙漠里和阿富汗的群山中还有勇敢的美国士兵醒来，甘冒生命危险保护着我们。会有在孩子熟睡后仍难以入眠的父母，担心如何偿还按揭月供、付医药费或是存够钱送孩子上大学。我们亟待开发新能源、创造新的工作机会;我们需要修建新学校，还要应对众多威胁、修复与许多盟国的关系。

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there. 前方的道路会十分漫长艰辛。我们可能无法在一年甚至一届任期之内实现上述目标，但我从未像今晚这样满怀希望，相信我们会实现。我向你们承诺—我们作为一个整体将会达成目标。 There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. 我们会遭遇挫折和不成功的开端。对于我作为总统所做的每项决定和政策，会有许多人持有异议，我们也知道政府并不能解决所有问题。但我会向你们坦陈我们所面临的挑战。我会聆听你们的意见，尤其是在我们意见相左之时。最重要的是，我会请求你们参与重建这个国家，以美国221年来从未改变的唯一方式—一砖一瓦而成、胼手胝足相续。

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you. 21个月前那个寒冬所开始的一切不应该在今天这个秋夜结束。今天的选举胜利并不是我们所寻求的改变—这只是我们进行改变的机会。而且如果我们仍然按照旧有方式行事，我们所寻求的改变不可能出现。没有你们，也不可能有这种改变。

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people. 因此，让我们发扬新的爱国精神，树立新的服务意识和责任感，让我们每个人下定决心全情投入、更加努力地工作，并彼此关爱。让我们铭记这场金融危机带来的教训：我们不可能在金融以外的领域备受煎熬的同时拥有繁荣兴旺的华尔街—在这个国家，我们患难与共。 Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends„though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” 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. 让我们抵制重走老路的诱惑，避免重新回到令美国政治长期深受毒害的党派纷争和由此引发的遗憾和不成熟表现。让我们牢记，正是伊利诺伊州的一名男子首次将共和党的大旗扛到了白宫。共和党是建立在自强自立、个人自由以及全民团结的价值观上，这也是我们所有人都珍视的价值。虽然民主党今天晚上赢得了巨大的胜利，但我们是以谦卑的态度和弥合阻碍我们进步的分歧的决心赢得这场胜利的。林肯在向远比我们眼下分歧更大的国家发表讲话时说，我们不是敌人，而是朋友„„虽然激情可能褪去，但是这不会割断我们感情上的联系。对于那些现在并不支持我的美国人，我想说，或许我没有赢得你们的选票，但是我听到了你们的声音，我需要你们的帮助，而且我也将是你们的总统。 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 our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope. 那些彻夜关注美国大选的海外人士，从国会到皇宫，以及在这个世界被遗忘的角落里挤在收音机旁的人们，我们的经历虽然各有不同，但是我们的命运是相通的，新的美国领袖诞生了。那些想要颠覆这个世界的人们，我们必将击败你们。那些追求和平和安全的人们，我们支持你们。那些所有怀疑美国能否继续照亮世界发展前景的人们，今天晚上我们再次证明，我们国家真正的力量并非来自我们武器的威力或财富的规模，而是来自我们理想的持久力量：民主、自由、机会和不屈的希望。 For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. 这才是美国真正的精华—美国能够改变。我们的联邦会日臻完善。我们取得的成就为我们将来能够取得的以及必须取得的成就增添了希望。

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. 这次大选创造了多项“第一”，也诞生了很多将世代流传的故事。但是今天晚上令我难忘的却是在亚特兰大投票的一名妇女：安?尼克松?库波尔(Ann Nixon Cooper)。她和其他数百万排队等待投票的选民没有什么差别，除了一点：她已是106岁的高龄。

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. 她出生的那个时代奴隶制度刚刚结束;那时路上没有汽车，天上也没有飞机;当时像她这样的人由于两个原因不能投票--一是她是女性，另一个原因是她的肤色。

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can. 今天晚上，我想到了她在美国过去一百年间所经历的种种：心痛和希望;挣扎和进步;那些我们被告知我们办不到的世代，以及那些坚信美国信条—是的，我们能做到—的人们。 At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can. 曾几何时，妇女没有发言权，她们的希望化作泡影，但是安?尼克松?库波尔活了下来，看到妇女们站了起来，看到她们大声发表自己的见解，看到她们去参加大选投票。是的，我们能做到。

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can. 当30年代的沙尘暴和大萧条引发人们的绝望之情时，她看到一个国家用罗斯福新政、新就业机会以及对新目标的共同追求战胜恐慌。是的，我们能做到。

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can. 当炸弹袭击了我们的海港、独裁专制威胁到全世界，她见证了美国一代人的伟大崛起，见证了一个民主国家被拯救。是的，我们能做到。 She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can. 她看到蒙哥马利通了公共汽车、伯明翰接上了水管、塞尔马建了桥，一位来自亚特兰大的传教士告诉人们：我们能成功。是的，我们能做到。

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can. 人类登上月球、柏林墙倒下，世界因我们的科学和想像被连接在一起。今年，就在这次选举中，她用手指触碰屏幕投下自己的选票，因为在美国生活了106年之后，经历了最好的时光和最黑暗的时刻之后，她知道美国如何能够发生变革。是的，我们能做到。

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? 美国，我们已经走过漫漫长路。我们已经历了很多。但是我们仍有很多事情要做。因此今夜，让我们自问—如果我们的孩子能够活到下个世纪;如果我们的女儿有幸活得和安一样长，他们将会看到怎样的改变?我们将会取得怎样的进步?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:Yes We Can. 现在是我们回答这个问题的机会。这是我们的时刻。这是我们的时代—让我们的人民重新就业，为我们的后代敞开机会的大门;恢复繁荣发展，推进和平事业;让“美国梦”重新焕发光芒，再次证明这样一个基本的真理：我们是一家人;一息尚存，我们就有希望;当我们遇到嘲讽和怀疑，当有人说我们办不到的时候，我们要以这个永恒的信条来回应他们：是的，我们能做到。

Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America. 感谢你们。上帝保佑你们。愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。

第2篇：美国总统奥巴马就职演说中英文对照

Text of president Barack Obamas inaugural address on Tuesday, as prepared for delivery and released by the presidential Inaugural Committee. Barack Obama takes the Oath of Office as the 44th president of the United States as he is sworn in by US Chief Justice John Roberts with his wife Michelle by his side during the inauguration ceremony in Washi

OBAMA: My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank president Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land, a nagging fear that Americas decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America, they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

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 faint-hearted -- 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 towards 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.

我的同胞们，

今天我站在这里，看到眼前面临的重大任务，深感卑微。我感谢你们对我的信任，也知道先辈们为了这个国家所作的牺牲。我要感谢布什总统为国家做出的贡献，以及感谢他在两届政府过渡期间给与的慷慨协作。

迄今为止，已经有44个美国总统宣誓就职。总统的宣誓有时面对的是国家的和平繁荣，但通常面临的是乌云密布的紧张形势。在紧张的形势中，支持美国前进的不仅仅是领导人的能力和远见，也在于美国人民对国家先驱者理想的信仰，以及对美国立国文件的忠诚。

前辈们如此，我们这一代美国人也要如此。

现在我们都深知，我们身处危机之中。我们的国家在战斗，对手是影响深远的暴力和憎恨;国家的经济也受到严重的削弱，原因虽有一些人的贪婪和不负责任，但更为重要的是我们作为一个整体在一些重大问题上决策失误，同时也未能做好应对新时代的准备。

我们的人民正在失去家园，失去工作，很多且要倒闭。社会的医疗过于昂贵、学校教育让许多人失望，而且每天都会有新的证据显示，我们利用能源的方式助长了我们的敌对势力，同时也威胁着我们的星球。

统计数据的指标传达着危机的消息。危机难以测量，但更难以测量的是其对美国人国家自信的侵蚀——现在一种认为美国衰落不可避免，我们的下一代必须低调的言论正在吞噬着人们的自信。

今天我要说，我们的确面临着很多严峻的挑战，而且在短期内不大可能轻易解决。但是我们要相信，我们一定会度过难关。

今天，我们在这里齐聚一堂，因为我们战胜恐惧选择了希望，摒弃了冲突和矛盾而选择了团结。

今天，我们宣布要为无谓的摩擦、不实的承诺和指责画上句号，我们要打破牵制美国政治发展的若干陈旧教条。

美国仍是一个年轻的国家，借用《圣经》的话说，放弃幼稚的时代已经到来了。重拾坚韧精神的时代已经到来，我们要为历史作出更好的选择，我们要秉承历史赋予的宝贵权利，秉承那种代代相传的高贵理念：上帝赋予我们每个人以平等和自由，以及每个人尽全力去追求幸福的机会。

在重申我们国家伟大之处的同时，我们深知伟大从来不是上天赐予的，伟大需要努力赢得。(我们的民族一路走来)，这旅途之中从未有过捷径或者妥协，这旅途也不适合胆怯之人、或者爱安逸胜过爱工作之人、或者单单追求名利之人。这条路是勇于承担风险者之路，是实干家、创造者之路。这其中有一些人名留青史，但是更多的人却在默默无闻地工作着。正是这些人带领我们走过了漫长崎岖的旅行，带领我们走向富强和自由。

为了我们，先辈们带着微薄的细软，横渡大洋，寻找新生活;为了我们，先辈们忍辱负重，用血汗浇铸工厂;为了我们，先辈们在荒芜的西部大地辛勤耕作，定居他乡;为了我们，先辈们奔赴(独立战争中的)康科德城和葛底斯堡、(二战中的)诺曼底、(越战中的)Khe Sahn，他们征战、死去。

范文网(FANWEN.CHAZIDIAN.COM)

第3篇：2013年美国总统奥巴马就职演说中英文对照文稿(全)

Read the inaugural speech and compare it with JFK‘s Speech to find any commonalities and differences in lexis, syntax, rhetoric, emotions and style. You may need to take different historical era of their presidency into consideration. Write a 300-word report and submit next week.2013年美国总统奥巴马就职演说中英文对照文稿(全)

北京时间1月22日凌晨，贝拉克·侯赛因·奥巴马宣誓就职第四十四任美利坚合众国总统并发表就职演说。奥巴马在演讲中追溯美国民主传统和宪法精神，强调了民众的力量。演讲中涉及了包括就业、医保、移民和同性恋等多项议题，以下为奥巴马就职演说全文：

MR. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

谢谢，非常感谢大家。拜登副总统、首席大法官先生、国会议员们、尊敬的各位嘉宾、亲爱的公民们。

Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

当我们每次聚集在一起为总统举行就职典礼时，我们都是在见证美国宪法的不朽力量。我们是在又一次立下美国民主的承诺。 我们再次提醒说，把这个国家凝聚在一起的不是我们的肤色，不是信仰的教条，也不是我们的姓氏源于何处。使我们与众不同——使我们成为美国人——的，是我们对一个在两个多世纪以前发表的宣言中所表述的理念：

“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, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

“我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的：人人生而平等，他们都从他们的造物主那里被赋予了某些不可剥夺的权利，包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。”

Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.

今天，我们仍在继续这个永恒的旅程，让那些字句体现在我们这个时代的现实中。因为历史告诉我们，虽然这些真理是不言而喻的，但它们却不会自动实现;虽然自由是上帝给我们的礼物，但自由只能靠他在世间的子民的奋斗才能获得。1776年爱国先驱们所进行的斗争并不是以少数人的特权或乌合之众的统治来

替代专制君主。他们为我们缔造的是一个共和国，一个民有、民治、民享的政府，并将捍卫这个建国理念的任务交给一代又一代的后人。

For more than two hundred years, we have.

两百多年的历史证明，我们做到了。

Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.

从皮鞭下和刺刀尖流出的鲜血中，我们发现，建立在自由和平等原则之上的合众国不能一半是蓄奴的，一半是自由的。我们浴火重生，我们发誓共同努力向前。

Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers.

我们共同决定，现代经济需要铁路和公路，以加快旅行和商业，也需要中小学和大学来培训我们的工人。

Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.

我们一起发现，只有确保竞争和公平的法规健全，自由市场才能欣欣向荣。

Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.

我们一同决定，一个伟大国家必须关照弱者，并保护我们的人民免受生活中最严重的危险和不幸。

Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, are constants in our character.

在做这一切的时候，我们从来没有放弃对政府集中权力的怀疑，我们也没有屈就于那种相信只靠政府就可以解决所有社会弊病的幻想。我们一直保持着自己的秉性，推崇创造力和企业家精神，坚持辛勤工作和个人责任。

But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people.

但是我们也很明白，随着时代的变化，我们也必须变化;我们出于对基本原则的忠诚，需要对新的挑战做出新的回应;我们为保护个人自由就最终需要集体作出努力。美国人民如果再单打独斗去应付当今世界的挑战，等于让美国军队以长枪和民兵组织去面对法西斯主义或共产主义的武装。没有任何一个个人有能力训练出我们后代的教育需要的所有数学和科学教师，或者建造出能把新的工作和商业机会带给我们的道路、网络、实验室。现在比以往任何时候都需要我们共同努力，作为一个国家人民的整体，来做这些事情。

This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we

are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.

我们这一代美国人经历过危机的考验，这些危机坚定了我们的决心，也证明了我们的耐力。长达10年的战争即将结束，经济复苏已经开始，美国的潜力是无限的，因为我们拥有这个全球化的世界需要的所有特质：我们年轻有动力，多元而开放，我们有应对危机的无限能力和创新发展的天赋。美国同胞们，我们为这个时刻而生，只要我们共同努力，我们就能牢牢抓住这个机会。

For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.

我们美国人知道，我们的国家不可能在只有越来越少的人富有、越来越多的人捉襟见肘的情况下取得成功，我们相信美国的繁荣有赖于更多的人成为中产阶级，我们知道美国的振兴取决于每个人都能在工作中找到独立与自信，也取决于人们诚实的劳动让家庭脱离贫困。当一个出身贫困的年轻女孩知道，她与任何人都享有同样的成功机会，身为美国人，她不仅仅是在上帝眼中，而且在每一个人的眼中，她都享有自由与平等，这样我们才算是遵守了立国的原则。

We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed. 我们明白，目前那些陈旧的政府计划跟不上时代。我们必须驾驭新的思想和技术以重塑政府，更新税法，改革学校，并让公民能够掌握新技能，以便更加努力工作，学习更多的知识，以达到更高的目标。我们的方法虽然会改变，但目的始终如一：建设一个奖励每个人的努力和决心的国家。这是当下所需要的。这是我们信念的真正意义所在。

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.

我们，美国人，仍然相信，每位公民都应该得到基本的安全和尊严。我们必须作出降低我们的医保费用和赤字规模的艰难抉择。但是，我们拒绝接受这种看法，亦即美国必须在照顾建设了国家的那代人和投资于开创国家未来的那代人之间作出选择。我们记得过去的教训：老人的暮年在贫困中度过，残疾孩子的父母走投无路。我们不相信，在这个国家里自由只属于幸运者，幸福只属于少数人。我们知道，无论我们平日如何负责，我们当中任何人，在任何时候，都有可能面临失业、突然生病或者房子被风暴卷走的情况。我们通过联邦医疗保险、医疗补助计划以及社会安全保障为彼此作出的承诺，不仅不会挫伤我们的积极性，反而使我们更加强壮。它们不会使我们成为一群不劳而获的人，反而使我们敢于去冒险，这才使国家强大。

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all

posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.

我们，美国人，依然相信我们作为美国人的承诺不仅是对自己的，也是对所有子孙后代的。我们会对气候变化的威胁做出回应，因为我们了解如果不这样做，将会违背对子孙后代的承诺。有些人可能依然不承认科学的判断，但所有人都无法不去正视疯狂的野火、残酷的干旱、更大风暴的袭击。通往可持续发展能源的道路会是漫长的，而且有时会很艰难。但美国不能抗拒这个转变，而是必须领导这个转变。我们不能将可以增加就业、诞生新型产业的这些技术拱手让给其它国家，我们必须拥有这些技术。这是维护我们经济的活力与国家财富的途径，这些财富包括我们的森林、江河、农田、雪山。这是保护我们的地球的途径，那是上帝交给我们去守护的。这也是我们为先驱们宣示的信念增加新的含义的途径。

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.

我们，美国人，依然相信不必通过无休止的战争就能获得永久的安全与和平。我们的军人久经战火考验，技能和勇气都举世无双。我们的人民永远铭记先烈们的牺牲，珍惜自由的来之不易。不忘先烈们的牺牲将让我们永远对敌人保持警惕。但是我们同样牢记那些不仅能够赢得战争、还能赢得和平、化顽敌为挚友的人们。这些经验教训，我们今天必须发扬光大。

We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice. 我们将通过加强武装力量和法制来保卫我们的人民和价值体系。我们将通过试图与其它国家和平地解决争端来显示我们的勇气——这不是出于对我们面临的危险的无知，而是相信协商能够更长久地解除怀疑与恐惧。美国将继续在世界每个角落都保持积极的联盟，我们也将继续维护那些令我们能够在国外应付危机的机制，因为没有哪个国家会比世界上最强大的国家更需要一个和平的世界。我们将支持从亚洲到非洲、从拉美到中东的民主发展，因为利益和良知促使我们去支持那些希望自由的人们。我们也必须是贫困、疾病、歧视、偏见的受害者们的后援——这不仅仅是出于慈善为怀，也因为我们时代的和平需要不断地推动我们共同信念所基于的原则，包括宽容、机遇、人类尊严与公正。

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and

Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

我们，美国人，今天宣布，最不言自明的真理——人人生而平等——仍然是指引我们的北斗星，就像当年这条真理在色内加瀑布[1]、塞尔玛[2]、石墙[3]这些地方指引着人们，它指引着在这个宏大的草坪上留下了足迹的所有知名和不知名的人们。他们来到这里聆听宣讲，说我们不能独自行进;他们来聆听一位王者[4]说，我们的个人自由与地球上每个人的自由是紧密地联系在一起的。

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. 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. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.

如今到了我们这一代人去接过先驱们开创的使命的时候了。在我们的妻子、母亲、女儿，在得到与她们的付出相符的待遇之前，我们的使命还没有完成;在我们同性恋的兄弟和姐妹像其他人一样在法律上被视真正平等之前，我们的使命还没有完成- 因为如果我们之间真正平等，那么可以肯定，我们所承诺的彼此相爱也必须是平等的。在所有公民行使投票权不必被迫等待几个小时之前，我们的使命还没有完成。在我们找到一个更好的方式来欢迎那些仍然可以把美国看作一个充满机遇的土地，乐于奋斗，充满希望的移民之前，在那些聪明的年轻学生和工程师被纳入到我们的劳动大军之中而不是被驱逐出境之前，我们的使命还没有完成。在从底特律的街头到阿巴拉契亚山间到纽顿安静的小巷中，我们所有的孩子们都知道他们在被关心和爱护，安全有保障之前，我们的使命还没有完成。

That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time.

这是我们这一代人的使命真正成为每一个美国人的现实。忠实我们国家的创始文件，并不需要我们生活的每一个范畴都看法一致，也并不意味着我们以完全相同的方式定义自由，或者遵循同样的路径追求幸福。进步并不强迫我们放弃几个世纪以来关于所有政府作用的辩论 - 但需要我们在我们的时代采取行动。

For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.

我们现在就要做出抉择，我们不能承受拖延的后果。我们不能误以为毫无妥协余地是在坚持原则，或者以做秀取代政治，或者以相互指责取代理性的辩论。我们必须行动，尽管知道我们的工作不会十全十美。我们必须行动，尽管知道今天的胜利只是部分的成功，它将更多地取决于今后四年、四十年乃至四百年后站在这里的人们，继续发扬从费城独立厅传到我们手中的超越时代的精神。

My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction – and we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty, or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride.

我的美国同胞们，我今天在你们面前宣誓，就和过去在这座国会山上宣誓过的人一样，是对上帝和国家而不是对一个政党或者派别的誓词。我们必须在任职期间忠实履行我们的誓言。我的誓词，和每次军人接受任务、移民实现梦想时的誓词，并无太大不同;和我们面对在空中飘扬，让我们心中充满自豪的国旗所做的宣誓，也无太大差异。

They are the words of citizens, and they represent our greatest hope. You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course.

这些是美国公民的心声，代表了我们最大的希望。

You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.

你们和我，作为美国公民，有确定国家未来前程的权力。你们和我，作为美国公民，有塑造我们时代话语的责任，不仅通过我们投下的选票，也通过为了维护我们最永久的价值观及理想而发出的大声疾呼。

Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.让我们每个人用庄严的责任和无与伦比的欢悦，来拥抱我们与生俱来的永恒权利。凭借共同的努力，凭借热情和执着，让我们响应历史的召唤，承载一个珍爱自由之光的未知未来。

Thank you, God Bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America.

感谢你们，上帝保佑你们，愿上帝永远佑护美利坚合众国。

[1] 1848年，美国争取妇女投票权的人士在纽约州的色内加瀑布地区召开大会。这次大会被认为是现代女权运动的开创性事件。

[2] 1965年3月，在美国民权运动的高潮中，非洲裔美国人组织了从阿拉巴马的塞尔玛出发的大游行。游行者与警察发生对峙。

[3] 1969年6月，纽约市警察检查在一个名叫“石墙”的小酒吧，与里面的同性恋者发生暴力冲突，被同性恋权利运动认为是一个标志性的事件。

[4] 这里使用的是双关语。“King”在英文中为“王”之意，但也是马丁·路德·金的姓。

第4篇：美国总统林肯演讲稿

Inaugural Speech by Abraham Lincoln March 4th 1861

Speech：

In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President "before he enters on the execution of this office."

I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement.

Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that:

I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.

Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had never recanted them; and more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:

Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.

I now reiterate these sentiments, and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever causeto this provision as much as to any other. To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause "shall be delivered up" their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath?

There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority, but surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done. And should anyone in any case be content that his oath shall go un-kept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?

Again: In any law upon this subject ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not in any case surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that "the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States"?

I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand un-repealed than to violate any of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.

It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution. During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the Government. They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted. Top

I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself.

Again: If the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate itbut does it not require all to lawfully rescind it?

Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1778. And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was "to form a more perfect Union."

But if destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity.

It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.

I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, and I shall perform it so far as practicable unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself.

In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. Where hostility to the United States in any interior locality shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people for that object. While the strict legal right may exist in the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating and so nearly impracticable withal that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices. Top

The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. So far as possible the people everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favourable to calm thought and reflection. The course here indicated will be followed unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper, and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised, according to circumstances actually existing and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.

That there are persons in one section or another who seek to destroy the Union at all events and are glad of any pretext to do it I will neither affirm nor deny; but if there be such, I need address no word to them. To those, however, who really love the Union may I not speak?

Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly from, will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake?

All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right plainly written in the Constitution has been denied? I think not. Happily, the human mind is so constituted that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might in a moral point of view justify revolution; certainly would if such right were a vital one. But such is not our case. All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guaranties and prohibitions, in the Constitution that controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate nor any document of reasonable length contain express provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say.

第5篇：美国总统就职演讲稿

参议院和众议院的同胞们：

在人生沉浮中，没有一件事能比本月14日收到根据你们的命令送达的通知更使我焦虑不安，一方面，国家召唤我出任此职，对于她的召唤，我永远只能肃然敬从;而隐退是我以挚爱心憎、满腔希望和坚定的决心选择的暮年归宿，由于爱好和习惯，且时光流逝，健康渐衰，时感体力不济，愈觉隐退之必要和可贵。另一方面，国家召唤我担负的责任如此重大和艰巨，足以使国内最有才智和经验的人度德量力，而我天资愚饨，又无民政管理的实践，理应倍觉自己能力之不足，因而必然感到难以肩此重任。怀着这种矛盾心情，我唯一敢断言的是，通过正确估计可能产生影响的各种情况来克尽厥职，乃是我忠贞不渝的努力目标。我唯一敢祈望的是，如果我在执行这项任务时因陶醉于往事，或因由衷感激公民们对我的高度信赖，因而受到过多影响，以致在处理从未经历过的大事时，忽视了自己的无能和消极，我的错误将会由于使我误人歧途的各种动机而减轻，而大家在评判错误的后果时;也会适当包涵产生这些动机的偏见。

我从这些高贵品格中看到了最可靠的保证：其一，任何地方偏见或地方感情，任何意见分歧或党派敌视，都不能使我们偏离全局观点和公平观点，即必须维护这个由不同地区和利益所组成的大联合;因此，其二，我国的政策将会以纯洁而坚定的个人道德原则为基础，而自由政府将会以那赢得民心和全世界尊敬的一切特点而显示其优越性。我对国家的一片热爱之心激励着我满怀喜悦地展望这幅远景，因为根据自然界的构成和发展趋势，在美德与幸福之间，责任与利益之间，恪守诚实宽厚的政策与获得社会繁荣幸福的硕果之间，有着密不可分的统一;因为我们应该同样相信，上帝亲自规定了水恒的秩序和权利法则，它决不可能对无视这些法则的国家慈祥地加以赞许;因为人们理所当然地、满怀深情地、也许是最后一次把维护神圣的自由之火和共和制政府的命运，系于美国人所遵命进行的实验上。

我已将有感于这一聚会场合的想法奉告各位，现在我就要向大家告辞;但在此以前，我要再一次以谦卑的心情祈求仁慈的上帝给予帮助。因为承蒙上帝的恩赐，美国人有了深思熟虑的机会，以及为确保联邦的安全和促进幸福，用前所未有的一致意见来决定政府体制的意向;因而，同样明显的是，上帝将保佑我们扩大眼界，心平气和地进行协商，并采取明智的措施，而这些都是本届政府取得成功所必不可少的依靠。

第6篇：美国总统高校演讲分析

--从语境角度看演讲语篇的顺应性

刘晓冰1宋书渊2

(1河北科技师范学院欧美学院， 河北 秦皇岛066004;2秦皇岛职业技术学院，

河北 秦皇岛 066100)

摘要: 随着全球化的发展和国际间跨文化交际活动的日益频繁，各国领导人之间的高层访问也越来越多。本文所选择的语料就是三篇美国领导人来访中国时， 在三所中国的知名高校所做的演讲。作者运用Verschueren 在1999年提出的顺应论(Adaptation Theory)对三篇演讲稿进行分析。

关键词：语境演讲语篇顺应性

在语言学界对演讲语篇的研究从未停止过， 研究的角度也不尽相同， 有的是对演讲语篇的文体进行研究， 有的是对语篇的内容或者功能进行研究， 还有的是进行中英文语篇的对比研究。 无论从哪个角度进行研究， 目的无非是使演讲语篇理解起来更容易更透彻。 基于演讲语篇的一些特点和目前对演讲语篇的研究现状， 本文选择从语境入手， 对演讲语篇中语言使用的顺应性进行研究。 语境是一个受到学术界广泛关注和普遍研究的概念， 许多语言学家都对此做过研究， 如 Malinowski, Firth, Halliday, Verschueren等等。Verschueren 在1999年提出的顺应论(Adaptation Theory)中， 从语用综观的角度对语境的概念进行了阐述， 他认为语言的使用是一种选择， 而且是对语境的一种顺应性的选择， 这一过程是一个持续性的，动态的过程。考虑到理论研究的角度和理论的特点， 本文以语境顺应论为理论基础， 从语言使用的不同层面对演讲语篇进行分析。 Verschureren把语境分为交际语境(communicative context)和语言语境(linguistic context)， 其中交际语境除语言使用者(utterer)外还包括社交世界(social world)，心理世界(mental world)和物理世界(physical world)三个部分。 语境对语言使用的影响贯穿语言使用的整个过程， 使语言使用者对其进行顺应从而作出

语言选择。 三位领导人来访时间和演讲地点各不相同， 这使得他们演讲的语境因素也有所差异。【1】

从社交世界来讲， 里根是第一个在任期间访华的美国总统， 他的来访是在十九世纪八十年代， 当时中国正处在改革开放初期， 整个社会的经济和文化都刚从之前相对封闭的体制中走出来， 中美两国正式建立外交关系不久， 彼此之间的经贸往来， 文化交流并不多; 克林顿北大演讲处在十九世纪末，改革开放的显著成果使中国社会面貌焕然一新， 经济的高速发展给社会带来了积极的进步; 布什来访正值二十世纪初， 当时中美关系已发展成熟， 两国之间交流也日渐频繁， 而且中国加入了WTO同时又将在2008年举办奥运会， 这一切都表明中国强大了。 三位领导人的心理世界有着一个共同点， 那就是他们的来访都有相同的目的：让中国更多的了解美国同时发展中美关系。 从物理世界来讲， 他们虽然选择演讲的高校不同但是三位领导人选择的都是中国国内的著名学府， 原因有两个： 一是选择高校作演讲气氛缓和且政治色彩不浓; 二是这些著名学府的学生很有可能成为中国未来的领导人。 以上所述主要是对交际语境所作的分析， 这三个交际因素共同作用使得三篇演讲稿的总体结构和内容有些相似之处， 每篇演讲稿大致都可分为四个部分： 引言， 谈论中国， 谈论美国， 谈论中美关系。 这四个部分各形成一个语言语境， 演讲者在对交际语境进行顺应的同时对语言语境也进行顺应， 这些语境因素对语言选择的影响强弱各有不同， 具体还要根据演讲的内容而定。

演讲者在上述的特定语境中所做出的语言选择是对语境的一种顺应， 本文从四个方面做了具体分析， 演讲者对第一人称代词的选择， 对时态和语态的选择以及对平行结构的选择。

三位领导人在演讲的引言部分都大量地使用人称代词“I(my, me)”来表达自己来访的心情和目的, 在谈论美国时大量地使用了排他性“we(our, us)”而在谈论中国时主要选择了包含性“we(our, us)”， 因为人称代词“I(my, me)”指代总统本人， 排他性“we(our, us)”指代美国人民， 包含性“we(our, us)”指代中美两国人民。 演讲者对第一人称代词的选择主要是对语言语境顺应的结果， 演讲语篇中各个部分的话题不同谈论的内容也不同， 所以形成了不同的语言语境使语言的选择有所侧重。

在语言语境相同的情况下三个演讲者对时态的选择也体现着语言使用者对语境的顺应。【2】在谈论中国时克林顿选择了过去时与现在时交替使用， 产生对比效果来说明中国改革开放的显著成效; 而布什则用完成时来说明中国已经取得的成就，在展望中国未来发展时用将来时表达他的信心。 在谈论美国时里根选择过去时与现在时对比介绍美国的现实情况， 而布什用现在时描述美国的现状， 这是因为里根来访时中国人民对美国了解较少， 选用过去时能更有利的证明他所说的是已经发生了的事实，布什选择现在时是因为他认为介绍美国是在陈述一个事实。 这些时态的使用主要是演讲者对交际语境中的社交世界顺应的结果。

语态主要分为主动语态和被动语态，在谈论美国时里根和布什都倾向于交替使用主动语态和被动语态来突出每一句话甚至是每一段的重点， 自由、平等及美国人民的价值观和美国的人权成为他们谈论的核心内容。【3】语态的使用可以说是演讲者对现实状况即社交世界的一种顺应性的选择。

平行结构的应用是在语篇的组织上体现出来的， 比较有代表性的是：里根的 “must never”， “friendship” 平行结构; 克林顿的 “21st century” 平行结构;布什的 “you can”， “strong” 平行结构等等。 这些平行结构的应用体现了三位领导人来访及演讲的目的： 和中国建立友谊， 更好的发展外交关系， 与中国并肩作战， 反对核武器， 反对核战争， 同时希望中美两国能够共同努力共同发展。对于平行结构的选择是对交际语境中社交世界和心理世界同时顺应的结果。 由于篇幅有限本文只选择了四个方面分析语言使用者的语言选择， 但是从整体上来看这些选择是贯穿整个语篇的。 从另一个角度来说， 语言的使用过程就是一个不断进行选择的动态过程。 从语料的分析可以得出全文的结论， 语境顺应论对于演讲语篇来说也是适用的， 即演讲者使用语言的过程是一个选择的过程， 而且是对语境的一种不间断的动态顺应过程。 这一结论不仅有助于我们对演讲语篇的理解， 而且可以帮助我们更好的撰写和发表演讲稿， 也希望对英语教师在日后有关演讲语篇的教学中有所帮助。本文是语境顺应论在演讲语篇分析中的一次应用性的尝试， 由于所用语料有限， 若要得出一个更广义范围的结论， 还有待于做进一步的研究。

【1】. Verschueren. J. 1999. Understanding Pragmatics. London: Edward Arnold.

【2】. 任绍曾，1995，英语时态的语篇功能，《外国语》，第三期。

【3】.朱永生，2005，《语境动态研究》北京：北京大学出版社。

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