(b.August 19, 1946), the 42nd President of the United States, 1993–97; Governor of Arkansas, 1982–92, 1978–80; Arkansas Attorney General, 1976–78; married Hillary Rodham; law instructor at University of Arkansas; attended Yale Law School; studied at Oxford University, England; and graduated from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
On Wednesday, January 20, 1993, in his Inaugural Address, President Bill Clinton stated:
When our Founders boldly declared America’s Independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change. …
And so, my fellow Americans, at the edge of the 21st century, let us begin with energy and hope, with faith and discipline, and let us work until our work is done. The Scripture says, “And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.”
From this joyful mountaintop of celebration, we hear a call to service in the valley. We have heard the trumpets. We have changed the guard. And now, each in our way, and with God’s help, we must answer the call.
Thank you and God bless you all.3903
On Wednesday, July 12, 1995, in an address at James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia, President Bill Clinton stated:
The First Amendment does not require students to leave their religion at the schoolhouse door. … It is especially important that parents feel confident that their children can practice religion. …
We need to make it easier and more acceptable for people to express and to celebrate their faith. …
If students can wear T-shirts advertising sports teams, rock groups or politicians, they can also wear T-shirts that promote religion. …
Religion is too important to our history and our heritage for us to keep it out of our schools. … It shouldn’t be demanded, but as long as it is not sponsored by school officials and doesn’t interfere with other children’s rights it mustn’t be denied. …
Nothing in the First Amendment converts our public schools into religion-free zones or requires all religious expression to be left behind at the schoolhouse door. …
While the government may not use schools to coerce the consciences of our students, or to convey official endorsement of religion, the government’s schools also may not discriminate against private religious expression during the school day.3904
On Monday, January 20, 1997, 12:05 p.m. EST, President Bill Clinton swore into office for his second term with his hand upon their family Bible, held by his wife, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, open to Isaiah 58:12. Earlier in the day, which happened to be Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, they had attended a prayer service at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, a church that once served as a stop on the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves during the Civil War. Frederick Douglass, who often spoke there, had his funeral service there in 1895. The ministers at the Pre-Inaugural Prayer service included: Reverend Bill Hybels of the Willow Creek Community Church of South Barrington, IL; Reverend Anthony Compolo and Reverend Jesse Jackson.
The Reverend Billy Graham delivered the invocation just prior to President Clinton’s second inauguration before the crowd assembled atop Capitol Hill:
President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, Vice President Gore, Mrs. Gore, I’m going to ask that we all bow our heads in prayer.
Our Father and our God, we thank you today for the privilege of coming into your presence on this historic and solemn occasion. We thank you for your gracious hand which has preserved us as a nation. We praise you for the peaceful continuity of government that this inauguration represents.
We recall that the Bible says, “Except the Lord build a house, they labor in vain that build it.” He also said that to whom much has been given, much shall be required. We look gratefully to the past and thank you that from the very foundations of America, you granted our forefathers courage and wisdom as they trusted in you.
So we ask today that you would inspire us by their example. Where there’s been failure, forgive us; where there’s been progress, confirm; where there’s been success, give us humility and teach us to follow your instructions more closely as we enter the next century. Give to all those to whom you have entrusted leadership today a desire to seek your will and to do it.
So we ask your blessing on President Clinton and his wife, Hillary, and their daughter, Chelsea, and upon Vice President Gore and his wife, Tipper, and their children. Give to all our leaders the vision of what you desire America to become and the wisdom to accomplish it and the strength to cross the bridges into the 21st century. We pray also for the members of the House and the Senate, for the Supreme Court, and for all who bear responsibility of leadership in this nation, which is blessed with such ethnic diversity.
We have not solved all of the social problems of our time such as drugs and racism. Technology and social engineering have not solved the basic problems of human greed, pride, intolerance and selfishness. We need your insight, we need your compassion, we need your strength. As both President Clinton and Senator Dole urged us in the recent presidential campaign, may this be a time of coming together to help us deal with the problems we face. Oh, Lord, help us to be reconciled first to you and secondly to each other.
May Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream finally come true for all of us. Help us to learn our courtesy to our fellow countrymen, that comes from the one who taught us that “whatever you want me to do to you, do also to them.” Remind us today that you have shown us what is good and what you require of us: to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.
We ask that as a people, we may humble ourselves before you and seek your will for our lives and for this great nation. Help us in our nation to work as never before to strengthen our families and to give our children hope and a moral foundation for the future. So may our desire be to serve you and, in so doing, serve one another. This we pray in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.3905
On Monday, January 20, 1997, in his Second Inaugural Address, delivered on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., President William Jefferson Clinton stated:
My fellow citizens:
At this last Presidential inauguration of the 20th Century, let us lift our eyes toward the challenges that await us in the next century. It is our great good fortune that time and chance have put us not only at the edge of a new century, in a new millennium, but on the edge of a bright new prospect in human affairs. A moment that will define our course, and our character, for decades to come. We must keep our old democracy forever young. Guided by the ancient vision of a Promised Land, let us set our sights upon a land of New Promise.
The promise of America was born in the 18th century out of the bold conviction that we are all created equal. It was extended and preserved in the 19th century, when our nation spread across the continent, saved the union, and abolished the awful scourge of slavery. Then, in turmoil and triumph, that promise exploded onto the world stage to make this the American Century. …
Our rich texture of racial, religious and political diversity will be a Godsend in the 21st Century. Great rewards will come to those who can live together, learn together, work together, forge new ties that bind together. …
Let us never forget: The greatest progress we have made, and the greatest progress we have yet to make, is in the human heart. In the end, all the world’s wealth and a thousand armies are no match for the strength and decency of the human spirit. …
Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate today spoke to us—down there—at the other end of this mall, in the words that moved the conscience of a nation. Like a prophet of old, he told of his dream, that one day America would rise up and treat all its citizens as equals before the law and in the heart. Martin Luther King’s dream was the American Dream. His quest is our quest: the ceaseless striving to live out our true creed. Our history has been built on such dreams and labours. And, by our dreams and labours we will redeem the promise of America in the 21st Century.
To that effort, I pledge all my strength and every power of my office. I ask the members of Congress here to join in that pledge. The American people returned to office a President of one party and a Congress of another … They call on us to be repairers of the breach, and to move on with America’s mission. America demands and deserves big things from us—and nothing big ever came from being small. Let us remember the timeless wisdom of Cardinal Bernadin, when facing the end of his own life. He said, “It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time … on acrimony and division.” …
And so, my fellow Americans, we must be strong, for there is much to dare. The demands of our time are great, and they are different. Let us meet them with faith and courage, with patience and a grateful, happy heart. Let us shape the hope of this day into the noblest chapter in our history. Yes, let us build our bridge, a bridge wide enough and strong enough for every American to cross over to a blessed land of New Promise. …
From the height of this place and the summit of this century, let us go forth. May God strengthen our hands for the good work ahead—and always, always bless our America.3906
On Tuesday, February 4, 1997, in his State of the Union Address, the first such address broadcast live over the internet, President William Jefferson Clinton concluded:
Americans speak every language, know every country. People on every continent can look to us and see the reflection of their own great potential, and they always will, as long as we strive to give all our citizens, whatever their background, an opportunity to achieve their own greatness. …
Just a few days before my second inauguration, one of the country’s best-known pastors, Reverend Robert Schuller, suggested that I read Isaiah 58:12. Here’s what it says: “Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the paths to dwell in.” I placed my hand on that verse when I took the oath of office, on behalf of all American, for no matter what our differences in our faiths, our backgrounds, our politics, we must all be repairers of the breach. …
We may not share a common past, but we surely do share a common future. Building one America is our most important mission, the foundation for many generations of every other strength we must build for this new century. Money cannot buy it, power cannot compel it, technology cannot create it. It can only come from the human spirit. …
Tomorrow there will be just over 1,000 days until the year 2000. One thousand days to prepare our people. One thousand days to work together. One thousand days to build a bridge to a land of new promise. My fellow Americans, we have work to do. Let us seize those days and the century. Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America.3907
On Saturday, December 20, 1997, in his Annual Hanukkah Message, President William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton stated:
Warm greetings to everyone celebrating Hanukkah. The Festival of Lights is a powerful reminder each year that the age-old struggle for religious freedom is not yet over. From the days of the ancient Maccabees down to our present time, tyrants have sought to deny people the free expression of their faith and the right to live according to their own conscience and convictions. Hanukkah symbolizes the heroic struggle of all who seek to defeat such oppression and the miracles that come to those full of faith and courage.
This holiday holds special meaning for us in America, where freedom of religion is one of the cornerstones of our democracy.
The coming year will mark the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel, where the story of the first Hanukkah took place so many centuries ago. As families come together in prayer for the eight nights of Hanukkah, to reaffirm their hope in God and their gratitude for his faithfulness to his people, may the candles of the menorah light our way to a true and lasting peace for the people of the Middle East.
Hillary and I extend our warmest wishes to all those celebrating Hanukkah, all those who work for religious freedom, and all those who devote themselves to the cause of peace.3908