KEY POINTS:
Those who expected a reprise of the rousing rhetoric that propelled President Barack Obama to the White House could well have been disappointed by his inauguration address. Instead of lofty notions about change and the audacity of hope, and the remarkable journey of the son of a Kenyan goatherd, they got 18 minutes of grounded, sometimes harsh, comment on the mistakes of the recent past and the difficult road ahead. But if this was not a typical, ideologically based inauguration speech, it was all the better for it. President Obama discerned, correctly, that this was a time to speak of the seriousness of the problems facing the United States, not to bathe in Washington's euphoric atmosphere.
Most compellingly, Americans were put on notice that transforming their country was not a task that could be accomplished by the President alone, contrary to the huge expectations. Indeed, if one phrase from the address resounds down through the ages, like those of Roosevelt, Kennedy and Reagan, it is likely to be the invoking of "a new era of responsibility". Americans were asked to recognise duties to themselves, their nation, and the world. This would leave no time for the "childish things" that had preoccupied people during the eight years of the Bush Administration, and which had underlain "a collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age".
The transformation foreseen by President Obama will be possible only if he retains the sense of national unity that currently flows through the US. His address was, therefore, deliberately inclusive. The soldiers who endured the siege of Khe Sanh, at the height of the unpopular Vietnam War, were mentioned in the same breath as those who fought at Gettysburg and and Normandy. And America was recognised as "a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers".
President Obama also knows that renewed confidence, as much as the input of trillions of dollars, is fundamental to the rapid recovery of the American economy. His address, therefore, included paeans to the US workforce and the values of traditional enterprise. "Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished," he said. The test of his presidency will, however, be not so much the productive side of the US economy as the consumption woes that sparked the credit crunch.
In terms of foreign policy, the address offered new friendship, notably to the Muslim world, and a message that America was ready to lead once more. In a clear reference to Iraq, President Obama also noted that power did not entitle the US to do as it pleased. This did not mean, however, that America would be a soft touch. Those embracing terrorism were told it would not apologise for its way of life and would not waver in its defence. "You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you." This suggests a finessing of emphasis and expulsion of past excesses, rather than a through-going breach with the broad thrust of past policy.
Such was also the case when the President spoke of the consequences of greed and irresponsibility, while also reaffirming the market's "unmatched" power to generate wealth and expand freedom. At times, however, the treading of such fine lines will not be possible. Hard decisions on regulation and suchlike will have to be taken. The inauguration address indicated this would be the most pragmatic of administrations. "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works," President Obama said. For a nation at war and struggling with a badly damaged economy, such pragmatism seems a reasonable starting point.
