The Ideals of American Democracy

It is worth remembering just how radical the whole idea of self-government really was back

in 1776.

To that point, human history was a tale of conquest and caste and rigid hierarchies.

A world where the strong dominated the weak, where power and wealth and status flowed through

lineage, and the many were ruled by the few.

But out of the fire and steel of a revolution, a different story took flight.

On this continent, a declaration that we are all created equal.

endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,

and that in the newly independent United States,

there will be no kings or lords,

no serfs or subjects, but only citizens,

each of us free to pursue our own version of happiness,

and able to determine our collective fate

through an elected representative government.

It had not been done.

And because it hadn't been done before,

the success of this experiment was never a given.

In forming our union, the founders fell terribly short

of the Declaration's promise, leaving slavery intact.

Allowing states to restrict the franchise to white men who own property, but in drafting

a Constitution and a Bill of Rights, they did have the foresight, the genius, to provide

us with a framework that allows each generation to make our union more perfect.

And over more than two centuries, through petitions and protests, marches and strikes,

moral appeals from the pulpit, and conversations at the family dinner table, men and women

from all walks of life, of every color, every faith, every region.

took up the cause of democracy and made it their own until we, the people, came to include

not just some of us, but all of us.

And that's why the story we tell in this building begins not with Michelle's origins

or my origins, but with our nation's.

With a founding era print of the Declaration of Independence, and a pen and ink stand used

by Frederick Douglass, Lincoln's Bible, and a pamphlet by Ida B. Wells, suffragist buttons,

and a hard hat worn by FDR's Labor Secretary, Francis Perkins.

And it's why the exhibits here focus not just on policies, but on the shared values

that make democracy possible.

A belief in the intrinsic dignity and worth of all people, and that no one is above the

law or beneath its protection.

A belief in checks and balances in our government, and an accountability that comes with an independent

judiciary and a robust free press.

A belief that our military and law enforcement owe allegiance not to any president or political

party, but to the people and our Constitution.

A belief in the peaceful transfer of power after the people have spoken in fair and free

It's a belief that gets its way a hundred percent of the time.

And a belief that qualities of character – honesty, integrity, kindness, compassion, a

sense of duty and honor – that those things matter in our public dealings, just as they

do in our private lives.

These are not – these are the values and traditions I believe in.

And they are not Republican or Democratic values.

They are American values we can all share, regardless of party.

It is our greatest inheritance.

The story of America at its best.

It reflects a basic faith in the decency of our fellow citizens and the possibility that,

despite all of our differences, we can see each other and understand one another and

make common cause together.