'Ready to lead'

"Honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism" ever have been the bedrock of America's success, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday. They are values embodied in the ringing vision of a man who envisioned that one day this nation would "rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.' "

Obama emerged Tuesday from the heart of the Rev. Martin Luther King's dream to shoulder the responsibility of a new American era, and he asked the American people to bear the burden with him through a national return to those bedrock values. "Know that America is a friend of each nation … and that we are ready to lead once more."

Part of King's dream was realized when a newly sworn black president finished his inauguration speech and turned to hug his white predecessor. Generous and gracious throughout the transition, President George W. Bush momentarily rested his chin on Obama's shoulder.

The moment tied up a devastating loose end left by the Founding Fathers. Future generations would taste, as Obama put it, "the bitter swill of Civil War and segregation." It took Harriet Tubman and Abraham Lincoln, Jackie Robinson and King, and millions of others to build an even better America, a more united, United States.

Now Obama turns to the challenges of what he termed this New Era of Responsibility. "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America," he said. "For everywhere we look, there is work to be done."

know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.