Mr. Chief Justice, my dear friends, my fellow Americans: 首席大法官先生，我亲爱的朋友们，美国同胞们：
The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the Constitution. But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts. 我所宣誓的誓言，与乔治·华盛顿以及宪法下每一位总统所宣誓的誓言相同。但我是在美国人民从未经历过的特殊情况下就任总统的。这是一个让我们心情沉重、心灵受伤的历史时刻。
Therefore, I feel it is my first duty to make an unprecedented compact with my countrymen. Not an inaugural address, not a fireside chat, not a campaign speech -- just a little straight talk among friends. And I intend it to be the first of many. 因此，我认为我的首要职责是与我的同胞们达成一项前所未有的契约。这不是就职演说，不是炉边谈话，不是竞选演讲——只是朋友们之间的坦诚交谈。我打算让这成为许多次中的第一次。
I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many. If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises. I have not campaigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. I have not subscribed to any partisan platform. I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman -- my dear wife -- as I begin this very difficult job. 我深刻意识到，你们并没有通过投票选举我为总统，所以我请求你们用祈祷来确认我作为你们总统的身份。我希望这样的祈祷也能成为许多次中的第一次。如果你们没有通过秘密投票选择我，我也没有通过任何秘密承诺获得这个职位。我既没有竞选总统，也没有竞选副总统。我没有签署任何党派纲领。在开始这项非常困难的工作时，我不欠任何人的情，只欠一个人——我亲爱的妻子。
I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people. 我没有寻求这份巨大的责任，但我不会逃避它。那些提名并确认我担任副总统的人是我的朋友，现在仍然是我的朋友。他们来自两党，由全体人民选举产生，并以人民的名义根据宪法行事。因此，我理应向他们和你们承诺，我将成为全体人民的总统。
Thomas Jefferson said the people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. And down the years, Abraham Lincoln renewed this American article of faith asking, "Is there any better way or equal hope in the world?" 托马斯·杰斐逊说过，人民是维护我们自由的唯一可靠依靠。多年来，亚伯拉罕·林肯重申了这一美国信仰，他问道："世界上还有更好的方式或同样的希望吗？"
I intend, on Monday next, to request of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate the privilege of appearing before the Congress to share with my former colleagues and with you, the American people, my views on the priority business of the Nation and to solicit your views and their views. And may I say to the Speaker and the others, if I could meet with you right after these remarks, I would appreciate it. 我打算在下周一请求众议院议长和参议院临时议长允许我在国会面前发表演讲，与我以前的同事们以及你们美国人民分享我对国家优先事务的看法，并征求你们和他们的意见。议长先生和各位，如果我能在这些讲话之后立即与你们会面，我将不胜感激。
Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together. 尽管这是选举年的后期，但除了共同前进，我们别无选择；除了服务于人民的迫切需求，没有人能获胜。我们不能停滞不前或倒退。我们现在必须共同前进。
To the peoples and the governments of all friendly nations, and I hope that could encompass the whole world, I pledge an uninterrupted and sincere search for peace. America will remain strong and united, but its strength will remain dedicated to the safety and sanity of the entire family of man, as well as to our own precious freedom. I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself. That bond, though stained, is unbroken at home and abroad. 我向所有友好国家的人民和政府——我希望这能涵盖全世界——承诺，将不间断地真诚寻求和平。美国将保持强大和团结，但我们的力量将致力于整个人类大家庭的安全与理智，以及我们自己宝贵的自由。我相信，真理是维系政府的纽带——不仅是我们的政府，还有文明本身。尽管这个纽带受到了玷污，但在国内外它仍然完好无损。
In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end. 在担任总统期间的所有公开和私人行为中，我期望遵循我开放和坦率的本能，并完全相信诚实最终总是最好的政策。
My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. 美国同胞们，我们漫长的国家噩梦已经结束。
Our Constitution works. Our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy. As we bind up the internal wounds of Watergate, more painful and more poisonous than those of foreign wars, let us restore the golden rule to our political process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate. 我们的宪法是有效的。我们伟大的共和国是一个法治而非人治的政府。在这里，人民当家作主。但还有一个更高的力量，无论我们以什么名义尊崇他，他不仅颁布正义，也颁布爱；不仅颁布公正，也颁布仁慈。当我们包扎水门事件的内部创伤——这比对外战争的创伤更痛苦、更有毒——时，让我们将黄金法则恢复到我们的政治进程中，让兄弟之爱清除我们心中的猜疑和仇恨。
In the beginning, I asked you to pray for me. Before closing, I ask again your prayers, for Richard Nixon and for his family. May our former President, who brought peace to millions, find it for himself. May God bless and comfort his wonderful wife and daughters, whose love and loyalty will forever be a shining legacy to all who bear the lonely burdens of the White House. I can only guess at those burdens, although I have witnessed at close hand the tragedies that befell three Presidents and the lesser trials of others. 一开始，我请求你们为我祈祷。在结束之前，我再次请求你们为理查德·尼克松和他的家人祈祷。愿我们的前总统——他曾为数百万人带来和平——也能为自己找到和平。愿上帝保佑和安慰他出色的妻子和女儿们，她们的爱和忠诚将永远成为所有承担白宫孤独重担的人的光辉遗产。我只能猜测那些重担是什么，尽管我曾亲眼目睹了三位总统遭遇的悲剧以及其他人较小的考验。
With all the strength and all the good sense I have gained from life, with all the confidence of my family, my friends, and my dedicated staff impart to me, and with the good will of countless Americans I have encountered in recent visits to 40 States, I now solemnly reaffirm my promise I made to you last December 6: To uphold the Constitution; to do what is right as God gives me to see the right; and to do the very best I can for America. 凭借我从生活中获得的所有力量和良好判断力，凭借我的家人、朋友和敬业的工作人员给予我的所有信心，以及我在最近访问40个州时遇到的无数美国人的善意，我现在庄严重申我去年12月6日向你们做出的承诺：维护宪法；做上帝让我看到正确的事；尽我所能为美国服务。
God helping me, I will not let you down. 愿上帝帮助我，我不会让你们失望。
Thank you. 谢谢你们。