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Who really said it

There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America

Spoken by Bill Clinton b. 1946 · 42nd President of the United States (1993–2001)
Verified Free to reuse

Clinton delivered this line in his First Inaugural Address on 20 January 1993. The popular wording is exact — it matches the official transcript in the American Presidency Project ↗ and the Avalon Project ↗ word for word.

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America” Bill Clinton, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1993.

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In context

Evoking the world of Bill Clinton — 42nd President of the United States, 1993–2001 · Governor of Arkansas. Theme: "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The source

Speaker
Bill Clinton (42nd U.S. President)
Work
First Inaugural Address
Delivered
20 January 1993, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.
Confirmed wording
“…that cannot be cured by…” (not “fixed”)

Our democracy must not only be the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. And so today, we pledge an end to the era of deadlock and drift — a new season of American renewal has begun.

The closing movement of the address. Clinton stressed the antithesis in delivery — “nothing wrong…what is right” — which is why the line became one of his most quoted.

Read the full address at the American Presidency Project

How we confirmed it

Public domain

A U.S. presidential inaugural address delivered in an official capacity is a work of the U.S. Government and carries no copyright (17 U.S.C. §105); it is freely reproduced by government and academic archives and hosted in full by Project Gutenberg ↗.

Fact-check

The fine print on a genuine quote

The attribution to Clinton is correct — but three things about this line are worth getting straight.

“fixed” vs. “cured” common misquote

The line is very frequently rendered “…that cannot be fixed by what is right with America.” Every authoritative transcript — the American Presidency Project ↗ and the Avalon Project ↗ — reads “cured.” Clinton himself used “cured” when he revived the line on X ↗ in 2022.

the speechwriter's hand who wrote it

As with most presidential oratory, Clinton delivered the line but did not draft it in isolation; his chief speechwriter David Kusnet is widely credited with crafting the inaugural's language. The words are Clinton's to own as speaker, but they were written for the occasion, not spontaneous.

an older patriotic formula

The “nothing wrong with America / what is right with America” antithesis echoes a stock of earlier mid-century patriotic rhetoric (a similar sentiment is often attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower). Clinton’s specific, concise wording, however, is his own and is what entered the record in 1993.

Bottom line: the quote is authentically Clinton's, from the close of his 1993 First Inaugural Address — just make sure you say “cured,” per the official text ↗.

Context

Why it mattered

Clinton took office in January 1993 after twelve years of Republican presidencies, campaigning on generational change and economic “renewal.” The inaugural address built toward this line as its statement of optimism — the country’s problems, it argued, would be solved by the country’s own strengths rather than by ideology or despair.

The antithesis proved durable and portable: politicians have since adapted the template to their own causes (Alaska’s Dan Sullivan and Scotland’s Alex Salmond both borrowed the ‘nothing wrong with X that can’t be cured by what’s right with X’ frame), which is part of why the line is sometimes mistaken for an anonymous proverb.

There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Hope Character

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

First Inaugural Address (full text)presidency.ucsb.edu

The official transcript from the American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara — the authoritative delivered text.
First Inaugural Addressavalon.law.yale.edu

Yale Law School’s Avalon Project reproduction of the full 1993 address.
Bill Clintonen.wikiquote.org

Wikiquote’s sourced entry filing the line under the 1993 First Inaugural Address.
Inaugural Presidential Address (Clinton)gutenberg.org

Project Gutenberg’s public-domain e-text of the full address.
January 20, 1993: First Inauguralmillercenter.org

The Miller Center’s presidential-speech archive entry, with video and transcript.

The speaker

About Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

b. 1946 · 42nd President of the United States, 1993–2001 · Governor of Arkansas

William Jefferson Clinton served two terms as the 42nd President of the United States. A former governor of Arkansas known as a fluent, improvisational speaker, he opened his presidency with a First Inaugural Address themed on “American renewal” — the speech that produced this line. He remains one of the most-quoted living American politicians.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

William J. Clinton, “First Inaugural Address,” delivered 20 January 1993, Washington, D.C. Text in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1993, Book I (Washington: GPO); also American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara.

MLA (9th ed.)

Clinton, William J. "First Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1993, Washington, D.C. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1993, Book I, U.S. Government Printing Office; American Presidency Project, presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/inaugural-address-51.

APA (7th ed.)

Clinton, W. J. (1993, January 20). First inaugural address [Speech transcript]. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1993, Book I. Government Printing Office. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/inaugural-address-51

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/there-is-nothing-wrong-with-america-that-cannot-be-cured-by

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