Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President
Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy,
fellow citizens:
We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom
— symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning — signifying
renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty
God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and
three-quarters ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the
power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human
life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears
fought are still at issue around the globe — the belief that the
rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the
hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first
revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend
and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of
Americans — born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined
by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and
unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights
to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are
committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall
pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend,
oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
