First Inaugural Address of Ronald Reagan

the Massachusetts Conss, said to his fellow Americans, "Our country is

in danger, but not to be despaired of.... On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important

questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves."

Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to

ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children and our children's children.

And as we renew ourselves here in our own land, we will be seen as having ater strength throughout the world. We

will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom.

To those neighbors and allies who share our freedom, we will strengthen our historic ties and assure them of our

support and firm commitment. We will match loyalty with loyalty. We will strive for mutually beneficial relations.

We will not use our friendship to impose on their sovereignty, for or own sovereignty is not for sale.

As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest

aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it--now or

ever.

Our forbearance should never be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of

will. When action is required to preserve our national security, we will act. We will maintain sufficient strength

to prevail if need be, knowing that if we do so we have the best chance of never having to use that strength.

Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will

and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a

weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their

neighbors.

I am told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day, and for that I am deeply grateful.

We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think, if

on each Inauguration Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.

This is the first time in history that this ceremony has been held, as you have been told, on this West Front of

the Capitol. Standing here, one faces a magnificent vista, opening up on this city's special beauty and history. At

the end of this open mall are those shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we stand.

Directly in front of me, the monument to a monumental man: George Washington, Father of our country. A man of

humility who came to atness reluctantly. He led America out of revolutionary victory into infant nationhood. Off

to one side, the stately memorial to Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence flames with his eloquence.

And then beyond the Reflecting Pool the dignified columns of the Lincoln Memorial. Whoever would understand in his

heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln.

Beyond those monuments to heroism is the Potomac River, and on the far shore the sloping hills of Arlington

National Cemetery with its row on row of simple white markers bearing crosses or Stars of David. They add up to

only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom.

Each one of those markers is a monument to the kinds of hero I spoke of earlier. Their lives ended in places called

Belleau Wood, The Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno and halfway around the world on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop

Hill, the Chosin Reservoir, and in a hundred rice paddies and jungles of a place called Vietnam.

Under one such marker lies a young man--Martin Treptow--who left his job in a small town barber shop in 1917 to go

to France with the famed Rainbow Division. There, on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message

between battalions under heavy artillery fire.

We are told that on his body was found a diary. On the flyleaf under the heading, "My Pledge," he had written these

words: "America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will

fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone."

The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many

thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to

believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform at deeds; to believe that together, with God's

help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.

And, after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans. God bless you, and thank you.

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