Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, Senator Cook, Mrs. Eisenhower,
and my
fellow citizens of this great and good country we share
together:
When we met here four years ago, America was bleak in spirit, depressed by the prospect
of seemingly endless war abroad and of destructive conflict at home. As we meet here
today, we stand on the threshold of a new era of peace in the world. The central
question before us is: How shall we use that peace?
Let us resolve that this era we are about to enter
will not be what other postwar periods have so often been: a time of retreat and
isolation that leads to stagnation at home and invites new danger abroad.
Let us resolve that this will be what it can become: a time of great responsibilities
greatly borne, in which we renew the spirit and the promise of America as we enter
our
third century as a nation.
This past year saw far-reaching results from our new policies for peace. By continuing to revitalize our traditional friendships,
and by our missions to Peking and to Moscow, we were able to establish the base for
a new and more durable pattern of relationships among the nations of the
world.Because of America’s bold initiatives,
1972 will be long remembered as the year of the greatest progress since the end of
World War II toward a lasting peace in the world.
The peace we seek in the world is not the flimsy peace which is merely an interlude
between wars, but a peace which can endure for
generations to come.
It is important that we understand both the necessity and the limitations of America’s
role in maintaining that peace. Unless we in America work to
preserve the peace, there will be no peace. Unless we
in America work to preserve freedom, there will be no freedom.
But let us clearly understand the new nature of America’s role, as a result of the
new
policies we have adopted over these past four years.
We shall respect our treaty commitments. We shall
support vigorously the principle that no country has the right to impose its will
or
rule on another by force. We shall continue, in this era of negotiation, to work for
the limitation of nuclear arms, and to reduce the danger of confrontation between
the great powers. We shall do our share in defending peace and freedom in the world.
But we shall expect others to do their share.
The time has passed when America will make every other
nation’s conflict our own, or make every other nation’s future our responsibility,
or presume to tell the people of other nations how to manage their own affairs. Just
as we respect the right of each nation to determine its own future, we also
recognize the responsibility of each nation to secure its own future. Just
as America’s role is indispensable in preserving the world’s peace, so is each nation’s
role indispensable in preserving its own peace.
Together with the rest of the world, let us resolve to
move forward from the beginnings we have made. Let us continue to bring down the
walls of hostility which have divided the world for too long, and to build in their
place bridges of understanding—so that despite profound differences between systems
of government, the people of the world can be friends.
Let us build a structure of peace in the
worldin which the weak are as safe as the strong—in
which each respects the right of the other to live by a different system—in
which those who would influence others will do so by the strength of their ideas,
and
not by the force of their arms.
Let us accept that high responsibility not as a burden, but gladly—gladly because
the
chance to build such a peace is the noblest endeavor in which a
nation can engage; gladly, also, because only if we act greatly in meeting
our responsibilities abroad will we remain a great Nation, and only if we remain a
great
Nation will we act greatly in meeting our challenges at home.
We have the chance today to do more than ever before in our history to make life better
in America—to ensure better education, better health, better housing, better transportation, a
cleaner environment—to restore respect for law, to make our communities more
livable—and to insure the God-given
rightof every American to full and equal
opportunity. Because the range of our needs is so great—because the reach of
our opportunities is so great—let us be bold in our determination to meet those needs
in
new ways.
Just as building a structure of peace abroad has required turning away from old policies
that failed, so building a new era of progress at home requires
turning away from old policies that have failed.
Abroad, the shift from old policies to new has not been a retreat from our
responsibilities, but a better way to peace. And at home, the
shift from old policies to new will not be a retreat from our responsibilities, but
a better way to progress. Abroad and at home, the key to those new
responsibilities lies in the placing and the division of responsibility. We have lived
too long with the consequences of attempting to gather all power and responsibility
in
Washington. Abroad and at home, the time has come to turn away from the condescending
policies of paternalism—of “Washington knows best.”
A person can be expected to act responsibly only if he has responsibility. This is
human
nature. So let us encourage individuals at home and nations abroad to do more for
themselves, to decide more for themselves. Let us locate responsibility in more places.
Let us measure what we will do for others by what they will do for themselves.
That is why today I offer no promise of a purely
governmental solution for every problem. We have lived too long with that false
promise. In trusting too much in government, we have asked of it more than it can
deliver. This leads only to inflated expectations, to reduced individual
effort, and to a disappointment and frustration that erode confidence both in what
government can do and in what people can do.
Government must learn to take less from people so
that people can do more for themselves. Let us remember that America was built not
by government, but by people—not by welfare, but by work—not by shirking
responsibility, but by seeking responsibility. In our own lives, let each of us
ask—not just what will government do for me, but what can I do for myself? In the
challenges we face together, let each of us ask—not just how can government help,
but how can I help?
Your National Government has a great and vital role to play. And I pledge to you that
where this Government should act, we will act boldly and we will lead boldly. But
just
as important is the role that each and every one of us must play, as an individual
and
as a member of his own community.
From this day forward, let each of us make a solemn commitment in his own heart: to
bear
his responsibility, to do his part, to live his ideals—so that together, we can see the dawn of a new age of progress for America,
and together, as we celebrate our 200th anniversary as a nation,
we can do so proud in the fulfillment of our promise to ourselves and to the
world.
As America’s longest and most difficult war comes to an end, let us
again learn to debate our differences with civility and decency. And let each of us
reach out for that one precious quality government cannot provide—a new level of
respect for the rights and feelings of one another, a new level of respect
for the individual human dignity which is the cherished birthright of every American.
Above all else, the time has come for us to renew our faith in ourselves and in
America.
In recent years, that faith has been challenged. Our children
have been taught to be ashamed of their country, ashamed of their parents, ashamed
of America’s record at home and of its role in the world.
At every turn, we have been beset by those who find everything
wrong with America and little that is right. But I am confident that this will not
be the judgment of history on these remarkable times in which we are privileged to
live. America’s record in this century has been
unparalleled in the world’s history for its responsibility, for its generosity, for
its creativity and for its progress. Let us be proud
that our system has produced and provided more freedom and more abundance, more
widely shared, than any other system in the history of the world.
Let us be proud that in each of the four wars in which we have been engaged in this
century, including the one we are now bringing to an end, we have fought not for our
selfish advantage, but to help others resist aggression. Let us be proud that by our
bold, new initiatives, and by our steadfastness for peace with honor, we have made a break-through toward creating in the
world what the world has not known before—a structure of peace that can last, not
merely for our time, but for generations to come. We are embarking here today
on an era that presents challenges great as those any nation, or any generation, has
ever faced.
We shall answer to God, to history, and to our conscience
for the way in which we use these years. As I stand in
this place, so hallowed by history, I think of others who have stood here before me.
I think of the dreams they had for America, and I think of how each
recognized that he needed help far beyond himself in order to make those dreams come
true.
Today, I ask your prayers that in the years ahead I may have God’s
help in making decisions that are right for America, and I pray for your
help so that together we may be worthy of our challenge. Let us pledge together to
make
these next four years the best four years in America’s history, so that on its 200th
birthday America will be as young and as vital as when it began, and as bright a beacon
of hope for all the world.
Let us go forward from here confident in hope, strong in our faith
in one another, sustained by our faith in God who created us, and striving always
to
serve His purpose.