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United States. Presidents.

"United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches"


This faith rules our whole way of life. It decrees that we, the
people, elect leaders not to rule but to serve. It asserts that we
have the right to choice of our own work and to the reward of our
own toil. It inspires the initiative that makes our productivity
the wonder of the world. And it warns that any man who seeks to
deny equality among all his brothers betrays the spirit of the
free and invites the mockery of the tyrant.
It is because we, all of us, hold to these principles that the
political changes accomplished this day do not imply turbulence,
upheaval or disorder. Rather this change expresses a purpose of
strengthening our dedication and devotion to the precepts of our
founding documents, a conscious renewal of faith in our country
and in the watchfulness of a Divine Providence.
The enemies of this faith know no god but force, no devotion but
its use. They tutor men in treason. They feed upon the hunger of
others. Whatever defies them, they torture, especially the truth.
Here, then, is joined no argument between slightly differing
philosophies. This conflict strikes directly at the faith of our
fathers and the lives of our sons. No principle or treasure that
we hold, from the spiritual knowledge of our free schools and
churches to the creative magic of free labor and capital, nothing
lies safely beyond the reach of this struggle.


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