This is, as Senator Mathias told us, the 50th time that we the
people have celebrated this historic occasion. When the first
President, George Washington, placed his hand upon the Bible, he
stood less than a single day's journey by horseback from raw,
untamed wilderness. There were 4 million Americans in a union of
13 States. Today we are 60 times as many in a union of 50 States.
We have lighted the world with our inventions, gone to the aid of
mankind wherever in the world there was a cry for help, journeyed
to the Moon and safely returned. So much has changed. And yet we
stand together as we did two centuries ago.
When I took this oath four years ago, I did so in a time of
economic stress. Voices were raised saying we had to look to our
past for the greatness and glory. But we, the present-day
Americans, are not given to looking backward. In this blessed
land, there is always a better tomorrow.
Four years ago, I spoke to you of a new beginning and we have
accomplished that. But in another sense, our new beginning is a
continuation of that beginning created two centuries ago when, for
the first time in history, government, the people said, was not
our master, it is our servant; its only power that which we the
people allow it to have.
That system has never failed us, but, for a time, we failed the
system.
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