They
didn't send us here to bicker. They ask us to rise above the
merely partisan. "In crucial things, unity"--and this, my friends,
is crucial.
To the world, too, we offer new engagement and a renewed vow: We
will stay strong to protect the peace. The "offered hand" is a
reluctant fist; but once made, strong, and can be used with great
effect. There are today Americans who are held against their will
in foreign lands, and Americans who are unaccounted for.
Assistance can be shown here, and will be long remembered. Good
will begets good will. Good faith can be a spiral that endlessly
moves on.
Great nations like great men must keep their word. When America
says something, America means it, whether a treaty or an agreement
or a vow made on marble steps. We will always try to speak
clearly, for candor is a compliment, but subtlety, too, is good
and has its place. While keeping our alliances and friendships
around the world strong, ever strong, we will continue the new
closeness with the Soviet Union, consistent both with our security
and with progress. One might say that our new relationship in part
reflects the triumph of hope and strength over experience. But
hope is good, and so are strength and vigilance.
Here today are tens of thousands of our citizens who feel the
understandable satisfaction of those who have taken part in
democracy and seen their hopes fulfilled.
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