Ronald Reagan

Today is the 25th anniversary of the release of 52 Americans held hostage by the Iranians for 444 days.

This event coincided with the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, sworn in as the 40th President of the United States.

President Reagan's inauguration was a watershed event in American history and World history.

The turbulence of the 1960s and the pessimism of the 1970s, the Carter malaise, had come to end. It was a new day, full of promise and hope.

The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall was unimaginable on January 20, 1981; yet within a decade, communism was crushed and millions were freed. Because of President Reagan, the world was freer and the United States was stronger, at home and abroad.

Would this have happened if the American people had elected Jimmy Carter to a second term?

Who knows?

It is indisputable that Ronald Reagan's leadership was instrumental in restoring strength to the nation, defeating oppression, and winning the Cold War.

All free people have reason to celebrate the anniversary of President Reagan's first inauguration.

Listening to his address, I'm struck by how his words resonate. His message remains as relevant today as it was 25 years ago.

First Inaugural Address

Audio mp3 of Address

Tuesday, January 20, 1981

(Excerpt)


On the eve of our struggle for independence a man who might have been one of the greatest among the Founding Fathers, Dr. Joseph Warren, President of the Massachusetts Congress, 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 greater 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 our 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.