the chief justice of will now administer the oath to the president.

are you ready to take the old. yeah, you raise your hands and repeat after me. i ronald reagan do solemnly swear. i ronald reagan solemnly swear as i will faithfully execute that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states. the office of president of the united states. will, to the best of my ability with the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states against tution of the united states help! so help me god. you certain.

the. rights? oh. senator mathias. chief justice berger, vice president bush. speaker o'neill, senator dole, reverend, clergy and members of my family and and my fellow citizens.

this day has been made brighter with the presence here of one who for a time has been absent. senator john stennis, god bless you and welcome back. there is, however, one who is not with us today. representative gillis long of louisiana left us last. and i wonder if we could all join in a moment of silent prayer prayer. amen. there are no words to adequate

to express. my thanks for the great honor that you on me. i will do my utmost to be deserving of your trust. this is as senator mathias told us, the 50th time that we, the people, have celebrated this historic occasion when the first president, george, placed his hand upon the bible. he stood 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've lighted the world with our inventions. gone to the aid of mankind. wherever in the world. there was a cry for help. journey to the moon. and safely. 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 economic stress. voices were raised saying that we to look to our past for the greatness and glory. but we the present day america 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 continued vision of that beginning. create a two centuries ago, when for the first time in history government, the people said was not our master. it is our servant. it's only power that which we the people, allow it to have. that system has never us. but for a time, we failed the. we asked things of government. that government was not equipped to. we yielded to the national

government. the property, to states or to local governments or to the people themselves. we allowed taxes and inflation to rob us of our earnings savings and watch the great machine that had made us the most productive people on earth. slow down in the number of unemployed. increase. by 1980. we knew it was time to renew our faith to, strive with all our strength toward ultimate in individual freedom, consistent with an orderly society. we believed then and now there are no limits to growth and human progress. when men and women are free to follow their dreams. and we were right. and we were right to believe that tax rates have been reduced. inflation and cut dramatically and more people are employed

than ever before in our history. we are creating a nation once again vibrant, robust and alive. there are many mountains yet to climb. we will not rest until every american enjoys fullness of freedom, dignity and opportunity as our birthright. it is our as citizens of this great republic. and if we meet this, these will be years when americans have restored their confidence and tradition of progress. when our values of faith family, work and neighborhood were restated for a modern age, when our economy was finally freed from government's grip. when we made sincere efforts at meaningful arms reductions. and by rebuilding our our economy and developing new technologies helped preserve peace in a troubled world. when america courageously

supported the struggle for individual liberty, self-government and free enterprise throughout the world and turned the tide of history away from totalitarian darkness and into the warm sunlight of human freedom. and fellow citizens. our nation is poised for greatness. we must do what we know is right and do it with all our might. let history say of us. these were golden years when the american revolution was reborn, when freedom, new life and america reached for her best. i our two party system has solved us, served as i should well over the years, but never better than in those times of great challenge. when we together not as democrats or, republicans, but as americans, united in a common

cause. two of our founding fathers, a boston lawyer named adams and a virginia planter named, jefferson, members of remarkable group who met in independence hall and dared to think they could start the world over it again. left us important lesson. they had become in the years then in government bitter political rivals in the presidential of 1800. then years later, when both were retired and age had softened anger, they began to speak to each other again through letters. a bond was reestablished. between those two who had helped create this government of ours. in 1826, the 50th anniversary of

the declaration of independence. they both died. they died on the same day within a few hours of each other. and that day was the 4th of july, in one of those letters exchange in the sunset of their lives, jefferson wrote, it carries me back to the when beset with difficulties and dangers. we were fellow laborers in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to man his right of self-governance and laboring, always at the same war with some way of ever ahead, threatening to overwhelm us, and yet passing harmless. we rode through the storm with heart and hand with heart in hand. let us stand as one today. one people under god. determined that our future shall be worthy of our past. as we do. we must not repeat the

well-intentioned of our past. we must never again abuse the trust of working men and women by sending their earnings on a futile chase after the spiraling demands of a bloated, federal, established. you elected us in 1982 and this prescription disaster. and i don't believe you reelected us in 1984 to reverse course. the heart of efforts is one idea vindicated by 25 straight months of economic growth freedom and incent gives unleash the drive an entrepreneurial genius that at the core of human progress, we have begun to increase rewards for work savings and investment, reduce the increase in the cost and size of government and its interference in people's lives.

we must simplify our system, make it more fair, and bring the rates down for all who work and earn. we must think anew and move with a new boldness. every american who seeks work can find work. so the least among us shall have an equal chance to achieve greatest things, to be heroes who heal our sick, feed the hungry, protect peace among nations, and leave this world a better place. the time has come for a new emancipation. a great national drive to tear down economic barriers and liberate the spirit of enterprise in the most distressed areas of our country. my friends together can do this and do it. we must. so help me. god. from new freedom will spring. new for growth. a more productive, fulfilled and united people. and a stronger america and

america that will lead the technological revolution and open its mind and heart and soul to the treasures of literature, music and poetry and the values of faith, courage and love. a dynamic economy with more citizens and paying taxes will be our strongest to bring down budget deficits. but in all, and almost. 50 years of deficit spending has finally us to a time of reckoning. we've come to a turning point a moment for hard. i have asked the cabinet, my staff a question and now i put the same question to all of you. if not us, who and? if not now? when? it be done by all of us going forward with a program aimed at reaching a balanced budget. we can then begin reducing the

national. i will shortly submit a budget to the congress aimed at freezing government programs for the next year. beyond this, we must take further steps to permanently control government's power to tax spend. we must act to protect future from government's desire to spend citizens money and tax them into servitude. when the bills come due, let us make it unconstitutional for the federal government to spend more than the federal government takes in. we have started returning to the people and to state and local governments responsibilities better handled by them. now there is a place the federal government in matters of social.

but our fundamental goals must be to reduce dependance and upgrade the dignity of those who are infirm or disabled. and here a growing and support from family and community all for our best chance for a society where compassion is a way of life? where the old and infirm are cared for the young and? yes, the unborn protected, and the unfortunate after and made selfish decisions and. now there is another area where the federal government can play a part. as an older american, i remember a time when people of different race creed, ethnic origin in our land found hatred and installed in social custom and yes in law. there is no story more in our

history than progress that we've made toward the brotherhood man that god intended for us. let us resolve. there will be no turning back or hesitation on the road. an america rich in dignity and abundant with opportunity for all our citizens. let us resolve that we the people, will build an american opportunity society in which all us white and black, rich and poor, young and old, will forward together. arm in arm again. let us remember that, though our heritage is one of bloodlines from every corner of the earth we are americans pledged to carry on this last, best of man on earth.

i have spoken, spoken of our domestic goals, the limitations we should put on our national government. now, let me turn to a task that is the primary responsibility of national government, the safety and security of our people. today, we utter no prayer more fervently than the ancient prayer. peace on earth. yet history has shown that peace does not come. nor will our freedom be preserved by goodwill alone. there are those in the world scorn our vision of human dignity and freedom. one nation, the soviet, has conducted the greatest military up in the history of man building arsenals of awesome weapons. we've made progress in restoring our defense capability, but much remains to be done. there must be no wavering by us, nor any doubts by others, that

america meet her responsibilities remain free, secure and at peace. there is only one way, safely and legitimately, to reduce the cost of national security, and that is to reduce the need for it. and this we're to do in negotiations with the soviet. we're not just limits on a further increase of nuclear weapons. we seek instead to reduce number. we seek the total elimination one day of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth. for decades, we, the soviets,

have lived under the threat of mutual destruction. if resorted to the use of nuclear weapons, the other could retaliate. and destroy the one who had started it. is there either logic or morality believing that if one side threatens to kill tens of millions of our people, our recourse is to threaten killing tens of millions of theirs. i have approved a research program defined if we cannot security shield that destroy nuclear missiles before they reach their targets. it wouldn't kill people. it would destroy weapons. it wouldn't militarize space. it would help deliver rise the arsenals of earth's. it would nuclear weapons obsolete? we will meet with the soviets that we can agree on. way to rid the world of the threat of nuclear destruction.

we strive for peace and security heartened by the changes all around us since the turn of the century, number of democracies in the world has grown. human freedom is on the march and nowhere more so than our own hemisphere. freedom is one of the deepest and noblest of the human spirit. people worldwide hunger for the right of self-determination for those inalienable rights that make human dignity and progress. america must remain staunchest. friend for freedom is best ally. and it is the world's only hope to conquer poverty and, preserve peace. every blow we inflict against poverty. be a blow against its dark allies of. oppression and war. every victory for human freedom

will be a victory. a world peace. so we go forward today. a nation still mighty in its youth and powerful in its purpose. with our alliance is strengthened. with our economy leading world to a new age of economic expansion. we look to a future rich in possibilities and. all of this is because we worked an act of together, not as of political parties, but as americans. my friends, we we live in a world that's lit by. so much as and will change. but so much endures and transcends. time. history is a ribbon always unfurling. history is a journey. and as we continue our journey, we think of those traveled before us. we stand again at the steps of this symbol of our democracy, where we would have been standing at the steps if it hadn't gotten so cold. now we're standing this symbol of our democracy and we see and

hear again the of our past. a general falls to his knees in the hard snow of valley. a lonely prison paces the darkened halls. powers ponders his struggle to preserve the union. the men of the alamo call out encouragement to each other. a settler pushes and sings a song and the song echoes forever and fills the unknowing air. it is the american sound. it is hopeful, big hearted, idealistic daring, decent and fair. that's our heritage. that's our song. we sing it still for all our problems, our differences. we are together as a board. we raise our voices to the god who was the author of most tender music. and may he continue to hold us close as we feel the world with our sands sound in unity,

affection and love. one people under god dedicated to the dream of freedom that he has placed in the human heart called upon now to pass that dream on to a waiting and a hopeful world. god bless you. may god bless america. thank you.

yeah. right. and then repeat after me. i, george herbert walker bush, do solemnly swear. i george herbert walker bush do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the