liberty, we will surpass
in greater liberty.

Steadfast in our faith in the Almighty, we will advance toward a world
where man's freedom is secure.

To that end we will devote our strength, our resources, and our firmness
of resolve. With God's help, the future of mankind will be assured in a
world of justice, harmony, and peace.

*****

Dwight D. Eisenhower First Inaugural Address Tuesday, January 20, 1953

MY friends, before I begin the expression of those thoughts that I
deem appropriate to this moment, would you permit me the privilege of
uttering a little private prayer of my own. And I ask that you bow your
heads:

Almighty God, as we stand here at this moment my future associates in
the executive branch of government join me in beseeching that Thou will
make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people in
this throng, and their fellow citizens everywhere.

Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and
allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby, and by the laws
of this land. Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all the
people regardless of station, race, or calling.

May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who, under
the concepts of our Constitution, hold to differing political faiths;
so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory.
Amen.

My fellow citizens:

The world and we have passed the midway point of a century of continuing
challenge. We sense with all our faculties that forces of good and evil
are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history.

This fact defines the meaning of this day. We are summoned by this
honored and historic ceremony to witness more than the act of one
citizen swearing his oath of service, in the presence of God. We are
called as a people to give testimony in the sight of the world to our
faith that the future shall belong to the free.

Since this century's beginning, a time of tempest has seemed to come
upon the continents of the earth. Masses of Asia have awakened to strike
off shackles of the past. Great nations of Europe have fought their
bloodiest wars. Thrones have toppled and their vast empires have
disappeared. New nations have been born.

For our own country, it has been a time of recurring trial. We have
grown in power and in responsibility. We have passed through the
anxieties of depression and of war to a summit unmatched in man'