geeky
Reagan, who would become known as the "Great Communicator", began his address by commenting on how the "orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place". He complimented his predecessor, Jimmy Carter, for his "gracious cooperation in the transition process" and said that Carter had "shown a watching world that we are a united people pledged to maintaining a political system which guarantees individual liberty to a greater degree than any other".
Reagan then transitioned into a commentary on the nation's problems. He said:
"These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions. We suffer from the longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history. It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and the fixed-income elderly alike. It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people. Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, causing human misery and personal indignity. Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity."
He next criticized the tax burden that Americans lived under, and noted that as great as it was, it did not keep up with government spending. He said, "For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present." He added, "You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?"
Reagan cautioned that "the economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks, or months," but he was confident that they would be overcome by American resolve. He then expounded on the problem with reliance on Government to solve the problem. He said:
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. From time to time, we have been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. But if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price."
Reagan set a goal of creating "a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunity for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination." He also said that he planned to "curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government." He said "so there will be no misunderstanding, it is not my intention to do away with government. It is, rather, to make it work".
Reagan said that the time had come "to realize that we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We are not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline." He called for the beginning of "an era of national renewal", renewal of "our determination, our courage, and our strength" as well as of "our faith and our hope." He added:
"We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we are in a time when there are no heroes just don't know where to look. You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates. Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond. You meet heroes across a counter—and they are on both sides of that counter. There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth and opportunity. They are individuals and families whose taxes support the Government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity, culture, art, and education. Their patriotism is quiet but deep. Their values sustain our national life."
Reagan next reflected on compassion, and asked "How can we love our country and not love our countrymen, and loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they are sick, and provide opportunities to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory?"
Reagan spoke about his nation's place in the world, stating, "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." He pledged support his America's allies, and promised to "match loyalty with loyalty." For the nation's enemies, he said "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."
The next subject was religious faith. Reagan said:
"I am told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day, and for that I am deeply grateful. We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each Inauguration Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer."
Reagan noted how this was the first time that the ceremony had been held on the West Front of the Capitol. He noted the "magnificent vista" and the "shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we stand." He noted that he was in the presence of monuments to great presidents who had preceded him. He said:
"Directly in front of me, the monument to a monumental man: George Washington, Father of our country. A man of humility who came to greatness reluctantly. He led America out of revolutionary victory into infant nationhood. Off to one side, the stately memorial to Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence flames with his eloquence. And then beyond the Reflecting Pool the dignified columns of the Lincoln Memorial. Whoever would understand in his heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln."
Reagan next commented on the sight of Arlington National Cemetery and those buried there who had died to pay the price of freedom. In his inimitable fashion, he closed with an anecdote about one of the soldiers buried there:
"Under one such marker lies a young man, Martin Treptow, who left his job in a small town barber shop in 1917 to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division. There, on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire. We are told that on his body was found a diary. On the flyleaf under the heading, 'My Pledge,' he had written these words: 'America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.' The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together, with God's help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And, after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans. God bless you, and thank you."
Reagan's inaugural address was 2,452 words long. As Reagan was giving his address, the 52 Americans who had been held hostage in Iran for 444 days were released. The Reverend Donn Moomaw, pastor of the Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, where Reagan and his wife, Nancy, attendeded, gave the invocation and benediction at the ceremony, and said: "We thank you, oh God, for the release of our hostages." Reagan was about to have lunch with Congressional leaders in Statuary Hall in the Capitol after the inauguration ceremony when he was informed that the plane carrying the hostages had left Iranian airspace. During the luncheon, he broke the news saying: "With thanks to Almighty God, I have been given a tag line, the get-off line, that everyone wants for the end of a toast or a speech, or anything else. Some 30 minutes ago, the planes bearing our prisoners left Iranian air space, and they're now free of Iran."
Throughout Washington and throughout the country, there were celebrations to mark the inauguration and the release of the hostages. There were signs saying "444 DAYS!" as part of the celebrations. People placed yellow ribbons as a symbolic gesture for the hostages return and they started preparations for welcoming the freed hostages home. The yellow-ribbon became a symbol of the solidarity of Americans with the hostages.