As mentioned in my post from Inaugural day, 2009, our presidents have a history of invoking God in their speeches. This is not necessarily taught in our schools or noticed by most people. Here are some more examples.
President George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address (1985):
God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind . . . the longing of the soul.
...
The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: 'Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it.'
President Ronald Reagan, First Anaugural (1981):
Your dreams, your hopes, your goals are going to be the dreams, the hopes, and the goals of this administration, so help me God.
...
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 Inaugural Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.
...
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.
President Woodrow Wilson's Second Inauguration Address (1917)
In their ardent heat we shall, in God's Providence, let us hope, be purged of faction and division, purified of the errant humours of party and of private interest, and shall stand forth in the days to come with a new dignity of national pride and spirit.
...
I pray God I may be given the wisdom and the prudence to do my duty in the true spirit of this great people.
President Herbert Hoover (1929)
This occasion is not alone the administration of the most sacred oath which can be assumed by an American citizen. It is a dedication and consecration under God to the highest office in service of our people. I assume this trust in the humility of knowledge that only through the guidance of Almighty Providence can I hope to discharge its ever-increasing burdens.
...
I ask the help of Almighty God in this service to my country to which you have called me.
President Lyndon B. Johnson (1965)
On this occasion, the oath I have taken before you and before God is not mine alone, but ours together.
...
But we have no promise from God that our greatness will endure. We have been allowed by Him to seek greatness with the sweat of our hands and the strength of our spirit.
...
If we fail now, we shall have forgotten in abundance what we learned in hardship: that democracy rests on faith, that freedom asks more than it gives, and that the judgment of God is harshest on those who are most favored.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, First Anaugural Address (1953)
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.
...
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.
...
In our quest of understanding, we beseech God's guidance.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Second Anaugural Address (1957)
Before all else, we seek, upon our common labor as a nation, the blessings of Almighty God. And the hopes in our hearts fashion the deepest prayers of our whole people.
...
And so the prayer of our people carries far beyond our own frontiers, to the wide world of our duty and our destiny.
No comments:
Post a Comment