Second Inaugural Address

Because of extreme cold weather, Chief Justice Warren Burger administered the official oath of office in the White House on January 20, 1985. A public administration of the oath of office and the inaugural address were delayed until January 21, 1985, in the Capitol Rotunda.

On the 50th inauguration since George Washington’s, Reagan marvels at America’s growth and inventions, including journeying to the moon and back. “There are no limits to growth and human progress when men and women are free to follow their dreams.” Our values of faith, family, work, and neighborhood were restored “when our economy was finally freed from government’s grip”.

America supports "individual liberty, self-government, and free enterprise throughout the world…” We deal best with great challenges when we come “together not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans united in a common cause.”

“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 Establishment.” “Freedom and incentives unleash the drive and entrepreneurial genius that are the core of human progress.”

“We must act now to protect future generations from government's desire to spend its citizens' money and tax them into servitude when the bills come due.” Though “our heritage is one of blood lines from every corner of the Earth, we are all Americans, pledged to carry on this last, best hope of man on Earth.”

Rather than relying on mutual assured destruction, we need “a security shield that will destroy nuclear missiles before they reach their target” and “render nuclear weapons obsolete.”

We are “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 hopeful world.”

Audio recording courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

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Release date

Audiobook: 2 August 2024