We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
- Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
Modern Presidential Inaugural Addresses are all measured by Lincoln's Second. Delivered in 1865 (five months before his murder) at a moment when the Union's military victory was expected, its theme was forward looking.
But a better measure may be the Gettysburg Address. Four score and seven years ago brings the listener not to the Constitution and its failed compromises but to July 4, 1776 - the Declaration of Independence and its opening evocation of ideals of the European Enlightenment and of representative government. Since then the success and failure of the nation has been measured by the gap between the Declaration's opening invocation and our present condition. - GWC
Joe Biden Inaugural (2021)
Links:
Abraham Lincoln - Gettysburg Address (1863) performed by Jeff Daniels
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