1969尼克松就职演说.docVIP

First Inaugural Address of Richard Milhous Nixon MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 1969 　　Senator Dirksen, Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, President Johnson, Vice President Humphrey, my fellow Americans--and my fellow citizens of the world community: 　　I ask you to share with me today the majesty of this moment. In the orderly transfer of power, we celebrate the unity that keeps us free. 　　Each moment in history is a fleeting time, precious and unique. But some stand out as moments of beginning, in which courses are set that shape decades or centuries. 　　This can be such a moment. 　　Forces now are converging that make possible, for the first time, the hope that many of mans deepest aspirations can at last be realized. The spiraling pace of change allows us to contemplate, within our own lifetime, advances that once would have taken centuries. 　　In throwing wide the horizons of space, we have discovered new horizons on earth. 　　For the first time, because the people of the world want peace, and the leaders of the world are afraid of war, the times are on the side of peace. 　　Eight years from now America will celebrate its 200th anniversary as a nation. Within the lifetime of most people now living, mankind will celebrate that great new year which comes only once in a thousand years--the beginning of the third millennium. 　　What kind of nation we will be, what kind of world we will live in, whether we shape the future in the image of our hopes, is ours to determine by our actions and our choices. 　　The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker. This honor now beckons America--the chance to help lead the world at last out of the valley of turmoil, and onto that high ground of peace that man has dreamed of since the dawn of civilization. 　　If we succeed, generations to come will say of us now living that we mastered our moment, that we helped make the world safe for mankind. 　　This is our summons to greatness. 　　I believe the American people are