A: Good evening, my fellow Americans. Three days
from now, after a half-century of service of our
country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of of-
fice as, in a traditional and solemn ceremony, the
authority of the Presidency is vested in my suc-
cessor. This evening I come to you with a mes-
sage of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a
few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.
A: Like every other citizen, I wish the new President,
and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray
that the coming years will be blessed with peace
and prosperity for all.
A: Our people expect their President and the
Congress to find essential agreement on ques-
tions of great importance, the wise resolution of
which will better shape the future of our great
nation. My own relations with Congress began
on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago,
a member of the Senate appointed me to West
Point. I then had the pleasure of building more in-
timate relationship with Congress during the war
and immediate post-war period. Finally, we have
progressed to the mutually interdependent rela-
tionship we’ve had during these past eight years. |