Compromise Is The Oil That Makes Governments

I Once Told You That I Am Not A Saint, And I Hope Never To See The Day That I Cannot Admit Having Made A Mistake. So I Will Close With Another Confession. Frequently, Along The Tortuous Road Of Recent Months From This Chamber To The Presidents House, I Protested That I Was My Own Man. Now I Realize That I Was Wrong. I Am Your Man, For It Was Your Carefully Weighed Confirmation That Changed My Occupation. The Truth Is I Am The Peoples Man, For You Acted In Their Name, And I Accepted And Began My New And Solemn Trust With A Promise To Serve All The People And Do The Best That I Can For America.

In A Political Sense, There Is One Problem That Currently Underlies All Of The Others. That Problem Is Making Government Sufficiently Responsive To The People. If We Don't Make Government Responsive To The People, We Don't Make It Believable. And We Must Make Government Believable If We Are To Have A Functioning Democracy.

My Fellow Americans, Our Long National Nightmare Is Over.

We Must Introduce A New Balance In The Relationship Between The Individual And The Government--a Balance That Favors Greater Individual Freedom And Self-reliance.

My Goal Is For A Cooperative World At Peace, Using Its Resources To Build, Not To Destroy.