[Transcriber's note: President Johnson had first taken the oath of office
on board Air Force One on November 22, 1963, the day President Kennedy
was assassinated in Dallas. The election of 1964 was a landslide victory
for the Democratic Party. Mrs. Johnson joined the President on the
platform on the East Front of the Capitol; she was the first wife to
stand with her husband as he took the oath of office. The oath was
administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Leontyne Price sang at the
ceremony.]
My fellow countrymen, on this occasion, the oath I have taken before you
and before God is not mine alone, but ours together. We are one nation
and one people. Our fate as a nation and our future as a people rest not
upon one citizen, but upon all citizens.
This is the majesty and the meaning of this moment.
For every generation, there is a destiny. For some, history decides. For
this generation, the choice must be our own.
Even now, a rocket moves toward Mars. It reminds us that the world will
not be the same for our children, or even for ourselves in a short span
of years. The next man to stand here will look out on a scene different
from our own, because ours is a time of change--rapid and fantastic
change bearing the secrets of nature, multiplying the nations, placing
in uncertain hands new weapons for mastery and destruction, shaking old
values, and uprooting old ways.
Our destiny in the midst of change will rest on the unchanged character
of our people, and on their faith.