Liberty was the second article of our covenant. It was self-government.
It was our Bill of Rights. But it was more. America would be a place
where each man could be proud to be himself: stretching his talents,
rejoicing in his work, important in the life of his neighbors and his
nation.
This has become more difficult in a world where change and growth seem
to tower beyond the control and even the judgment of men. We must work
to provide the knowledge and the surroundings which can enlarge the
possibilities of every citizen.
The American covenant called on us to help show the way for the
liberation of man. And that is today our goal. Thus, if as a nation
there is much outside our control, as a people no stranger is outside
our hope.
Change has brought new meaning to that old mission. We can never again
stand aside, prideful in isolation. Terrific dangers and troubles that
we once called "foreign" now constantly live among us. If American lives
must end, and American treasure be spilled, in countries we barely know,
that is the price that change has demanded of conviction and of our
enduring covenant.
Think of our world as it looks from the rocket that is heading toward
Mars. It is like a child's globe, hanging in space, the continents stuck
to its side like colored maps. We are all fellow passengers on a dot
of earth. And each of us, in the span of time, has really only a moment
among our companions.
How incredible it is that in this fragile existence, we should hate and
destroy one another. There are possibilities enough for all who will
abandon mastery over others to pursue mastery over nature. There is
world enough for all to seek their happiness in their own way.
Our Nation's course is abundantly clear. We aspire to nothing that
belongs to others. We seek no dominion over our fellow man, but man's
dominion over tyranny and misery.
But more is required. Men want to be a part of a common enterprise--a
cause greater than themselves. Each of us must find a way to advance the
purpose of the Nation, thus finding new purpose for ourselves. Without
this, we shall become a nation of strangers.