Common sense told us that to preserve the peace, we'd have to become strong again after years of weakness and confusion. So, we rebuilt our defenses, and this New Year we toasted the new peacefulness around the globe. Not only have the superpowers actually begun to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons...but the regional conflicts that rack the globe are also beginning to cease.

I am told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day; for that I am deeply grateful. We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each inaugural day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.

They've done away with those committees. That shows the success of what the Soviets were able to do in this country.

Government is not the solution, but rather the cause of our problems.

Let us thank God for life and the blessings He's put before us. High among them are our families, our freedom, and the opportunities of a new year.

We're Americans, and we have a rendezvous with destiny . . . No people who have ever lived on this earth have fought harder, paid a higher price for freedom, or done more to advance the dignity of man than Americans.

I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease. . .. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.