Page:Inaugural Address of Governor George C. Wallace (1963).pdf/14

 We remind all within hearing of this Southland that a, Peyton Randolph, presided over the Continental Congress in our nation's beginning...that a , Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Declaration of Independence, that a , George Washington, is the Father of our Country...that a , James Madison, authored our Constitution, that a , George Mason, authored the Bill of Rights and it was a Southerner who said, "Give me liberty......or give me death," Patrick Henry.

Southerners played a most magnificent part in erecting this great divinely inspired system of freedom..and as God is our witness, Southerners will save it.

Let us, as Alabamians, grasp the hand of destiny and walk out of the shadow of fear...and fill our divine destination. Let us not simply defend..but let us assume the leadership of the fight and carry our leadership across this nation. God has placed us here in this crisis...let us not fail in this..our most historical moment.

You that are here today, present in this audience, and to you over this great state, wherever you are in sound of my voice, I want to humbly and with all sincerity, thank you for your faith in me.

I promise you that I will try to make you a good governor. I promise you that, as God gives me the wisdom and the strength, I will be sincere with you. I will be honest with you.

I will apply the old sound rule of our fathers, that anything worthy of our defense is worthy of one hundred percent of our defense. I have been taught that freedom meant freedom from any threat or fear of government. I was born in that freedom, I was raised in that freedom...I intend to live in that freedom...and God willing, when I die, I shall leave that freedom to my children...as my father left it to me.

My pledge to you...to "Stand up for Alabama," is a stronger