The Oath Of Office: “I, Jimmy Carter, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God.”

“For myself and for our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land.

“In this outward and physical ceremony we attest once again to the inner and spiritual strength of our nation. As my high school teacher. Miss Julia Coleman, used to say. ‘We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.’ Here before me is a Bible used in the inauguration of our first President in 1789, and I have just taken the oath of office on the Bible my mother gave me just a few years ago, opened to a timeless admonition from the ancient prophet Micah: ‘He hath showed thee. O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?’

“This inauguration ceremony marks a new beginning, a new dedication within our government and a new spirit among us all. A President may sense and proclaim that new spirit, but only a people can provide it. Two centuries ago our nation’s birth was a milestone in the long quest for freedom. But the bold and brilliant dream which excited the founders of this nation still awaits its consummation. I have no new dream to set forth today, but rather urge a fresh faith in the old dream. Ours was the first society openly to define itself in terms of both spirituality and human liberty. It is that unique self-definition which has given us an exceptional appeal...” ~ Jimmy Carter.

Alex Haley contributed to "A New Spirit, A New Commitment, A New America" by writing the chapter: "From Boyhood On A Red-Dirt Farm To The Governorship of Georgia."