Achievements. More than 1000 cadets receive their commission as Second Lieutenants in the u. S. Army. At the ceremony, the president was accompanied by luke tenet general darrell williams. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States, accompanied by the president of the United States military academy. , order arms. Ladies and gentlemen, the chaplain will now offer this mornings invocation. God, gather here on the plane and online to celebrate the graduation of the class of 2020. We lead expresses their worldview that leaders of the future have a responsibility to have a vision and to see that for without a, vision, the people perish. So make us, lord, instruments of pride and, that all prejudice macys, where there is darkness, let us bring light. Ande there is despair, hope life. Where there is confusion, clarity. Where there is hatred, charity. Help us desire list to be ,nderstood then to understand and with this vision, to renew the spirit of our land. Amen. Cadets, take
Captioning performed by vitac as a service to the washington community. Details on how to donate and details on future programming are on the back of the flier that was available outside. Let me also thank a couple of individuals who behind the scenes kind of put this event together, jeff reeger, assistant director of the National History center. Over there. Pete all the way in the back on my team and our two interns, kyle nichols and su yan kim who you will be meeting during the q a, they will be running the mics for which we ask you to please wait and then once you are called on, please at the same time state your name and affiliation. Let me welcome Professor William roger lewis from texas who is joining us here today and remind all of you finally to turn off your mobile devices or silence them so you dont interrupt the intense discussion that we will be asking here this afternoon. With that i will turn it over to eric to introduce our featured speaker today. Thank you, christian. W
Democracy the United States and japan. The Wilson Center and National History center cohosted this discussion. Its about 90 minutes. All right. I think well get started. Its 4 00 on a monday afternoon, which means its time for the washington history seminar. Welcome, everyone, to the Wilson Center. Welcome to this installment of the washington history seminar. Im christian oserman. I have the privilege of cochairing the seminar with professor eric arnesen from George Washington university. Im dlielighted to see so many you here on this beautiful afternoon. We will have cspan taping the event today, so for those welcome to all of those who are viewing us at home. And i suggest you visit our website to learn more about the seminar and upcoming speakers. Both the National History center and the Wilson Center websites have information on this series. The washington history seminar, of course, is, as those of you who are regulars know, a collaborative effort of two organizations, the Wilson
But about 40,000 veterans are still homeless on any given night. Thank you, thank you, pete, and thank you all. Thank you all on behalf of your department of Veterans Affairs, but more importantly thank you on behalf of thousands and thousands of warriors and their families. Im going to take a bit of a pause here and recognize a friend in the audience. Pete was very kind to talk about my background but theres someone out there, colonel United States marine corps, and that is a title that never expires. I made the mistake of telling secretary of state George Schultz during the next introduction that he was an exmarine. [ laughter ] the side of my head was caved in with more ferocity than any of the jesuits did when i was growing up. But tom bowman is here, the former deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs. Someone who has spent a life not only in uniform, but also serving americas most deserving. So good to see you, sir. [ applause ] now leo shane from military times is here. Hes got an h
From 1981 to 1989. And were going to show you this evening, two speeches. His 1981 inaugural address, which was on the west front of the capitol. A first in this address, he declared that government is not the solution to the problem. Government is the problem. After that, well show you. His 1984 dday address at ten duhok in france. This was the 40th anniversary of dday. And he spoke of the sacrifices made by american servicemen. This is speeches that defined the presidency on American History. Tv. Governor, are you prepared to take the constitutional. I am. If you place your left hand on the bible and raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Ronald Reagan, do solemnly swear. I, Ronald Reagan, do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States and i will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States. And will, to the best of my ability. And will to the best of my ability. Preserve, protect and defend. Preserve, protect a