President Reagan began his second term today with a call for the continuation of his efforts to limit the federal government, particularly reducing federal spending as the first step to cutting the large federal deficit. “There are no limits to growth and human progress when men and women are free to follow their dreams,” he said after he and Vice President George Bush were sworn into office at the Capitol Rotunda. The ceremony was held indoors because the bitter cold weather in Washington forced cancellation of the ceremony at the West front of the Capitol as well as the traditional inaugural parade from the Capitol to the White House.
Reagan, who said he will ask Congress to freeze all government spending, also pledged that “we will not rest until every American enjoys the fullness of dignity and opportunity as our birthright.”
He took this theme of freedom onto the international scene, stressing “America must remain freedom’s staunchest friend for freedom is our best ally and it is the world’s only hope to conquer poverty and preserve peace.”
Reagan said that he will continue to increase U.S. military strength while at the same time seeking to negotiate with the Soviet Union not only to limit nuclear arms but to reduce them and hopefully “the total elimination one day of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.”
RABBIS PARTICIPATE IN CEREMONIES
Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk, president of Hebrew Union College, the Reform seminary in Cincinnati, was one of four clergymen who participated in today’s ceremony which followed the official swearing in of Reagan and Bush at the White House yesterday to meet the constitutional requirement that it be held at noon January 20.
In his prayer, Gottschalk urged that the leaders of the government be guided “in protecting the Constitution of our beloved commonwealth founded in faith which ensures unity without uniformity” and in advancing “the American way which gives to bigotry no sanction, to malevolence no hope.”
He also prayed that “this opportunity for renewal will advance reconciliation in the family of nations, guarantee peace in our world and tranquility in the farthest reaches of our universe.”
At an ecumenical prayer service at the National Cathedral yesterday, Rabbi Leonard Cahan of Congregation Har Shalom of Potomac, Md., a Conservative congregation, chanted a selection from the Torah and then translated it into English. Cantor Joseph Malovany of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York was scheduled to sing this afternoon at one of the official cocktail parties, this one given by New York lawyer Roy Cohn.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
