Remarks at the Lincoln Memorial.

Mr. Prime Minister--my fellow Americans:

More than a century and a half ago Abraham Lincoln was born. It is nearly a century now since his death. But it is his birth that we celebrate, and the new birth of freedom that he promised.

This, he said, was the promise of our Nation's birth--the "promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance." This is the unfinished work to which we, the living, must dedicate ourselves.

Lincoln loved this land. He heard this whole land speaking to us, calling for union, saying from its rivers and ranges, from the Alleghenies to the Rockies, that this is one nation. A house divided against itself cannot stand--this was what the winds were saying.

We stand with Lincoln for union and for the freedom of all men. But the great task remaining before us is to fulfill the promise-to turn the words into acts, acts of private citizens, acts of corporations and unions, acts of churches and voluntary groups of all kinds, acts of State and federal agencies, acts of the President, and acts of Congress.

The American promise will be unfulfilled, Lincoln's work--our work will be unfinished so long as there is a child without a school, a school without a teacher, a man without a job, a family without a home; so long as there are sick Americans without medical care or aging Americans without hope; so long as there are any Americans, of any race or color, who are denied their full human rights; so long as there are any Americans, of any place or region, who are denied their human dignity.

So it is due time now to assure a fair chance and equal opportunity for all men-not for some, but for all our people. We can do this. The world knows, and we know, that we have the means, through law and leadership, through prohibition of discrimination and promotion of new opportunity, through positive action on all levels of our national community. We now need only the will.

Knowing this, we cannot fail to act. from the life and death of Abraham Lincoln we take increased devotion to the cause for which he gave his last full measure of devotion.

Lincoln's words have become the common covenant of our public life. Let us now get on with his work.