# Ronald Reagan — "nothing less than a miracle" > [!quote] "To a few of us here today this is a solemn and most momentous occasion, and yet in the history of our nation it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place, as it has for almost two centuries, and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every-4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle." > — Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981 ## Context Reagan opened his presidency by turning to the outgoing [[Jimmy Carter]], whom he had just defeated, and thanking him for his cooperation during the transition. The "miracle" passage frames the inauguration itself — the routine, scheduled handover of the most powerful office on earth — as the system's quiet wonder. ## Why this matters The conservative movement's defining hero naming the peaceful transfer of power as America's everyday miracle. Reagan's emphasis is on its *routineness*: the transfer is remarkable precisely because Americans "accept it as normal," something most of the world cannot. That a Republican icon made this the keynote of his inaugural is one of this collection's load-bearing receipts — the principle his own party's election-denial wing would later treat as negotiable was, for Reagan, the thing that made America exceptional. ## Verification - **Primary source:** [Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/inaugural-address-1981); [Avalon Project (Yale)](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/reagan1.asp). - **Status:** Verbatim from the official text. Undisputed. ## Related quotes - [[Jimmy Carter - the title of citizen]] — the predecessor whose cooperation Reagan thanked, days earlier. - [[George W. Bush - rare in history yet common in our country]] — a Republican successor sounding the same theme twenty years on. - Featured in [[Presidents on the Peaceful Transfer of Power]].