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- Part of White House Staff Member and Office Files (Nixon Administration), President's Personal Files
Extracted text
OCR Page 1 of 4THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
(Gavin) JK
June 11, 1969
Suggested Remarks for Capitol Page School Ceremony
On this day that looks toward the future, I would like to say a few
words about the past. As you know, we historically associate the word
"page" with the system of chivalry that flourished in the Middle Ages.
A boy became a page, then a squire and finally a knight.
Your own years of paging were, of course, quite different. Yet
in a very deep sense you share a great deal with the pages of the Middle
Ages. (And I'm not referring to the early rising hour you share with
them.) Whatever may be said about the system of knighthood, no matter
how far a knight in his personal life strayed from the high standards of
chivalry, there was a sense of dedication to high ideals, to great prin-
ciples.
Your generation has reminded all of us that high ideals and great
principles can be living guides to our lives. Just as the pages of long
ago learned the principles of their own governing system by serving, so
have all of you learned, at first hand, the complex, profound principles
which are the foundation of our system. You above all know that despite
the fact that there is often a gap between principle and practice, the fun-
damental reality of our governmental system is based on the highest
ideals.
So today, although I won't hit each of you with the flat edge of a
sword, I feel I am welcoming you to a new life in which the ideals and
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