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COLUMBUS, OH JANUARY 14, 2019
Governor Kasich, Governor Strickland, Governor Taft, Governor
Celeste -- It means a great deal to me personally that you are here
to share in this historic occasion. Thank you for your deep love of
Ohio -- our great state that you all have had the privilege to lead.
And Governor Bevin of Kentucky -- thank you for being here. You and
I have work to do. We have a little bridge we need to build!
Lieutenant Governor Husted, Puerto Rico Lieutenant Governor Rivera
Marin;
Senator Portman;
Congressman Johnson; Congressman Stivers; Congressman Joyce;
Congressman Balderson;
Speaker Householder;
Senate President Obhof;
Chief Justice O’Connor; Justice French, Justice DeWine, Justice
Fischer, Justice Donnelly, Justice Stewart;
Secretary of State LaRose;
Attorney General Yost;
Auditor Faber;
Treasurer Sprague;
Mayor Ginther;
Reverend Clergy;
Members of the General Assembly;
My Fellow Citizens of Ohio....
Today -- we are united as Ohioans.
We are united in our passion and commitment to ensuring that all of
our children lead meaningful, fulfilling lives.
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We are united in our resolve to end the opioid crisis.
We are united in our desire to preserve and protect our magnificent
Lake Erie.
And, we are united in our love for and our pride in this wonderful
state, with its rich history, abundant natural wonders -- and good
and decent people.
I will be the Governor for all the people of our state -- and I will
remember each and every day that I am their servant.
Jon and Tina and Fran and I want to thank all of you for sharing
this day with us and for giving us this opportunity to serve. So
many people worked so hard to help us achieve this moment.
I am so very grateful. I am grateful to our children and
grandchildren, whom I learn from each day. And I am grateful to
Fran.
We met in first grade and have been married for over 51 years. She
is the love of my life. She is the rock of our family. And she is my
best friend.
Fran -- more than anyone -- helped us achieve this moment and
deserves the most thanks. Without her, I would not be here today.
Fran is an amazing mother and grandmother. Her passion for children,
her love of family, and her compassion for those in need will make
her an amazing first lady of Ohio!
Today, I also think about those who have had an immeasurable impact
on my life, who are no longer with us -- my parents; my
grandparents; my aunts and uncles; Fran’s father; Fran’s brother
Mike; our daughter Becky; our granddaughter Kathryn Becky; and our
dear friends Bill Schenck, Brenda Lewis, and Alex Arshinkoff.
While not here physically in this glorious and historic rotunda,
they remain forever in our hearts. This is their moment, as well.
As we celebrate today, let us pause to honor and remember the men
and women in our military and in law enforcement who, at this very
moment, are defending and protecting us. And let us especially honor
and remember Colerain Township Police Officer Dale Woods and his
family. Officer Woods died in the line of duty on January 7th and is
being buried today.
Please join me now in a moment of silence.
[MOMENT OF SILENCE]
Thank you.
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Fran and I were blessed to grow up in a village where we could walk
to the homes of our grandparents. Our strong and close-knit families
shaped who we are today.
We both come from families of optimists. My grandfather kept
planting trees up until his death in his mid-80s. At that time, I
thought -- he’s never going live to see those trees get very big --
yet he planted them nonetheless. And now, in just a few weeks, his
great-grandson -- our son john -- will once again tap those very
maple trees, as he does each year, to produce maple syrup to sell
and for our family to enjoy.
My dad, in the final autumn of his life when he was dying from
cancer, made sure the daffodil bulbs were planted -- knowing
full-well he would probably not live to see them bloom in the
spring. But he did that, nonetheless, because he had faith and hope
in the future and in the beauty of what was yet to be.
In what is known as the prayer of Oscar Romero, on which Father
Hagan, who runs the Becky DeWine school in Haiti, has based Hands
Together’s mission:
“We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the
magnificent enterprise that is god’s work. [yet] we plant the seeds
that one day will grow. . . .[because] we are prophets of a future
not our own.”
It is with that eye to the future and with great optimism that I
will serve as your Governor -- because I truly believe that the best
is yet to come!
Over the next four years, I will be asking the people of Ohio and I
will be asking those of you in the General Assembly to do things
where the results will not be immediate -- but where they will be
profound, and where they will endure.
In the words of Governor James Cox spoken 106 years ago yesterday,
“History tells us that while we can profit immeasurably by the
experience of the past, every government that has endured, kept its
face toward the sunrise and not the sunset.” As we govern together,
we must keep our face toward that sunrise!
Our plans to intervene early in the lives of at-risk kids, to
address their physical and emotional needs, and to give them better,
higher-quality educational opportunities -- all will be undertaken
in the faith and hope and confidence that these children will
flourish and grow and that their lives will be forever changed by
the things that we do.
For much of what we will do, we will not see the results during the
life of this administration, nor in some cases in our lifetime, yet
we will do these things nonetheless -- grounded in the faith and
hope that we can change the future!
In the process, we will be fierce and passionate advocates and
defenders of the defenseless!
We will bring people together.
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We will seek out many opinions and ideas.
We will work hand-in-hand with local government and community
leaders.
And we will listen!
But don’t mistake our willingness to listen and our openness to new
ideas for a lack of vision or resolve or focus. The bible warns us
of an “uncertain trumpet.” Our trumpet will give a clear and certain
call, as there will be no mistaking where I am leading!
Government exists to protect people so they can live and achieve
their dreams, with its fundamental purpose, as our own Ohio
Constitution of 1803 states, “to establish justice, promote the
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.” Its essential
function is to protect the most vulnerable among us -- those, to
paraphrase the late United States Senator Hubert Humphrey, who are
in the dawn of life, those in the twilight of life, and those in the
shadows of life.
And so, these are the values that will guide our administration each
and every day.
Family is everything.
Education is the key to equality and to opportunity.
And everyone -- no matter where they were born or who their parents
are -- deserves the chance to succeed, to get a good-paying job, to
raise a family comfortably, and to be secure in their future.
As I reflect upon this day -- the work that lies ahead, the
challenges, and the opportunities -- I am reminded of the words of a
young, aspiring writer in her fictional account of a woman
travelling across England. In her words:
“I wrote [while] on the British rail, describing the hills dotted
with sheep, knowing I could never capture that weird sensation of
recognition which comes from imagining something all your life and
upon viewing the site in real life, finding your image was
beautifully accurate.”
Thank you, Becky.
Thank you for helping your dad find the words that I could not.
You have captured so perfectly how I feel today about what we have
visualized for so long about our state’s future and the hopefulness
that comes as we work to turn our dreams for Ohio into beautifully
accurate realities.
May God Bless America -- and may God Bless Ohio! |
