SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS
GOVERNOR PAUL E. PATTON
DECEMBER 7, 1999

Thank you, Secretary Riley for your kind words and for your presence here today.

Justice Lambert and members of the Judiciary; Speaker Richards, and members of the General Assembly; Lieutenant Governor Henry and other constitutional officers; former governors and other distinguished guests; family, and my fellow Kentuckians.

I stand here humbled with the knowledge that, knowing full well my strengths and weaknesses, you have again placed upon me the responsibility of chief magistrate of our Commonwealth.  Your expression of confidence in our administration compels me to rededicate myself to your service; to recommit myself to work for you every waking moment; to redouble my efforts to seek your advice and counsel.

Four years ago, when Judi and I stood before you to accept this office, we set the bar high for our administration.  It’s been a good four years; for Judi and me; for the people we’ve worked with; for the people of Kentucky.  We’re proud of what we’ve done, but this is not a day to revel in the accomplishments of the past.  It is rather a day to set new goals; a day to look for new horizons; a day to renew our commitment to make Kentucky the very best that it can be!

We’re assembled here to celebrate once more the heritage of our homeland; the land we call Kentucky.  Our state is more than just 40,000 square miles of majestic mountains and sparkling streams and golden cornfields and rolling bluegrass pastures.  Kentucky is a people; unique in their gentility; devoted to family; with a sense of place; willing to work from dawn’s first light ‘til day’s last rays to create a better life for themselves and their children.  We’re bound together by more than just geography.  More than the people of almost any other state, we share a common ancestry; a common heritage; an uncommon pride in our Commonwealth.  And we understand full well that it’s up to us to forge a better future.

Two hundred years ago, we were a land of promise, leading a new nation as it expanded into the heartland of a virgin continent, rich in resources beyond imagination.  We were leaders in commerce, religion, medicine, education and political wisdom. 

We have not always lived up to our promise.

A hundred years later, at the turn of the last century, our state was in chaos; a governor assassinated; partisan politics destroying all vestiges of statesmanship; troops in the streets just to keep order; the very brink of civil war.   Where did we go wrong?  Let us not brush over the raw truth that the middle 100 years of our common journey as a people was an abysmal failure; resources squandered, talents wasted, opportunity lost; a failure of leadership.  But I see a ray of hope in this last half of the 20^th Century when we’ve been willing at times to face up to our responsibilities and do the things that any progressive society must do.

Let us learn from history but let us not dwell on the past.   The past is prologue; the present is transient.  It’s the future we’re assembled here to contemplate. And we can have a good future; if only we take advantage of the opportunities that are before us.  But that requires action on our part. We cannot afford to tolerate the status quo.

An old proverb reminds us of four things which, once gone, cannot be recalled; the spoken word, a spent arrow, a life lived, a neglected opportunity.  Let us not squander the opportunity that is at hand.  Let that not be the legacy of this administration; of this group of leaders; of this generation of Kentuckians!

Let us not for one minute forget that for all the attributes of a great society, it’s leadership, and only leadership, that can bring all the assets of a people together to create a prosperous and compassionate community.    That is our challenge today; to maximize the talents, the labor, the intellect, the energy of our people through a government which can create the framework for a society where every individual can reach their maximum potential and where, working together, we can make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

During these next four years we will address the educational needs of all our people, from our youngest children to our adult workforce.  We’ll invest in more infrastructure, we’ll seek solutions in healthcare, we’ll protect the environment, we’ll punish criminals, we’ll improve our economy, we’ll make our tax system more fair and we’ll address a hundred other important topics; and then we’ll gather here again in four years to renew our commitment and to resolve to do even more. 

Governor Jones had intended to be here with us today but a family illness has prevented him from attending. I’m honored to share this platform with the other seven living governors who have preceded me.  Each has made their contributions to improving our society.  My challenge is to build upon the foundation they have laid and deliver to my successor, as they have delivered to me, a Kentucky better prepared to meet the challenges of the 21^st century.  The famed journalist Walter Lippman wrote “the final test of a true leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.” 

Let me reassure you here today, our resolve to carry on, our resolve to do more, our resolve to stay the course has never been stronger!

Today we begin a new term and I am determined that we’ll begin and execute these next four years with all the enthusiasm and vigor of the past four.   We bring to the people of Kentucky a seasoned and experienced leadership team; its ability unquestioned; its integrity impeccable; its commitment unequaled; its knowledge of state government unique in the annals of the Commonwealth.  As much as we’ve done these past four years, we’re committed to do more in this second term.   Our efforts to improve can never end. It was President Eisenhower who reminded us that “accomplishment is a journey, not a destination.”  Let us never say that we have gone so far we can go no further.  The question is, how far along that journey will we go these next four years?  It is my determination that we go further than we have ever gone before!

As we respond to the pressures of today, let us not ignore the needs of tomorrow.  As we enjoy the investments made and the infrastructure built by our predecessors, let us commit ourselves to invest in the capital needs of the future.  And the new capital of the knowledge-based economy of the 21^st century will be the intellectual capital of our people.  It’s not the kind of capital you get at the bank or on Wall Street.  It’s the capital we put into the minds of our people day by day; in the classrooms of our common schools and our colleges; with the labors of our teachers; with the efforts of our learners.  Let us invest in the intellectual capital of our people and the physical capital of our communities.  Let it not be said of us that we failed to build a brighter future for the people of Kentucky!!!

This is truly an historic occasion; not because we’re inaugurating the first governor to serve consecutive full-terms in two hundred years but rather because we’ve selected a group of leaders who’ve shown by their past actions that they have the capacity to rise above partisan posturing, to put the welfare of Kentuckians above their own political fortunes, to see that distant horizon that promises a new dawn for the Commonwealth. 

As we close the book on the 20^th century, a century of mixed achievements at best, let us rededicate ourselves to the proposition that men and women of good will, working together in common cause, can resolve their differences, can recognize the wisdom of those who hold opposing views, can overcome their biases and prejudices and can reach a common ground which will move Kentucky forward!

Some are concerned about our ability to work together these next four years.  I believe we can.   I have the faith of my mother.  Almost two years ago, she completed her mission here on earth and if I’ve made a contribution it is, more than anyone else, her effort manifested in me.  She was an optimist.  No matter what happened, no matter how bleak the future, no matter how dire the consequences, it was, in her view, God’s will.

I’m the optimist today. I’ve come to know the members of the Kentucky General Assembly as well as any Governor in modern times.  I fully understand that they speak for the people of Kentucky. I know that they’re just as knowledgeable, just as hard working, just as committed to the future of Kentucky as I.  And I believe we can come together to move Kentucky forward.  Let us do in our actions what we know in our hearts is right!

Thomas Jefferson once said, “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”  Let us be honest with the people of Kentucky.  -  Abraham Lincoln once said, “let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it.”  Let us have faith in the ultimate wisdom of the people of Kentucky.   Let the party of Jefferson and the party of Lincoln today here assembled in common cause, commit ourselves to look only at the future of Kentucky!

To the members of the Kentucky General Assembly, again I offer the hand of partnership; a commitment to work with you as an equal; independent in responsibility but one in objective as we struggle to find that path to a brighter future.

To the people of Kentucky, I pledge to you that I will wake up every morning and I will go to sleep every evening committed to doing all I can to make your future brighter as God gives me the insight to see and my health gives me the strength to do.

You are a valiant people.  You deserve a better future.  I commit to you my all; my intellect to its maximum effectiveness; my strength so long as it shall endure; my honor as my most sacred possession.  You deserve no less. I can give no more. 

Good day and God bless you.