President Sullivan, Mr. Murray, distinguished guests, Graduates of the class of 2000, it is a great pleasure and a special honor for me to be with you today. I stand here also with a great sense of awe, here in this great college in the presence of so much of our nation's formative history. I also want to tell the graduating (class of 2000) class that I know what you are thinking--that I am the only thing standing between you, your diplomas and the rest of your lives. I promise to be mercifully brief­but not so brief as Winston Churchill when he addressed a class of British prep school students. He got up, said "never, never, never give up" and sat back down. I subscribe to his theme but I will not be quite that succinct.

You are very lucky. I expect that you know that, but may by now take it a bit for granted. You have been pursuing your studies at the very heart of American history. The men who early walked these halls and taught in these classrooms are the ones who intellectualized and then put in place this great political and social experiment called the United States. The electricity of their ideas still guides and motivates us. Our national genius has been to take these founding principles, apply the lessons of history to them and adapt them to new circumstances. We need to do that once again. We now find ourselves in a new era of history, replacing that of the Cold War -- an era which was incredibly intense and deeply pervasive in all aspects of our national life.

Relieved from the tension and pressure of that era, I fear we are becoming complacent. The economy is booming; there are no great national security threats on the horizon. Serious scholars proclaim the end of history. So everything is fine, right? Hardly. The seeds of any number of major problems are germinating, even as we speak. I will mention only a few. It would be worse than folly to believe that our current happy condition is somehow permanent. History has not and will not end -- as our own turbulent past should help to remind us. Mankind has done wonders in conquering the material environment -- very little in conquering itself. On the contrary, history has demonstrated over and over that it is not a benign force for those who fail to heed its messages. For example, we quickly forgot the lessons of WWI­and had to relive them through WWII. Now we may already be forgetting the lessons of the Cold War.

Fifty-three years ago, I sat (functionally speaking) where you are now sitting. My own commencement speaker was General Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was a special hero of mine, but I must confess that I have absolutely no recollection of anything he talked about. That alone insures my humility up here. But I do remember thinking "what am I doing here, about to become a military officer? The war is over. We won, military service is now a dead end and the military is an anachronism." Three short years later, my classmates were dying in Korea.

Let me introduce some perspective. Right now, 20 years is a long time in your lives­but not in your lifetimes. Look back 20 years from today. This country was then in what was perhaps the darkest, most dangerous period of the Cold War. The United States was struggling with the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate. The Soviet Union was suggesting that the historical correlation of forces in the world was moving against us, and invaded Afghanistan as if to prove the point. Now, we canšt actually look forward 20 years, but who at the time of the invasion of Afghanistan could have predicted the world we are blessed with now? What we can say today with some confidence is that the world 20 years hence could be as dramatically different as today is from 20 years ago.

We can also say -- with some sense of satisfaction -- that the last 20 years have turned out rather well from that bleak beginning. That was at least in part because we worked at it -- and worked hard. And, as a result, history has given mankind about as blank a slate on which to write as has ever occurred. We have prosperity, are without mortal enemies, and not since the Roman Empire has any nation dominated so much of the globe.

How are we doing with this blank slate? What should be Americašs role in this new world? The answer is far from clear. For much of our national life, as declared early on by President Washington in his farewell address, we generally had the view that we were on the whole too good for the world - and we were determined that we would not engage in the balance of power and dynastic politics of Europe. We saw ourselves instead as the city on the hill -- a beacon to all, demonstrating manšs ability to live in liberty and self-government. As John Quincy Adams put it: "Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her (Americašs) heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."

Woodrow Wilson rejected that conservative and isolationist tinged phraseology and declared that we should not be simply a passive symbol and example but instead seek actively to promote democracy and human rights in the world.

These two instincts have contended for much of the 20th century, especially sharply since the end of the Cold War. Are we the worldšs policeman, or its absentee landlord? We have not yet decided. We intervene in Somalia, Haiti, and Kosovo, but not in Sudan, Sierra Leone, or Chechnya. We cut our defense budget, but work our military so hard around the world that they are leaving their profession in droves. We are more affected than ever by events in far corners of the world, but we cut back our embassies and close our consulates -- our eyes and ears for knowing and understanding what is happening.

The current international buzz word is globalization. The world is more interdependent than ever before. National borders are increasingly porous. Capital flows, communications, information technology, the environment -- all are beyond the ability of national governments to control or to protect their peoples from their impact. So how are these new forces to be controlled, and by whom? Side-by-side with this growing interdependence, strong political forces are producing an ever more exclusive -- and intolerant -- particularism, based on ethnic, religious, cultural or other criteria, which are fractionating political entities and pulling them farther apart. These are all potentially revolutionary forces.

It is indeed a complicated world. Beside these new currents flowing, there are also a number of potentially serious regional problems developing. This is not the occasion for geopolitical analysis, but there is one aspect of our current behavior which is exacerbating all the issues we face. We should be in an enviable position to deal with the contemporary world environment. Despite our great power, we seek no territorial gain. We are the source of the political principles to which most of mankind aspires, principles so brilliantly enunciated and enshrined by the giants who made this college great. We have learned well and take for granted the precepts our forefathers taught and fought for. But now we have come to be preaching -­ rather than teaching ­- those precepts around the world -­ and then grading countries on the degree to which they approach the standards we have set. Are we ourselves really that flawless? Should we not be working with others, rather than preaching at others? In many quarters of the globe, especially in Europe, whence many of those very principles came, globalization has become a bad word -­ signifying US imperialism, not territorial, but attitudinal.

Any country as powerful as ours would automatically stimulate envy and resistance, but the rising chorus of resentment seems beyond that normal reaction. We are increasingly seen as arrogant, unilateral, and indifferent to the views and concerns of others. This seems to be becoming -- unconsciously -- a habit. If we are not able to mend our ways and see ourselves in the perspective of those who look to us for leadership, we, and consequently the world, will eventually pay a heavy price.

You are now standing on the threshold of one of lifešs major transitions. Society has been giving to you thus far in your lives. That will soon end -­ if not now, then after graduate school. We owe the things we cherish most to the sacrifices of those who went before us. Your parents and grandparents won WWII and the Cold War, and it is their legacy you are enjoying now. It is about to be your turn to give. Reflect for a moment on true essentials. What, for example, would you like your epitaph to say?

I turn back to Winston Churchill, who said "You make a living by what you earn; you make a life by what you give." I would hope that many of you would carefully ponder those powerful words and consider turning to public service, for two reasons. First, there is something enormously fulfilling about being engaged in something bigger than you yourself. It imparts a satisfying sense of purpose which, in my experience, is not attained in any other way. And, beyond that, there is a desperate need in this country for good people to man our government structures. I well know it is getting more and more difficult to be a public servant. We have driven many of our best people away. Your private life is made public; your finances are bared; your integrity is questioned. But I ask you to consider public service, not because it is easy, but because it is hard, rewarding -­ and oh, so necessary. How well the wonderful things this great nation stands for will be preserved and projected will depend on the quality of the people whose hands are on the helm of state.

The characteristics of the world for the next fifty years -­ those are your years--will depend inordinately on the behavior of the United States. Only the US can mobilize the international community to the tasks which need to be accomplished. If we do not lead, nothing will be done. It may not always be that way, but for most of your lives, that will simply be a fact.

But public service doesnšt necessarily have to mean joining the government in Washington -­ or Richmond. Non-governmental organizations, volunteerism, school boards, local elected office -- all these are necessary to preserve our wonderful heritage and pass it on to succeeding generations.

One final word -- set your sights high. It does no harm -­ except to your ego -- to fail now and then. Hockey star Wayne Gretsky said "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take." So never be afraid to take your best shot. Thank you, good luck, and God bless.