Responsibility in a Troubled World

A well-organized and meaningful address, like a well-organized and meaningful sermon, frequently requires a text. Rather than quote sentences from the writings of a great sage, I would prefer to focus your attention on the fundamental character of this occasion. We are gathered to witness and to participate in a ceremony of the installation of the President of the American Medical Association. We have paid honor to the man who has carried that responsibility in the past year, and we have expressed our good will and our confidence in the man who will discharge the responsibilities of that high office for the coming year. Our attention, therefore, is centered upon those who choose and are called to responsibility. The theme of this evening and the text for my remarks is the importance of the voluntary assumption of responsibility. Therefore I have chosen the title, "Responsibility in a Troubled World."

It