[3] However, in the bright sunshine of the event he had difficulty reading his new poem and resorted to reciting "The Gift Outright" alone.

[4][5] Frost's handwritten copy was framed with a note from Jacqueline Kennedy written in pencil upon its back: "For Jack.

Frost noted that this was the first time a poem had been read at a presidential inauguration, a trend which would continue.

France, Spain, and Holland had engaged in a rivalry for control of the New World that Christopher Columbus had discovered.

The American Founding Fathers, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison had envisioned a country that would nurture democratic principles which would serve as inspiration to all the peoples of the world.