The inauguration of a president, which occurred Monday in Washington, D.C., is about more than one person, or more than one presidential term.

It is about a republic and her people, recommitting themselves to the principles of liberty and to the sacrifices necessary to ensure that liberty is not extinguished and to ensure that the next generation understands that principle and its demands.

“We must be willing, individually and as a nation, to accept whatever sacrifices may be required of us,” President Dwight Eisenhower said in his inaugural address in 1953, according to the website for the National Park Service. “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. Patriotism means equipped forces and a prepared citizenry.”

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of Liberty,” President John F. Kennedy said in his 1961 inaugural address. “This much we pledge and more.”

“It is the high privilege and sacred duty of those now living to educate their successors and fit them, by intelligence and virtue, for the inheritance which awaits them,” President James A. Garfield said in 1881 in his inaugural address.

We doubt anyone can deny that our nation is confronted with an era of divisiveness. We hope everyone can recognize that our nation and its people have risen above such divisiveness before.

More importantly, we hope that, while we may disagree on the measures and methods needed to protect liberty, on the sacrifices needed to promote liberty and on the lessons our youngest Americans need to learn about these necessities, we can take a moment and reflect on how valuable our liberties are and how important their preservation remains.