William Tyler Page’s essay, “The American Creed,” is still often recited at naturalization ceremonies. | POLITICO screen grab House honors a patriotic staffer, April 3, 1918

On this day in 1918, James H. Preston, the mayor of Baltimore, presiding at a ceremony in the House Office Building, presented an award to William Tyler Page, a congressional employee, for his authorship of “The American’s Creed.” As part of the ceremony, Page recited his 100-word essay, which earned him a $1,000 award.

The following year, Page was elected clerk of the House. He subsequently served as the emeritus minority clerk, a post he held until his sudden death in 1942 at age 74.


Page was a descendant of Carter Braxton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and of John Tyler, the nation’s 10th president. At age 13, Page came to Washington to serve as a page in the U.S. Capitol — the start of what became a 61-year career in the legislative branch.

In 1916, in the run-up to America’s entry into World War I, Henry Sterling Chapin, the New York State commissioner of education, sponsored a national writing competition to foster civic pride. Of more than 3,000 entries, Page’s winning effort was judged “brief and simple but remarkably comprehensive of the best in American ideals, history and tradition as expressed by the founders of the Republic and its greatest statesmen and writers.”

Page’s essay is still often recited at naturalization ceremonies. He once described it as “a summary of the fundamental principles of American political faith as set forth in its greatest documents, its worthiest traditions and by its greatest leaders.”

Here is Page’s “The American Creed”:

“I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

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“I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.”

Page’s “Creed” drew on passages from the Declaration of Independence, the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and Massachusetts Sen. Daniel Webster’s 1830 reply to South Carolina Sen. Robert Hayne.

For many years, Page had also served as the president general of the United States Flag Association. The night before his death, Page addressed the Daughters of the American Revolution on the 50th anniversary of the writing of the Pledge of Allegiance. The last photograph of him shows him with his hand over his heart, looking at the U.S. flag. The House adjourned on the day following his death in his honor.

There is a bronze tablet bearing “The American’s Creed” in the Capitol.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF HISTORY AND PRESERVATION, CLERK OF THE U.S. HOUSE