The Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents: From George Washington to George W. Bush (Revised and Updated)

371 Pages·1997·1.33 MB·English

by  John Gabriel Hunt

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INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
Contents Abraham Lincoln........................151 Harry S. Truman.........................294
Ulysses S. Grant.........................153 Dwight D. Eisenhower.................301
Ulysses S. Grant.........................156 Dwight D. Eisenhower.................309
George Washington........................4
Rutherford B. Hayes....................160 John F. Kennedy........................314
George Washington........................8
James A. Garfield.......................168 Lyndon Baines Johnson..............318
John Adams..................................9
Grover Cleveland.........................177 Richard Milhous Nixon................322
Thomas Jefferson.........................16
Benjamin Harrison.....................182 Richard Milhous Nixon................329
Thomas Jefferson.........................21
Grover Cleveland.........................194 Jimmy Carter.............................334
James Madison............................27
William McKinley........................200 Ronald Reagan...........................338
James Madison............................31
William McKinley........................211 Ronald Reagan...........................345
James Monroe..............................35
Theodore Roosevelt.....................218 George Bush..............................353
James Monroe..............................44
William Howard Taft...................221 Bill Clinton’s First Inaugural Ad-
John Quincy Adams......................57
Woodrow Wilson.........................236 dress.....................................359
Andrew Jackson...........................65
Woodrow Wilson.........................240 President William J. Clinton.........363
Andrew Jackson...........................69
Warren G. Harding......................245 NOTES..........................................369
Martin Van Buren.........................72
Calvin Coolidge...........................254 EXECUTIVE OATH OF OFFICE.........370
William Henry Harrison................83
Herbert Hoover...........................266
James Knox Polk........................106
Franklin D. Roosevelt..................277
Zachary Taylor............................119
Franklin D. Roosevelt..................283
Franklin Pierce...........................123
Franklin D. Roosevelt..................288
James Buchanan........................132
Franklin D. Roosevelt..................292
Abraham Lincoln........................140
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dent because he received the second greatest number of
INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF votes. Under the rules, each elector cast two votes. The
Chancellor of New York and fellow Freemason, Robert R.
THE PRESIDENTS OF THE
Livingston administered the oath of office. The Bible on
UNITED STATES which the oath was sworn belonged to New York’s St.
John’s Masonic Lodge. The new President gave his inau-
FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON
gural address before a joint session of the two Houses of
Congress assembled inside the Senate Chamber.
TO BILL CLINTON
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE and of the House of Rep-
George Washington
resentatives:
Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could
FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which
the notification was transmitted by your order, and re-
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1789 ceived on the 14th day of the present month. On the
one hand, I was summoned by my Country, whose voice
The Nation’s first chief executive took his oath of office I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a
in April in New York City on the balcony of the Senate retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilec-
Chamber at Federal Hall on Wall Street. General Washing- tion, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable
ton had been unanimously elected President by the first decision, as the asylum of my declining years—a re-
electoral college, and John Adams was elected Vice Presi- treat which was rendered every day more necessary as
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INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to the motives which mislead me, and its consequences be
inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health judged by my country with some share of the partiality
to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the in which they originated.
other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust Such being the impressions under which I have, in
to which the voice of my country called me, being suf- obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present
ficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this
her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, first official act my fervent supplications to that Al-
could not but overwhelm with despondence one who mighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides
(inheriting inferior endowments from nature and un- in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids
practiced in the duties of civil administration) ought to can supply every human defect, that His benediction
be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the
conflict of emotions all I dare aver is that it has been people of the United States a Government instituted by
my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appre- themselves for these essential purposes, and may en-
ciation of every circumstance by which it might be af- able every instrument employed in its administration
fected. All I dare hope is that if, in executing this task, to execute with success the functions allotted to his
I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author
of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to of every public and private good, I assure myself that it
this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow- expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor
citizens, and have thence too little consulted my inca- those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No
pacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the In-
untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by visible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more
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INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
than those of the United States. Every step by which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that
they have advanced to the character of an independent subject further than to refer to the great constitutional
nation seems to have been distinguished by some to- charter under which you are assembled, and which, in
ken of providential agency; and in the important revo- defining your powers, designates the objects to which
lution just accomplished in the system of their united your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent
government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary with those circumstances, and far more congenial with
consent of so many distinct communities from which the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place
the event has resulted can not be compared with the of a recommendation of particular measures, the trib-
means by which most governments have been estab- ute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the
lished without some return of pious gratitude, along patriotism which adorn the characters selected to de-
with an humble anticipation of the future blessings vise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications
which the past seem to presage. These reflections, aris- I behold the surest pledges that as on one side no local
ing out of the present crisis, have forced themselves prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party
too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal
with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of
the influence of which the proceedings of a new and communities and interests, so, on another, that the foun-
free government can more auspiciously commence. dation of our national policy will be laid in the pure
By the article establishing the executive department and immutable principles of private morality, and the
it is made the duty of the President “to recommend to preeminence of free government be exemplified by all
your consideration such measures as he shall judge nec- the attributes which can win the affections of its citi-
essary and expedient.” The circumstances under which zens and command the respect of the world. I dwell on
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INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent been urged against the system, or by the degree of in-
love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth quietude which has given birth to them. Instead of
more thoroughly established than that there exists in undertaking particular recommendations on this sub-
the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union ject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived
between virtue and happiness; between duty and ad- from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my
vantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of
magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public the public good; for I assure myself that whilst you
prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger
persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never the benefits of an united and effective government, or
be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal which ought to await the future lessons of experience,
rules of order and right which Heaven itself has or- a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen and
dained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of a regard for the public harmony will sufficiently influ-
liberty and the destiny of the republican model of gov- ence your deliberations on the question how far the
ernment are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as former can be impregnably fortified or the latter be safely
finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands and advantageously promoted.
of the American people. To the foregoing observations I have one to add, which
Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, will be most properly addressed to the House of Repre-
it will remain with your judgment to decide how far an sentatives. It concerns myself, and will therefore be as
exercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call
article of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the into the service of my country, then on the eve of an
present juncture by the nature of objections which have arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I
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INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
contemplated my duty required that I should renounce may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the
every pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I temperate consultations, and the wise measures on
have in no instance departed; and being still under the which the success of this Government must depend.
impressions which produced it, I must decline as inap-
George Washington
plicable to myself any share in the personal emoluments
which may be indispensably included in a permanent
provision for the executive department, and must ac- SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS IN THE CITY OF PHILA-
cordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the sta- DELPHIA
tion in which I am placed may during my continuance
in it be limited to such actual expenditures as the pub- MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1793
lic good may be thought to require.
Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they President Washington’s second oath of office was taken
have been awakened by the occasion which brings us in the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia
together, I shall take my present leave; but not without on March 4, the date fixed by the Continental Congress
resorting once more to the benign Parent of the Human for inaugurations. Before an assembly of Congressmen,
Race in humble supplication that, since He has been Cabinet officers, judges of the federal and district courts,
pleased to favor the American people with opportuni- foreign officials, and a small gathering of Philadelphians,
ties for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and disposi- the President offered the shortest inaugural address ever
tions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form given. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court William
of government for the security of their union and the Cushing administered the oath of office.
advancement of their happiness, so His divine blessing
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INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
Fellow Citizens:
John Adams
I AM AGAIN CALLED UPON by the voice of my country to
execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the INAUGURAL ADDRESS IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to
express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 1797
honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed
in me by the people of united America. The first Vice President became the second President of
Previous to the execution of any official act of the the United States. His opponent in the election, Thomas
President the Constitution requires an oath of office. Jefferson, had won the second greatest number of elec-
This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence: toral votes and therefore had been elected Vice President
That if it shall be found during my administration of by the electoral college. Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth
the Government I have in any instance violated will- administered the oath of office in the Hall of the House
ingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I may (be- of Representatives in Federal Hall before a joint session
sides incurring constitutional punishment) be subject of Congress.
to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the
present solemn ceremony. WHEN IT WAS FIRST PERCEIVED, in early times, that no middle
course for America remained between unlimited sub-
mission to a foreign legislature and a total indepen-
dence of its claims, men of reflection were less appre-
hensive of danger from the formidable power of fleets
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INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
and armies they must determine to resist than from sion in history, and certainly the only ones which the
those contests and dissensions which would certainly people at large had ever considered. But reflecting on
arise concerning the forms of government to be insti- the striking difference in so many particulars between
tuted over the whole and over the parts of this exten- this country and those where a courier may go from the
sive country. Relying, however, on the purity of their seat of government to the frontier in a single day, it
intentions, the justice of their cause, and the integrity was then certainly foreseen by some who assisted in
and intelligence of the people, under an overruling Provi- Congress at the formation of it that it could not be
dence which had so signally protected this country from durable.
the first, the representatives of this nation, then con- Negligence of its regulations, inattention to its rec-
sisting of little more than half its present number, not ommendations, if not disobedience to its authority, not
only broke to pieces the chains which were forging and only in individuals but in States, soon appeared with
the rod of iron that was lifted up, but frankly cut asun- their melancholy consequences—universal languor, jeal-
der the ties which had bound them, and launched into ousies and rivalries of States, decline of navigation and
an ocean of uncertainty. commerce, discouragement of necessary manufactures,
The zeal and ardor of the people during the Revolu- universal fall in the value of lands and their produce,
tionary war, supplying the place of government, com- contempt of public and private faith, loss of consider-
manded a degree of order sufficient at least for the tem- ation and credit with foreign nations, and at length in
porary preservation of society. The Confederation which discontents, animosities, combinations, partial conven-
was early felt to be necessary was prepared from the tions, and insurrection, threatening some great national
models of the Batavian and Helvetic confederacies, the calamity.
only examples which remain with any detail and preci- In this dangerous crisis the people of America were
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