23 December 2008
Inaugural Addresses and Memorable Words
Tradition of president’s first speech dates back to George Washington
Washington – Starting with George Washington at the first inauguration in 1789, the inaugural address has been an important American tradition. Most presidents use the inaugural address to present their visions for the United States and to set forth their goals to the American people.
Inaugural addresses have varied in length, from George Washington’s 135 words on March 4, 1793, to William Harrison’s 8,445 words on March 4, 1841. The speeches set the tone for the upcoming presidency, and a select few are among the most enduring, and most frequently quoted, presidential speeches:
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
— Abraham Lincoln, 1865, in the final days of the U.S. Civil War
"Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
— Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933, in the midst of the economic Great Depression
“And so my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
— John F. Kennedy, 1961
“To a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion; and yet, in the history of our nation, it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every-four-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.”
— Ronald Reagan, 1981
“I see history as a book with many pages, and each day we fill a page with acts of hopefulness and meaning. The new breeze blows, a page turns, the story unfolds. And so today a chapter begins, a small and stately story of unity, diversity, and generosity — shared, and written, together.”
— George H.W. Bush, 1989
“The greatest progress we have made, and the greatest progress we have yet to make, is in the human heart. In the end, all the world’s wealth and a thousand armies are no match for the strength and decency of the human spirit.”
— William Jefferson Clinton, 1997
“Through much of the last century, America’s faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations. Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along.
— George W. Bush, 2001
