FDR’s Inaugural Address
Speaker: |
Franklin D Roosevelt |
Delivered On: | 3/4/1933 |
Place: | Washington, D.C. |
Subject: |
Presidents — United States — Inaugural addresses. |
Audio/Video Available: | |
Description: |
Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes administer the constitutional oath of office to Franklin Delano Roosevelt as it occurred on March 4, 1933. President Roosevelt’s inaugural address follows. |
References: | |
Transcript/Log: |
President Hoover, Mr. Chief Justice, my friends: This is a day of national consecration,
and I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our nation impels. This is pre-eminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague Primarily, this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed True, they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish. The money changers have fled their high seats in the temple of our civilization. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement, The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This nation asks for Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem It can be accompanied in part by direct recruiting by the government itself, treating Hand in hand with this, we must frankly recognize the over-balance of population The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss, through It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against These are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are, to point in time I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance In the field of world policy I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize, as we have never realized We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will hind upon us all With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these courses, and I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis. . For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit
We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity, We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.
We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States
They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me
In this dedication of a nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect |