Monday, July 14, 2003
TITLE: Excerpts From My Favorite Inaugral Speeches
With election 2004 infront of us, we are doomed to be bombarded with campaign ads, debates sightings of the candidates in small rural towns where they've never been nor will ever be seen again until they run for something else, babies being kissed, old ladies being hugged, a possible electoral dispute in the State of Florida again, etc. I, however, have decided that I will not read, look or listen to any of it. Feeling a bit nostalgic though, I read all of the inaugural speeches recently of our U.S. Presidents and wanted to share excerpts from the ones I felt were full of thought-provoking idiom.
"When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional." Thomas Jefferson, March 4, 1801.
"It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces... 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..." Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865.
"Shall the prejudices and paralysis of slavery continue to hang upon the skirts of progress? Calmness, justice and consideration should characterize our diplomacy. I do not mistrust the future. And when the harvests from fields...have been weighed, counted and valued, we will turn from them all to crown with the highest honor the State that has most promoted education, virture, justice and patriotism among it's people." Benjamin Harrison, March 4, 1889.
"The success of a party means littel except when the Nation is using that party for a large and definite purpose. This is not a day of triumph; it is a day of dedication. Men's hearts wait upon us; men's lives hang in the balance; men's hopes call upon us to say what we will do. God helping me, I will not fail them, if they will but counsel and sustain me!" "Woodrow Wilson, March 4, 1913.
"A nation, like a person, has a body - a body that must be fed and clothed and housed, invigorated and rested... A nation, like a person, has a mind - a mind that must be kept informed and alert, that must know itself, that understands the hopes and needs of it's neighbors.... Sometimes, we fail to hear or heed these voices of freedom because to us the privilege of our freedom is such an old, old story." Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 20, 1941.
"Communism is based on the belief that a man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore, requires the rule of strong masters. We are aided by all who wish to live in freedom from fear.... We are aided by all who want relief from the lies of propaganda... We are aided by all who desire...a voice in deciding their own affairs. We are aided by all who desire freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom to live their own lives for useful ends. From this faith, we will not be moved." Harry S. Truman, January 20, 1949.
"The men who mine coal and fire furnaces and balance ledgers and turn lathes and pick cotton and heal the sick and plant corn - all serve as proudly and as profitably for America as the statesmen who draft treaties and the legislators who enact laws. We are summoned to...work with industry, to teach with persuasion, to preach with conviction..." Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 20, 1953.
"We have found ourselves rich in goods, but, ragged in spirit... We are caught in war, wanting peace. We are torn by division, wanting unity. We see around us empty lives, wanting fulfillment. We see tasks that need doing, waiting for hands to do them. To a crisis of the spirit, we need an answer to the spirit. To find that answer, we need only look within ourselves. Until he has been part of a cause larger than himself, no man is truly whole. Let us take as our goal: where peace is unknown, make it welcome; where peace is fragile, make it strong; where peace is temporary, make it permanent." Richard M. Nixon, January 20, 1969.
"A person can be expected to act responsibly only if he has responsibility. This is human nature. That is why today I offer no promise of a purely governmental solution for every problem. In trusting too much in government, we have asked of it more than it can deliver. This leads only to inflated expectations, to reduced individual efforts and to a disappintment and frustration.... Government must learn to take less from people so that people can do more for themselves. Let us remember that America was built not by government, but by people; not by welfare, buy by work; not by shirking responsibility, but by seeking responsibility." Richard M. Nixon, January 20, 1973.
With election 2004 infront of us, we are doomed to be bombarded with campaign ads, debates sightings of the candidates in small rural towns where they've never been nor will ever be seen again until they run for something else, babies being kissed, old ladies being hugged, a possible electoral dispute in the State of Florida again, etc. I, however, have decided that I will not read, look or listen to any of it. Feeling a bit nostalgic though, I read all of the inaugural speeches recently of our U.S. Presidents and wanted to share excerpts from the ones I felt were full of thought-provoking idiom.
"When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional." Thomas Jefferson, March 4, 1801.
"It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces... 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..." Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865.
"Shall the prejudices and paralysis of slavery continue to hang upon the skirts of progress? Calmness, justice and consideration should characterize our diplomacy. I do not mistrust the future. And when the harvests from fields...have been weighed, counted and valued, we will turn from them all to crown with the highest honor the State that has most promoted education, virture, justice and patriotism among it's people." Benjamin Harrison, March 4, 1889.
"The success of a party means littel except when the Nation is using that party for a large and definite purpose. This is not a day of triumph; it is a day of dedication. Men's hearts wait upon us; men's lives hang in the balance; men's hopes call upon us to say what we will do. God helping me, I will not fail them, if they will but counsel and sustain me!" "Woodrow Wilson, March 4, 1913.
"A nation, like a person, has a body - a body that must be fed and clothed and housed, invigorated and rested... A nation, like a person, has a mind - a mind that must be kept informed and alert, that must know itself, that understands the hopes and needs of it's neighbors.... Sometimes, we fail to hear or heed these voices of freedom because to us the privilege of our freedom is such an old, old story." Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 20, 1941.
"Communism is based on the belief that a man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore, requires the rule of strong masters. We are aided by all who wish to live in freedom from fear.... We are aided by all who want relief from the lies of propaganda... We are aided by all who desire...a voice in deciding their own affairs. We are aided by all who desire freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom to live their own lives for useful ends. From this faith, we will not be moved." Harry S. Truman, January 20, 1949.
"The men who mine coal and fire furnaces and balance ledgers and turn lathes and pick cotton and heal the sick and plant corn - all serve as proudly and as profitably for America as the statesmen who draft treaties and the legislators who enact laws. We are summoned to...work with industry, to teach with persuasion, to preach with conviction..." Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 20, 1953.
"We have found ourselves rich in goods, but, ragged in spirit... We are caught in war, wanting peace. We are torn by division, wanting unity. We see around us empty lives, wanting fulfillment. We see tasks that need doing, waiting for hands to do them. To a crisis of the spirit, we need an answer to the spirit. To find that answer, we need only look within ourselves. Until he has been part of a cause larger than himself, no man is truly whole. Let us take as our goal: where peace is unknown, make it welcome; where peace is fragile, make it strong; where peace is temporary, make it permanent." Richard M. Nixon, January 20, 1969.
"A person can be expected to act responsibly only if he has responsibility. This is human nature. That is why today I offer no promise of a purely governmental solution for every problem. In trusting too much in government, we have asked of it more than it can deliver. This leads only to inflated expectations, to reduced individual efforts and to a disappintment and frustration.... Government must learn to take less from people so that people can do more for themselves. Let us remember that America was built not by government, but by people; not by welfare, buy by work; not by shirking responsibility, but by seeking responsibility." Richard M. Nixon, January 20, 1973.
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