Elected
by the American people to the highest office known to our
laws, I appear here to take the oath prescribed by the
Constitution, and, in compliance with a time-honored custom,
to address those who are now assembled.
The
confidence and respect shown by my countrymen in calling me
to be the Chief Magistrate of a Republic holding a high rank
among the nations of the earth have inspired me with
feelings of the most profound gratitude; but when I reflect
that the acceptance of the office which their partiality has
bestowed imposes the discharge of the most arduous duties
and involves the weightiest obligations, I am conscious that
the position which I have been called to fill, though
sufficient to satisfy the loftiest ambition, is surrounded
by fearful responsibilities. Happily, however, in the
performance of my new duties I shall not be without able
cooperation. The legislative and judicial branches of the
Government present prominent examples of distinguished civil
attainments and matured experience, and it shall be my
endeavor to call to my assistance in the Executive
Departments individuals whose talents, integrity, and purity
of character will furnish ample guaranties for the faithful
and honorable performance of the trusts to be committed to
their charge. With such aids and an honest purpose to do
whatever is right, I hope to execute diligently,
impartially, and for the best interests of the country the
manifold duties devolved upon me.
In
the discharge of these duties my guide will be the
Constitution, which I this day swear to "preserve,
protect, and defend." For the interpretation of that
instrument I shall look to the decisions of the judicial
tribunals established by its authority and to the practice
of the Government under the earlier Presidents, who had so
large a share in its formation. To the example of those
illustrious patriots I shall always defer with reverence,
and especially to his example who was by so many titles
"the Father of his Country."
To
command the Army and Navy of the United States; with the
advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties and to
appoint ambassadors and other officers; to give to Congress
information of the state of the Union and recommend such
measures as he shall judge to be necessary; and to take care
that the laws shall be faithfully executed these are the
most important functions entrusted to the President by the
Constitution, and it may be expected that I shall briefly
indicate the principles which will control me in their
execution.
Chosen
by the body of the people under the assurance that my
Administration would be devoted to the welfare of the whole
country, and not to the support of any particular section or
merely local interest, I this day renew the declarations I
have heretofore made and proclaim my fixed determination to
maintain to the extent of my ability the Government in its
original purity and to adopt as the basis of my public
policy those great republican doctrines which constitute the
strength of our national existence.
In
reference to the Army and Navy, lately employed with so much
distinction on active service, care shall be taken to insure
the highest condition of efficiency, and in furtherance of
that object the military and naval schools, sustained by the
liberality of Congress, shall receive the special attention
of the Executive.
As
American freemen we can not but sympathize in all efforts to
extend the blessings of civil and political liberty, but at
the same time we are warned by the admonitions of history
and the voice of our own beloved Washington to abstain from
entangling alliances with foreign nations. In all disputes
between conflicting governments it is our interest not less
than our duty to remain strictly neutral, while our
geographical position, the genius of our institutions and
our people, the advancing spirit of civilization, and, above
all, the dictates of religion direct us to the cultivation
of peaceful and friendly relations with all other powers. It
is to be hoped that no international question can now arise
which a government confident in its own strength and
resolved to protect its own just rights may not settle by
wise negotiation; and it eminently becomes a government like
our own, founded on the morality and intelligence of its
citizens and upheld by their affections, to exhaust every
resort of honorable diplomacy before appealing to arms. In
the conduct of our foreign relations I shall conform to
these views, as I believe them essential to the best
interests and the true honor of the country.
The
appointing power vested in the President imposes delicate
and onerous duties. So far as it is possible to be informed,
I shall make honesty, capacity, and fidelity indispensable
prerequisites to the bestowal of office, and the absence of
either of these qualities shall be deemed sufficient cause
for removal.
It
shall be my study to recommend such constitutional measures
to Congress as may be necessary and proper to secure
encouragement and protection to the great interests of
agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, to improve our
rivers and harbors, to provide for the speedy extinguishment
of the public debt, to enforce a strict accountability on
the part of all officers of the Government and the utmost
economy in all public expenditures; but it is for the wisdom
of Congress itself, in which all legislative powers are
vested by the Constitution, to regulate these and other
matters of domestic policy. I shall look with confidence to
the enlightened patriotism of that body to adopt such
measures of conciliation as may harmonize conflicting
interests and tend to perpetuate that Union which should be
the paramount object of our hopes and affections. In any
action calculated to promote an object so near the heart of
everyone who truly loves his country I will zealously unite
with the coordinate branches of the Government.
In
conclusion I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon the
high state of prosperity to which the goodness of Divine
Providence has conducted our common country. Let us invoke a
continuance of the same protecting care which has led us
from small beginnings to the eminence we this day occupy,
and let us seek to deserve that continuance by prudence and
moderation in our councils, by well-directed attempts to
assuage the bitterness which too often marks unavoidable
differences of opinion, by the promulgation and practice of
just and liberal principles, and by an enlarged patriotism,
which shall acknowledge no limits but those of our own
widespread Republic.
|