This diary series is an examination of presidential inaugural addresses. Because of the broad scope of the diary, I will publish it in five parts: 1) Beginnings and Antebellum, 2) Lincoln and Reconstruction, 3) Progressivism to Depression and FDR, 4) Cold War and Conservatism, and 5) Summary and Speculation. I hope you will read them all.
I confess I have an unabashed enthusiasm for President-Elect Barack Obama's oratorical powers. I wrote about them in my diary a few weeks ago called Speechifying: Analyzing Obama's Oratory. (I refer you to that diary for links to any speeches by Obama that I may reference here.) Accordingly, I will speculate upon Obama's upcoming inaugural address in Part 5.
Bartleby.com has compiled all of the inaugural addresses at this link. Bartleby also includes an introduction for each address. Unless otherwise linked, Bartleby is my source for all inaugural addresses cited.
I do not apologize for the length of this diary. The subject is large and demands space. However, I do apologize in advance for my limited skills as a writer. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it.
(Note: In quotes, original emphasis is shown in italics. My added emphasis is in bold.)
PREAMBLE
Reading all the inaugural addresses of the US Presidents is a paradox. On the one hand, I find it fascinating to watch the issues and approaches to governing and the rhetoric evolve over nearly two and a half centuries. On the other hand, it gets boring as hell. Don't try to read them at 2am; your head will crash into your keyboard (voice of experience).
After all, every inaugural address in American history--except perhaps Washington's Second Inaugural Address--contains the following features:
- An expression of humility.
- Thanks to the invisible magic spirit.
- Praise for a democratic republic.
- Thanks to predecessor(s)/Founding Fathers.
- American exceptionalism.
These five are immutable. From Washington to W, they are always there. But other issues come and go.
That being said, inaugural addresses in general are less than memorable. How many have you actually heard quoted very often? Washington's First, Lincoln's First and Second, FDR's First, Kennedy's, Reagan's First? I think there are two reasons inaugural addresses tend to be forgotten. One, they always have to include the Immutable Five, which means they all sound very much alike; two, they are rarely timed to coincide with a watershed event. When they do--the Civil War, the Great Depression, a generational change, the Conservative Revolution--they tend to be more memorable. Because Obama's inauguration is such a signal event in America's racial history (not to mention occurring at the onset of the Great Depression II), I believe 1/20/09 will be one of those most remembered.
BEGINNINGS (1789-1825: George Washington-John Quincy Adams)
George Washington's First Inaugural Address is difficult reading. His 18th century syntax is hopelessly verbose and circuitous to say the least. However, I found it interesting for three reasons. First, of course, it is important because it is the first. Second, this line, which FDR quotes in his Third Inaugural Address, is the prototypical statement of the American purpose:
...[T]he preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.
And third, I found it interesting that Washington refused to be paid as POTUS. He said,
I must decline as inapplicable to myself any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed may during my continuance in it be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require.
Washington's Second Inaugural Address is, at 135 words, the shortest in history. Here it is in its two-paragraph entirety:
I am again called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of united America.
Previous to the execution of any official act of the President the Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence: That if it shall be found during my administration of the Government I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.
Unfortunately, Washington's brevity didn't catch on.
As inaugurations from John Adams to John Quincy Adams proceeded, the major theme was a deep-seated sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that the American political experiment was working.
John Adams, for example, noted that he first read the Constitution while living on foreign soil:
Employed in the service of my country abroad during the whole course of these transactions, I first saw the Constitution of the United States in a foreign country. Irritated by no literary altercation, animated by no public debate, heated by no party animosity, I read it with great satisfaction, as the result of good heads prompted by good hearts, as an experiment better adapted to the genius, character, situation, and relations of this nation and country than any which had ever been proposed or suggested.
(snip)
What other form of government, indeed, can so well deserve our esteem and love?
Thomas Jefferson was the first to call for unity after a divisive election and invoke the sentiment that Obama recalled in his 2004 DNC speech about red states, blue states, and the United States:
But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.
Then Jefferson pioneered the long-standing tradition of presidents to blame the press, which he did in his Second Inaugural Address:
During this course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the press has been leveled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety.
Jefferson was also the first to address the situation of "the aboriginal inhabitants of these countries," offering sympathy and aid, based on a reasoned argument about why Native Americans should abandon their traditions and join white society. Jefferson's stance would no doubt have been considered progressive during the Enlightenment. Now, we find his views patronizing and offensive:
Endowed with the faculties and the rights of men, breathing an ardent love of liberty and independence, and occupying a country which left them [Native Americans] no desire but to be undisturbed, the stream of overflowing population from other regions directed itself on these shores; without power to divert or habits to contend against it, they have been overwhelmed by the current or driven before it; now reduced within limits too narrow for the hunter's state, humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and the domestic arts; to encourage them to that industry which alone can enable them to maintain their place in existence and to prepare them in time for that state of society which to bodily comforts adds the improvement of the mind and morals. We have therefore liberally furnished them with the implements of husbandry and household use; we have placed among them instructors in the arts of first necessity, and they are covered with the aegis of the law against aggressors from among ourselves.
But the endeavors to enlighten them...have powerful obstacles to encounter; they are combated by the habits of their bodies, prejudices of their minds, ignorance, pride, and the influence of interested and crafty individuals among them who feel themselves something in the present order of things and fear to become nothing in any other. These persons inculcate a sanctimonious reverence for the customs of their ancestors; that whatsoever they did must be done through all time; that reason is a false guide, and to advance under its counsel in their physical, moral, or political condition is perilous innovation; that their duty is to remain as their Creator made them, ignorance being safety and knowledge full of danger; in short, my friends, among them also is seen the action and counteraction of good sense and of bigotry; they too have their antiphilosophists who find an interest in keeping things in their present state, who dread reformation, and exert all their faculties to maintain the ascendancy of habit over the duty of improving our reason and obeying its mandates.
Little more is memorable from this early period. James Madison blasted the British in his Second Inaugural Address, which took place during the War of 1812. James Monroe, ignoring the elephant in the room--slavery--felt we had almost reached perfection in government by 1817:
To whatever object we turn our attention, whether it relates to our foreign or domestic concerns, we find abundant cause to felicitate ourselves in the excellence of our institutions.
(snip)
And if we look to the condition of individuals what a proud spectacle does it exhibit! On whom has oppression fallen in any quarter of our Union? Who has been deprived of any right of person or property? Who restrained from offering his vows in the mode which he prefers to the Divine Author of his being? It is well known that all these blessings have been enjoyed in their fullest extent....
In his Second Inaugural Address, Monroe became the first to extensively delve into specific policy issues on a variety of fronts. Quincy Adams, on the other hand, simply promised to be Monroe III:
In this brief outline of the promise and performance of my immediate predecessor the line of duty for his successor is clearly delineated. To pursue to their consummation those purposes of improvement in our common condition instituted or recommended by him will embrace the whole sphere of my obligations.
ANTEBELLUM (1829-1857: Andrew Jackson-James Buchanan)
The first rumblings of the coming Civil War are heard in Andrew Jackson's Second Inaugural address. The theme he outlines here continues through Lincoln's First Inaugural.
In the domestic policy of this Government there are two objects which especially deserve the attention of the people and their representatives, and which have been and will continue to be the subjects of my increasing solicitude. They are the preservation of the rights of the several States and the integrity of the Union.
The states rights and secession arguments, really symptoms caused by the disease of slavery, dominated the years between Jackson and Lincoln, with the diversion of The Mexican War thrown in. While acknowledging states rights, Jackson was insistent on the preservation of the Union:
But of equal, and, indeed, of incalculable, importance is the union of these States, and the sacred duty of all to contribute to its preservation by a liberal support of the General Government in the exercise of its just powers.
Martin Van Buren is the first to mention slavery in an inaugural address. His speech, which is otherwise a throwback to the the "Beginnings" era, is rosily optimistic, even about the institution that would tear our country asunder:
The last, perhaps the greatest, of the prominent sources of discord and disaster supposed to lurk in our political condition was the institution of domestic slavery. Our forefathers were deeply impressed with the delicacy of this subject, and they treated it with a forbearance so evidently wise that in spite of every sinister foreboding it never until the present period disturbed the tranquillity of our common country.
Note that Van Buren uses the past tense in the quote above. He felt he had solved the problem with his pro-slavery stance:
I then declared that if the desire of those of my countrymen who were favorable to my election was gratified "I must go into the Presidential chair the inflexible and uncompromising opponent of every attempt on the part of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia against the wishes of the slaveholding States, and also with a determination equally decided to resist the slightest interference with it in the States where it exists."
These sentiments, Van Buren noted, would make the Founding Fathers proud:
These opinions have been adopted in the firm belief that they are in accordance with the spirit that actuated the venerated fathers of the Republic, and that succeeding experience has proved them to be humane, patriotic, expedient, honorable, and just.
At his inauguration, William Henry Harrison spoke for nearly two hours in a snowstorm, caught pneumonia, and died a month later. Alas, his speech is probably the worst of the inaugural addresses. It is a treatise on how the Founding Fathers made all the right decisions in crafting the Constitution, complete with multiple classical allusions and references. Better than Ambien.
James K. Polk used his swearing-in to issue a warning to Abolitionists:
It is a source of deep regret that in some sections of our country misguided persons have occasionally indulged in schemes and agitations whose object is the destruction of domestic institutions existing in other sections—institutions which existed at the adoption of the Constitution and were recognized and protected by it. All must see that if it were possible for them to be successful in attaining their object the dissolution of the Union and the consequent destruction of our happy form of government must speedily follow.
"Old Rough and Ready," Zachary Taylor, gave a retro "Beginnings" speech, ignoring real issues altogether. Franklin Pierce, by contrast, addresses slavery and union in much the same way Van Buren did, and for the first time in an inaugural address, names "The South" as a region:
I believe that involuntary servitude, as it exists in different States of this Confederacy, is recognized by the Constitution. I believe that it stands like any other admitted right, and that the States where it exists are entitled to efficient remedies to enforce the constitutional provisions. I hold that the laws of 1850, commonly called the "compromise measures," are strictly constitutional and to be unhesitatingly carried into effect. I believe that the constituted authorities of this Republic are bound to regard the rights of the South in this respect as they would view any other legal and constitutional right, and that the laws to enforce them should be respected and obeyed, not with a reluctance encouraged by abstract opinions as to their propriety in a different state of society, but cheerfully and according to the decisions of the tribunal to which their exposition belongs.
James Buchanan offered more of the same, arguing in this passage that the slavery issue was solved and it was time to move on:
The whole Territorial question being thus settled upon the principle of popular sovereignty—a principle as ancient as free government itself—everything of a practical nature has been decided. No other question remains for adjustment, because all agree that under the Constitution slavery in the States is beyond the reach of any human power except that of the respective States themselves wherein it exists. May we not, then, hope that the long agitation on this subject is approaching its end, and that the geographical parties to which it has given birth, so much dreaded by the Father of his Country, will speedily become extinct? Most happy will it be for the country when the public mind shall be diverted from this question to others of more pressing and practical importance.
Unfortunately for Buchanan and the country, no question was "of more pressing and practical importance" than slavery. It would be left to Abraham Lincoln to provide the only real solution to the problem of slavery--its abolition. And it would be Lincoln who finally elevated the inaugural address to memorable oratory.
PART I SUMMARY
None of the inaugural addresses in this early period are particularly memorable, IMHO. As mentioned, the early focus was on survival of the country and the Constitution. Beginning with Jackson, it became clear that slavery could not be ignored and the states rights/secession issue was coming to a head.
A few other points should be noted. One is that every early president warned of the danger of a "standing army," the equivalent of today's military-industrial complex. In addition, almost all were concerned with having a balanced budget, although debt was accumulated in times of war. Third, Presidents uniformly called upon God (although usually not by that name) in their speeches but also emphasized freedom of religion.
Finally, almost all of these Presidents were proud and optimistic--and with good reason. The War of 1812 had been won. The country was growing and expanding by leaps and bounds. Natural resources seemed limitless. The Mexican War produced another victory and more territory. The buffer zones of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans kept the US out of foreign entanglements. The audacious experiment in democracy was working. The country was booming and US presidents were proud. But America's original sin--slavery--was about to turn utopia into a brother against brother bloodbath.
Tune in tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel, for Part 2--Lincoln and Reconstruction.
SPECIAL BONUS SECTION: Inauguration trivia.
(Note: Trivia is based on formal inaugurations only. Inaugurations of VPs to succeed deceased or resigned presidents are not included unless noted. Some trivia was derived from my own reading; other items come from this National Geographic article.)
+ Chief Justice John Marshall administered the most oaths of office (10), while Roger B. Taney was second (7), followed by Melville Fuller (6) and William Rehnquist (5).
+ George Washington was never sworn in by a Chief Justice. At his first inauguration (when he hadn't yet appointed the very first chief justice), he was sworn in by the Chancellor of New York and fellow Freemason, Robert R. Livingston. At his second inauguration, he was sworn in by Associate Justice William Cushing. (I have no idea why Chief Justice John Jay did not perform the ceremony; perhaps he was circuit riding, which Supremes did in those days.)
+ Only Washington and John Adams did not take the oath in Washington, D.C. George Washington took his first in New York (on Wall Street!) and his second in Philadelphia. Adams also took his in Philadelphia, leaving it to Thomas Jefferson to be the first POTUS sworn-in in newly-constructed D.C.
+ Every president has taken the oath on the Bible. Washington began the tradition, using a Bible belonging to New York's St. John's Masonic Lodge.
+ Technically, because of Inauguration Day occasionally falling on a Sunday, there have been several occasions when we had no POTUS for one day:
- James Monroe's first term expired on March 3, 1821, but March 4 was on a Sunday. On the advice of Chief Justice Marshall, he took the oath on Monday, March 5.
- The same thing occurred with Zachary Taylor in 1849, but since he was not succeeding himself (as was Monroe), more uproar was raised over the one-day vacancy.
- On the next occasion, Rutherford B. Hayes took the oath on Saturday, March 3, 1877, rather than March 5, owing to the disputed election against Samuel Tilden.
- Woodrow Wilson, succeeding himself, took a private oath on Sunday and retook the oath in a public ceremony on Monday, March 5, 1917.
- Dwight Eisenhower continued the "no Sunday" tradition, taking the oath to succeed himself on Jan. 21, 1957 (the date had moved from March 4 to January 20 in 1937 for Roosevelt's second inauguration).
- Reagan followed suit in 1985.
- The next Sunday inauguration falls on January 20, 2013. Will the "no Sunday" tradition continue?
+ William Henry Harrison gave the longest inauguration speech and had the shortest presidency in history. He gave a one hour and forty-five minute speech in a snowstorm and died of pneumonia a month later.
+ Ronald Reagan gave the first inaugural at the West Front of the Capitol on January 20, 1981. Until then, modern presidents had traditionally given the speech at the East Front.
+ Franklin Pierce, for religious reasons, is the only president to "affirm" rather than "swear" the oath of office.
+ James Buchanan's inauguration in 1857 was the first known to be photographed.
+ William McKinley, in 1897 was the first to be filmed by a movie camera.
+ In 1921, Warren G. Harding was the first president to use an automobile and the first to use a loudspeaker at the inauguration.
+ Coolidge in 1925 was the first to have his address broadcast on the radio.
+ Truman was the first to be televised in 1949.
+ Clinton's second inauguration (1997) was the first broadcast live on the internet.
+ In 1945 for his fourth inaugural, FDR had a small ceremony on the South Portico of the White House, and no parades or balls were held in deference to the ongoing WWII.
+ William Howard Taft is the only person ever to be sworn in as POTUS and to swear in someone as POTUS. Chief Justice Melville Fuller swore him in as President in 1909. Then Taft, having been appointed Chief Justice by Harding 1921, swore in Coolidge in '25 and Hoover in '29.
+ The first aircraft visible at an inauguration was Hoover in 1929. Dirigibles and airplanes were overhead.
+ Jefferson held the first inauguration parade at his second inauguration in 1805. He rode his horse from the Capitol to the White House, followed by members of Congress and the public.
+ Monroe was the first to have a public inauguration in 1817.
+ John Quincy Adams was the first sworn in while wearing long pants.
+ Reagan had both the warmest (1981) and the coldest (1985) inaugurations on record.
+ John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, and Gerald Ford are the five presidents who never gave a formal inaugural address. Tyler became president when William Henry Harrison died; Fillmore succeeded the late Zachary Taylor; Johnson took over when Lincoln was assassinated; Arthur succeeded Garfield, who was also shot and killed; and Ford replaced Nixon, who resigned. None of the five was reelected.
UPDATE: H/T to SingleVoter for this link to inaugural addresses, executive orders, signing statements, state of the union addresses, party platforms, and fireside chats.
UPDATE 2: Here are links to the other four parts of this diary series:
Part 2 1861-1901: Lincoln-McKinley
Part 3 1905-1945: T. Roosevelt-F. Roosevelt
Part 4 1949-2005: Truman-G. W. Bush
Part 5 Summary and Speculation
UPDATE 3: I made a couple of errors in the trivia:
- I said all presidents had taken the oath on the Bible. Franklin Pierce did not. He took the oath on a law book.
- Pierce was not the only president to "affirm" rather than "swear" the oath. Hoover also chose to "affirm;" however, he used his family Bible.
I apologize for the errors.