Behind Inaugural Speeches, Meaningful Words

George Washington delivered his first inaugural address before a joint session of Congress in New York City’s Federal Hall on April 30, 1789. Washington, stepping into the newly created role of president, spoke of the importance of government’s duty to the public. He was deferential to his fellow patriots, almost hesitant to take on the role of the leader of the nation: “I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good.”

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By the time Abraham Lincoln delivered his first inaugural address on March 4, 1861, seven Southern states had seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America. In his speech, relying on frequent references to the Constitution, Lincoln argued that the Union was indissoluble: “Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people.”

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With the Civil War coming to an end, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural emphasized the need for national reconciliation to continue the task of preserving the Union: “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.” Historian and Lincoln biographer Ronald C. White Jr. deemed the Second Inaugural Lincoln’s greatest speech, describing it as a “culmination of Lincoln’s own struggle over the meaning of America, the meaning of the war, and his own struggle with slavery.”

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Theodore Roosevelt took his first oath of office following the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. In 1904, Roosevelt was elected to the White House, winning 56 percent of the popular vote. His inauguration was a festive affair, with a contingent of Rough Riders joining in the procession. But the tone of Roosevelt’s inaugural speech was somber, as he used the occasion to call attention to the unprecedented challenges facing the United States during an era of rapid industrialization: “[The] growth in wealth, in population, and in power as this nation has seen during the century and a quarter of its national life is inevitably accompanied by a like growth in the problems which are ever before every nation that rises to greatness.”

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President Woodrow Wilson had campaigned for re-election on the slogan “He kept us out of war.” But by the time he delivered his second inaugural address on March 5, 1917, war with Germany seemed inevitable. In his speech, Wilson declared: “The tragic events of the thirty months of vital turmoil through which we have just passed have made us citizens of the world. There can be no turning back. Our own fortunes as a nation are involved whether we would have it so or not.” Wilson also enunciated a list of principles—such as freedom of navigation on the seas and the reduction of national armaments—that foreshadowed the “Fourteen Points” speech he would deliver to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918.

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Buoyed by a decisive re-election victory—including strong gains by the Democratic Party in Congress—Roosevelt laid out his continuing plans to bring America out of the Great Depression. “I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished,” the president said. But Roosevelt counseled hope instead of despair, arguing that government has the “innate capacity to protect its people” and “to solve problems once considered unsolvable.”

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With Europe and Asia already engulfed in war, Roosevelt’s Third Inaugural warned Americans about the “peril of inaction.” He spoke in broad terms about nations and spirit, and perceptively compared the threats confronting the United States to those facing Washington and Lincoln in generations past. “Democracy is not dying,” he declared. “We know it because we have seen it revive—and grow.”

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President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his fourth and final inaugural address in 1945. With the nation still at war, it was considered inappropriate to mark the occasion with festivities—and his speech, less than 600 words long, echoed the day’s solemn tone. Much of the address focused on the perils of isolationism: “We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations far away. We have learned that we must live as men, not as ostriches, nor as dogs in the manger.”

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When President Harry S. Truman delivered his inaugural address on January 20, 1949, the cold war was well underway: The Iron Curtain had fallen over Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union had attempted to blockade West Berlin and the United States had begun implementing its policy of “containment” by providing financial and military aid to Greece and Turkey. In his speech, Truman outlined an ambitious “program for peace and freedom,” emphasizing four courses of action: strengthening the effectiveness of the United Nations; promoting world economic recovery; strengthening freedom-loving nations against the dangers of aggression; and launching an initiative “for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.”

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John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech is perhaps best known for its use of the coupling, “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” But, during an era of rising cold war tensions, Kennedy also addressed an international audience: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” Like other presidents before and since, Kennedy expressed optimism about the ability of the current generation of Americans to confront the unique burdens that had been placed upon them.

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The cornerstone of Ronald Reagan’s economic and legislative philosophy is well summarized by his assertion that “In our present time, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.” (Compare the prominence of the word “government” in Reagan’s First Inaugural and Roosevelt’s Second, and you’ll see how the two transformational icons viewed their role as president.) On the day of the inauguration, the U.S. hostages in Iran were released after 444 days in captivity. Reagan referenced the crisis in saying, “As for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people.”

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On a frigid winter day—so cold that the ceremony took place in the Capitol Rotunda instead of on the Capitol’s west steps—Ronald Reagan spoke of restricting the scope of federal government, pledging to keep Americans safe from undue “economic barriers” and to “liberate the spirit of enterprise” for all. The president also addressed national security, emphasizing the responsibility of the United States to promote democracy abroad. Reagan denounced the immorality of nuclear weapons and mutual assured destruction, and used his address to further his case for a missile defense shield.

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Bill Clinton defeated incumbent President George H.W. Bush in 1992, when the country was in the midst of an economic recession. Yet his speech largely focused on America’s place in the world during an era of unprecedented economic and political globalization: “There is no longer division between what is foreign and what is domestic—the world economy, the world environment, the world AIDS crisis, the world arms race—they affect us all.”

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During his campaign for re-election in 1996, President Clinton promoted the theme of building a bridge to the 21st century. His second inaugural speech touched upon the same theme, and Clinton spoke optimistically about setting “our sights upon a land of new promise.” In a twist on President Reagan’s famous line from his first inaugural, Clinton said: “Government is not the problem, and government is not the solution. We—the American people—we are the solution.”

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Following years of political scandals and bitter fighting between President Bill Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress, many pundits praised President George W. Bush’s first inaugural speech for its themes of compassion, service, character—and especially the promise to bring civility to politics. Newsweek’s Evan Thomas wrote: “Bush studied John F. Kennedy’s brief Inaugural Address before preparing his own. Bush’s themes of courage and service echoed JFK’s—without the heavy overhang of the ‘long twilight struggle’ of the cold war, but with the same emphasis on duty and commitment, words Bush repeated several times.”

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President George W. Bush’s second inaugural address was delivered in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Seeking to place his foreign policy in a broad, historical context, Bush declared: “The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.” Bush had told his chief speechwriter, Michael Gerson, “I want this to be the freedom speech.” Gerson didn’t disappoint: during the course of the 21-minute address, Bush used the words “freedom,” “free” and “liberty” 49 times.

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Barack Obama's inaugural address cited the historic change his presidency represents and candidly recognized the many challenges facing the nation in his term ahead, from war abroad to economic turmoil at home. "The challenges we face are real. They are serious, and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time," he declared. "But know this, America—they will be met." He promised "bold and swift action" to restore the economy. "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

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Barack Obama’s second inaugural address reiterated his campaign theme of fairness, explaining that a nation can’t succeed "when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it.” Starting many statements with “we, the people,” Obama called on citizens to work together to achieve an agenda that was lauded by liberals but criticized by conservatives. He became the first president to reference protecting gay rights in an inaugural address, and highlighted climate change, declaring, “Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.”(Written by Marina Koren)

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