great features of its policy, in general concurrence with the will of
the Legislature, have been to cherish peace while preparing for
defensive war; to yield exact justice to other nations and maintain the
rights of our own; to cherish the principles of freedom and of equal
rights wherever they were proclaimed; to discharge with all possible
promptitude the national debt; to reduce within the narrowest limits of
efficiency the military force; to improve the organization and
discipline of the Army; to provide and sustain a school of military
science; to extend equal protection to all the great interests of the
nation; to promote the civilization of the Indian tribes, and to
proceed in the great system of internal improvements within the limits
of the constitutional power of the Union. Under the pledge of these
promises, made by that eminent citizen at the time of his first
induction to this office, in his career of eight years the internal
taxes have been repealed; sixty millions of the public debt have been
discharged; provision has been made for the comfort and relief of the
aged and indigent among the surviving warriors of the Revolution; the
regular armed force has been reduced and its constitution revised and
perfected; the accountability for the expenditure of public moneys has
been made more effective; the Floridas have been peaceably acquired,
and our boundary has been extended to the Pacific Ocean; the
independence of the southern nations of this hemisphere has been
recognized, and recommended by example and by counsel to the potentates
of Europe; progress has been made in the defense of the country by
fortifications and the increase of the Navy, toward the effectual
suppression of the African traffic in slaves; in alluring the
aboriginal hunters of our land to the cultivation of the soil and of
the mind, in exploring the interior regions of the Union, and in
preparing by scientific researches and surveys for the further
application of our national resources to the internal improvement of
our country.

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. To the topic of internal improvement,
emphatically urged by him at his inauguration, I recur with peculiar
satisfaction. It is that from which I am convinced that the unborn
millions of our posterity who are in future ages to people this
continent will derive their most fervent gratitude to the founders of
the Union; that in which the beneficent action of its Government will
be most deeply felt and acknowledged. The magnificence and splendor of
their public works are among the imperishable glories of the ancient
republics. The roads and aqueducts of Rome have been the admiration of
all after ages, and have survived thousands of years after all her
conquests have been swallowed up in despotism or become the spoil of
barbarians. Some diversity of opinion has prevailed with regard to the
powers of Congress for legislation upon objects of this nature. The
most respectful deference is due to doubts originating in pure
patriotism and sustained by venerated authority. But nearly twenty
years have passed since the construction of the first national road was
commenced. The authority for its construction was then unquestioned. To
how many thousands of our countrymen has it proved a benefit? To what
single individual has it ever proved an injury? Repeated, liberal, and
candid discussions in the Legislature have conciliated the sentiments
and approximated the opinions of enlightened minds upon the question of
constitutional power. I can not but hope that by the same process of
friendly, patient, and persevering deliberation all constitutional
objections will ultimately be removed. The extent and limitation of the
powers of the General Government in relation to this transcendently
important interest will be settled and acknowledged to the common
satisfaction of all, and every speculative scruple will be solved by a
practical public blessing.

Fellow-citizens, you are acquainted with the peculiar circumstances of
the recent election, which have resulted in affording me the
opportunity of addressing you at this time. You have heard the
exposition of the principles which will direct me in the fulfillment of
the high and solemn trust imposed upon me in this station. Less
possessed of your confidence in advance than any of my predecessors, I
am deeply conscious of the prospect that I shall stand more and oftener
in need of your indulgence. Intentions upright and pure, a heart
devoted to the welfare of our country, and the unceasing application of
all the faculties allotted to me to her service are all the pledges
that I can give for the faithful performance of the arduous duties I am
to undertake. To the guidance of the legislative councils, to the
assistance of the executive and subordinate departments, to the
friendly cooperation of the respective State governments, to the candid
and liberal support of the people so far as it may be deserved by
honest industry and zeal, I shall look for whatever success may attend
my public service; and knowing that "except the Lord keep the city the
watchman waketh but in vain," with fervent supplications for His favor,
to His overruling providence I commit with humble but fearless
confidence my own fate and the future destinies of my country.


***

Andrew Jackson
First Inaugural Address
Wednesday, March 4, 1829

Fellow-Citizens:

ABOUT to undertake the arduous duties that I have been appointed to
perform by the choice of a free people, I avail myself of this
customary and solemn occasion to express the gratitude which their
confidence inspires and to acknowledge the accountability which my
situation enjoins. While the magnitude of their interests convinces me
that no thanks can be adequate to the honor they have conferred, it
admonishes me that the best return I can make is the zealous dedication
of my humble abilities to their service and their good.

As the instrument of the Federal Constitution it will devolve on me for
a stated period to execute the laws of the United States, to
superintend their foreign and their confederate relations, to manage
their revenue, to command their forces, and, by communications to the
Legislature, to watch over and to promote their interests generally.
And the principles of action by which I shall endeavor to accomplish
this circle of duties it is now proper for me briefly to explain.

In administering the laws of Congress I shall keep steadily in view the
limitations as well as the extent of the Executive power, trusting
thereby to discharge the functions of my office without transcending
its authority. With foreign nations it will be my study to preserve
peace and to cultivate friendship on fair and honorable terms, and in
the adjustment of any differences that may exist or arise to exhibit
the forbearance becoming a powerful nation rather than the sensibility
belonging to a gallant people.

In such measures as I may be called on to pursue in regard to the
rights of the separate States I hope to be animated by a proper respect
for those sovereign members of our Union, taking care not to confound
the powers they have reserved to themselves with those they have
granted to the Confederacy.

The management of the public revenue - that searching operation in all
governments - is among the most delicate and important trusts in ours,
and it will, of course, demand no inconsiderable share of my official
solicitude. Under every aspect in which it can be considered it would
appear that advantage must result from the observance of a strict and
faithful economy. This I shall aim at the more anxiously both because
it will facilitate the extinguishment of the national debt, the
unnecessary duration of which is incompatible with real independence,
and because it will counteract that tendency to public and private
profligacy which a profuse expenditure of money by the Government is
but too apt to engender. Powerful auxiliaries to the attainment of this
desirable end are to be found in the regulations provided by the wisdom
of Congress for the specific appropriation of public money and the
prompt accountability of public officers.

With regard to a proper selection of the subjects of impost with a view
to revenue, it would seem to me that the spirit of equity, caution, and
compromise in which the Constitution was formed requires that the great
interests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures should be equally
favored, and that perhaps the only exception to this rule should
consist in the peculiar encouragement of any products of either of them
that may be found essential to our national independence.

Internal improvement and the diffusion of knowledge, so far as they can
be promoted by the constitutional acts of the Federal Government, are
of high importance.

Considering standing armies as dangerous to free governments in time of
peace, I shall not seek to enlarge our present establishment, nor
disregard that salutary lesson of political experience which teaches
that the military should be held subordinate to the civil power. The
gradual increase of our Navy, whose flag has displayed in distant
climes our skill in navigation and our fame in arms; the preservation
of our forts, arsenals, and dockyards, and the introduction of
progressive improvements in the discipline and science of both branches
of our military service are so plainly prescribed by prudence that I
should be excused for omitting their mention sooner than for enlarging
on their importance. But the bulwark of our defense is the national
militia, which in the present state of our intelligence and population
must render us invincible. As long as our Government is administered
for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as
it secures to us the rights of person and of property, liberty of
conscience and of the press, it will be worth defending; and so long as
it is worth defending a patriotic militia will cover it with an
impenetrable aegis. Partial injuries and occasional mortifications we
may be subjected to, but a million of armed freemen, possessed of the
means of war, can never be conquered by a foreign foe. To any just
system, therefore, calculated to strengthen this natural safeguard of
the country I shall cheerfully lend all the aid in my power.

It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe toward the Indian
tribes within our limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that
humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants which
is consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of our
people.

The recent demonstration of public sentiment inscribes on the list of
Executive duties, in characters too legible to be overlooked, the task
of reform, which will require particularly the correction of those
abuses that have brought the patronage of the Federal Government into
conflict with the freedom of elections, and the counteraction of those
causes which have disturbed the rightful course of appointment and have
placed or continued power in unfaithful or incompetent hands.

In the performance of a task thus generally delineated I shall endeavor
to select men whose diligence and talents will insure in their
respective stations able and faithful cooperation, depending for the
advancement of the public service more on the integrity and zeal of the
public officers than on their numbers.

A diffidence, perhaps too just, in my own qualifications will teach me
to look with reverence to the examples of public virtue left by my
illustrious predecessors, and with veneration to the lights that flow
from the mind that founded and the mind that reformed our system. The
same diffidence induces me to hope for instruction and aid from the
coordinate branches of the Government, and for the indulgence and
support of my fellow-citizens generally. And a firm reliance on the
goodness of that Power whose providence mercifully protected our
national infancy, and has since upheld our liberties in various
vicissitudes, encourages me to offer up my ardent supplications that He
will continue to make our beloved country the object of His divine care
and gracious benediction.


***

Andrew Jackson
Second Inaugural Address
Monday, March 4, 1833

Fellow-Citizens:

THE will of the American people, expressed through their unsolicited
suffrages, calls me before you to pass through the solemnities
preparatory to taking upon myself the duties of President of the United
States for another term. For their approbation of my public conduct
through a period which has not been without its difficulties, and for
this renewed expression of their confidence in my good intentions, I am
at a loss for terms adequate to the expression of my gratitude. It
shall be displayed to the extent of my humble abilities in continued
efforts so to administer the Government as to preserve their liberty
and promote their happiness.

So many events have occurred within the last four years which have
necessarily called forth - sometimes under circumstances the most
delicate and painful - my views of the principles and policy which
ought to be pursued by the General Government that I need on this
occasion but allude to a few leading considerations connected with some
of them.

The foreign policy adopted by our Government soon after the formation
of our present Constitution, and very generally pursued by successive
Administrations, has been crowned with almost complete success, and has
elevated our character among the nations of the earth. To do justice to
all and to submit to wrong from none has been during my Administration
its governing maxim, and so happy have been its results that we are not
only at peace with all the world, but have few causes of controversy,
and those of minor importance, remaining unadjusted.

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.

These great objects are necessarily connected, and can only be attained
by an enlightened exercise of the powers of each within its appropriate
sphere in conformity with the public will constitutionally expressed.
To this end it becomes the duty of all to yield a ready and patriotic
submission to the laws constitutionally enacted, and thereby promote
and strengthen a proper confidence in those institutions of the several
States and of the United States which the people themselves have
ordained for their own government.

My experience in public concerns and the observation of a life somewhat
advanced confirm the opinions long since imbibed by me, that the
destruction of our State governments or the annihilation of their
control over the local concerns of the people would lead directly to
revolution and anarchy, and finally to despotism and military
domination. In proportion, therefore, as the General Government
encroaches upon the rights of the States, in the same proportion does
it impair its own power and detract from its ability to fulfill the
purposes of its creation. Solemnly impressed with these considerations,
my countrymen will ever find me ready to exercise my constitutional
powers in arresting measures which may directly or indirectly encroach
upon the rights of the States or tend to consolidate all political
power in the General Government. 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. You have
been wisely admonished to "accustom yourselves to think and speak of
the Union as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity,
watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety, discountenancing
whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be
abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of any
attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest or to
enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts."
Without union our independence and liberty would never have been
achieved; without union they never can be maintained. Divided into
twenty-four, or even a smaller number, of separate communities, we
shall see our internal trade burdened with numberless restraints and
exactions; communication between distant points and sections obstructed
or cut off; our sons made soldiers to deluge with blood the fields they
now till in peace; the mass of our people borne down and impoverished
by taxes to support armies and navies, and military leaders at the head
of their victorious legions becoming our lawgivers and judges. The loss
of liberty, of all good government, of peace, plenty, and happiness,
must inevitably follow a dissolution of the Union. In supporting it,
therefore, we support all that is dear to the freeman and the
philanthropist.

The time at which I stand before you is full of interest. The eyes of
all nations are fixed on our Republic. The event of the existing crisis
will be decisive in the opinion of mankind of the practicability of our
federal system of government. Great is the stake placed in our hands;
great is the responsibility which must rest upon the people of the
United States. Let us realize the importance of the attitude in which
we stand before the world. Let us exercise forbearance and firmness.
Let us extricate our country from the dangers which surround it and
learn wisdom from the lessons they inculcate.

Deeply impressed with the truth of these observations, and under the
obligation of that solemn oath which I am about to take, I shall
continue to exert all my faculties to maintain the just powers of the
Constitution and to transmit unimpaired to posterity the blessings of
our Federal Union. At the same time, it will be my aim to inculcate by
my official acts the necessity of exercising by the General Government
those powers only that are clearly delegated; to encourage simplicity
and economy in the expenditures of the Government; to raise no more
money from the people than may be requisite for these objects, and in a
manner that will best promote the interests of all classes of the
community and of all portions of the Union. Constantly bearing in mind
that in entering into society "individuals must give up a share of
liberty to preserve the rest," it will be my desire so to discharge my
duties as to foster with our brethren in all parts of the country a
spirit of liberal concession and compromise, and, by reconciling our
fellow-citizens to those partial sacrifices which they must unavoidably
make for the preservation of a greater good, to recommend our
invaluable Government and Union to the confidence and affections of the
American people.

Finally, it is my most fervent prayer to that Almighty Being before
whom I now stand, and who has kept us in His hands from the infancy of
our Republic to the present day, that He will so overrule all my
intentions and actions and inspire the hearts of my fellow-citizens
that we may be preserved from dangers of all kinds and continue forever
a united and happy people.


***

Martin Van Buren
Inaugural Address
Monday, March 4, 1837

Fellow-Citizens: The practice of all my predecessors imposes on me an
obligation I cheerfully fulfill - to accompany the first and solemn act
of my public trust with an avowal of the principles that will guide me
in performing it and an expression of my feelings on assuming a charge
so responsible and vast. In imitating their example I tread in the
footsteps of illustrious men, whose superiors it is our happiness to
believe are not found on the executive calendar of any country. Among
th em we recognize the earliest and firmest pillars of the Republic -
those by whom our national independence was first declared, him who
above all others contributed to establish it on the field of battle,
and those whose expanded intellect and patriotis m constructed,
improved, and perfected the inestimable institutions under which we
live. If such men in the position I now occupy felt themselves
overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude for this the highest of all marks
of their country's confidence, and by a consciousness of their
inability adequately to discharge the duties of an office so difficult
and exalted, how much more must these considerations affect one who can
rely on no such claims for favor or forbearance! Unlike all who have
preceded me, the Re volution that gave us existence as one people was
achieved at the period of my birth; and whilst I contemplate with
grateful reverence that memorable event, I feel that I belong to a
later age and that I may not expect my countrymen to weigh my actions
wi th the same kind and partial hand.

So sensibly, fellow-citizens, do these circumstances press themselves
upon me that I should not dare to enter upon my path of duty did I not
look for the generous aid of those who will be associated with me in
the various and coordinat e branches of the Government; did I not
repose with unwavering reliance on the patriotism, the intelligence,
and the kindness of a people who never yet deserted a public servant
honestly laboring their cause; and, above all, did I not permit myself
humbly to hope for the sustaining support of an ever-watchful and
beneficent Providence.

This provident forecast has been verified by time. Half a century,
teeming with extraordinary events, and elsewhere producing astonishing
results, has passed along, but on our institutions it has left no
injurious mark. From a small co mmunity we have risen to a people
powerful in numbers and in strength; but with our increase has gone
hand in hand the progress of just principles. The privileges, civil and
religious, of the humblest individual are still sacredly protected at
home, and w hile the valor and fortitude of our people have removed far
from us the slightest apprehension of foreign power, they have not yet
induced us in a single instance to forget what is right. Our commerce
has been extended to the remotest nations; the value a nd even nature
of our productions have been greatly changed; a wide difference has
arisen in the relative wealth and resources of every portion of our
country; yet the spirit of mutual regard and of faithful adherence to
existing compacts has continued to prevail in our councils and never
long been absent from our conduct. We have learned by experience a
fruitful lesson - that an implicit and undeviating adherence to the
principles on which we set out can carry us prosperously onward through
all the co nflicts of circumstances and vicissitudes inseparable from
the lapse of years.

An imperfect experience during the struggles of the Revolution was
supposed to warrant the belief that the people would not bear the
taxation requisite to discharge an immense public debt already incurred
and to pay the necessary expen ses of the Government. The cost of two
wars has been paid, not only without a murmur, but with unequaled
alacrity. No one is now left to doubt that every burden will be
cheerfully borne that may be necessary to sustain our civil
institutions or guard our honor or welfare. Indeed, all experience has
shown that the willingness of the people to contribute to these ends in
cases of emergency has uniformly outrun the confidence of their
representatives.

The capacity of the people for self-government, and their willingness,
from a high sense of duty and without those exhibitions of coercive
power so generally employed in other countries, to submit to all
needful restraints and exaction s of municipal law, have also been
favorably exemplified in the history of the American States.
Occasionally, it is true, the ardor of public sentiment, outrunning the
regular progress of the judicial tribunals or seeking to reach cases
not denounced as c riminal by the existing law, has displayed itself in
a manner calculated to give pain to the friends of free government and
to encourage the hopes of those who wish for its overthrow. These
occurrences, however, have been far less frequent in our country than
in any other of equal population on the globe, and with the diffusion