United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches

George Washington (1789): The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered deeply perhaps as finally staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. Thomas Jefferson (1801): We are all Republicans; we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. Abraham Lincoln (1861): We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933): This great Nation will endure as it has endured will revive and will prosper. So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless unreasoning unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.