U.S. & World (topstories syndication domain)

WASHINGTON (CBS) ― Speeches made by newly elected presidents reflect the country's times and visions for America's future. Collected here are inaugural addresses made since Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived at the White House amid the depths of the Great Depression more than three-quarters of a century ago.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: 1st Inaugural, March 4, 1933
"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. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days." Watch | Read

Franklin D. Roosevelt: 2nd Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1937
"Our progress out of the depression is obvious. But that is not all that you and I mean by the new order of things. Our pledge was not merely to do a patchwork job with secondhand materials. By using the new materials of social justice we have undertaken to erect on the old foundations a more enduring structure for the better use of future generations." Watch | Read

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Jan. 20, 1941, 3rd Inaugural
"Lives of nations are determined not by the count of years, but by the lifetime of the human spirit. The life of a man is three-score years and ten: a little more, a little less. The life of a nation is the fullness of the measure of its will to live." Watch | Read

Franklin D. Roosevelt: 4th Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1945
"And so today, in this year of war, 1945, we have learned lessons- at a fearful cost-and we shall profit by them. 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. We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community." Watch | Read

Harry S. Truman: Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1949
"Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule of strong masters. Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice." Watch | Read

Dwight D. Eisenhower: 1st Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1953
"We summon all our knowledge of the past and we scan all signs of the future. We bring all our wit and all our will to meet the question: How far have we come in man's long pilgrimage from darkness toward light? Are we nearing the light-a day of freedom and of peace for all mankind? Or are the shadows of another night closing in upon us?" Watch | Read

Dwight D. Eisenhower: 2nd Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1957
"We must use our skills and knowledge and, at times, our substance, to help others rise from misery, however far the scene of suffering may be from our shores. For wherever in the world a people knows desperate want, there must appear at least the spark of hope, the hope of progress--or there will surely rise at last the flames of conflict." Watch | Read

John F. Kennedy: Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1961
"I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it-and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country." Watch | Read

Lyndon B. Johnson: Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1965
"In a land of great wealth, families must not live in hopeless poverty. In a land rich in harvest, children just must not go hungry. In a land of healing miracles, neighbors must not suffer and die unattended. In a great land of learning and scholars, young people must be taught to read and write." Watch | Read

Richard Nixon: 1st Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1969
"Forces now are converging that make possible, for the first time, the hope that many of man's deepest aspirations can at last be realized. The spiraling pace of change allows us to contemplate, within our own lifetime, advances that once would have taken centuries. In throwing wide the horizons of space, we have discovered new horizons on earth." Watch | Read

Richard Nixon: 2nd Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1973
"The time has passed when America will make every other nation's conflict our own, or make every other nation's future our responsibility, or presume to tell the people of other nations how to manage their own affairs. Just as we respect the right of each nation to determine its own future, we also recognize the responsibility of each nation to secure its own future." Watch | Read

Jimmy Carter: Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1977
"You have given me a great responsibility-to stay close to you, to be worthy of you, and to exemplify what you are. Let us create together a new national spirit of unity and trust. Your strength can compensate for my weakness, and your wisdom can help to minimize my mistakes." Watch | Read

Ronald Reagan: 1st Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1981
"The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom. In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem." Watch | Read

Ronald Reagan: 2nd Inaugural, Jan. 21, 1985
"Today, we utter no prayer more fervently than the ancient prayer for peace on Earth. Yet history has shown that peace will not come, nor will our freedom be preserved, by good will alone. There are those in the world who scorn our vision of human dignity and freedom. One nation, the Soviet Union, has conducted the greatest military buildup in the history of man, building arsenals of awesome offensive weapons." Watch | Read

George H. W. Bush: Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1989
"Men and women of the world move toward free markets through the door to prosperity. The people of the world agitate for free expression and free thought through the door to the moral and intellectual satisfactions that only liberty allows. We know what works: Freedom works. We know what's right: Freedom is right." Watch | Read

Bill Clinton: 1st Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1993
"Our democracy must not only be the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed by what is right with America. And so today, we pledge an end to the era of deadlock and drift—a new season of American renewal has begun. To renew America, we must be bold." Watch | Read

Bill Clinton: 2nd Inaugural, Jan. 20, 1997
"The world is no longer divided into two hostile camps. Instead, now we are building bonds with nations that once were our adversaries. Growing connections of commerce and culture give us a chance to lift the fortunes and spirits of people the world over. And for the very first time in all of history, more people on this planet live under democracy than dictatorship."


PAST PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURAL ADDRESSES
Watch | Read -- March 4, 1933: Franklin D. Roosevelt 1st Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1937: Franklin D. Roosevelt 2nd Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt 3rd Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt 4th Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1949: Harry S. Truman Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1953: Dwight D. Eisenhower 1st Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1957: Dwight D. Eisenhower 2nd Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1961: John F. Kennedy Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1965: Lyndon B. Johnson Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1969: Richard Nixon 1st Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1973: Richard Nixon 2nd Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1977: Jimmy Carter Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1981: Ronald Reagan 1st Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 21, 1985: Ronald Reagan 2nd Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1989: George H. W. Bush Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1993: Bill Clinton 1st Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 1997: Bill Clinton 2nd Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 2001: George W. Bush 1st Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 2005: George W. Bush 2nd Inaugural
Watch | Read -- Jan. 20, 2009: Barack H. Obama Inaugural

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