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FOIA Number:
2006-0469-F (2)
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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting
Series/Staff Member:
Michael Waldman
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
14456
FolderlD:
Folder Title:
[Franklin D. Roosevelt]: FDR [Franklin D. Roosevelt] - Inaugural #2 January 20, 1937
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! t[The Second Inaugural Address. "I See OneThird of a Nation Ill-Housed, Ill-Clad, Ill-Nourished." January 20, 1937
W
' H E N four years ago we met to inaugurate
a President, the Republic, single-minded
in anxiety, stood in spirit here. We dedicated ourselves to the fulfillment of a vision—to speed the time when there would
be for all the people that security and peace essential to the pursuit of happiness. We of the Republic pledged ourselves to drive
from the temple of our ancient faith those who had profaned it;
to end by action, tireless and unafraid, the stagnation and despair of that day. We did those first things first.
Our covenant with ourselves did not stop there. Instinctively
we recognized a deeper need — the need to find through government the instrument of our united purpose to solve for the individual the ever-rising problems of a complex civilization. Repeated attempts at their solution without the aid of government
had left us baffled and bewildered. For, without that aid, we had
been unable to create those moral controls over the services of
science which are necessary to make science a useful servant instead of a ruthless master of mankind. To do this we knew that
we must find practical controls over blind economic forces and
blindly selfish men.
We of the Republic sensed the truth that democratic govemment has innate capacity to protect its people against disasters
once considered inevitable, to solve problems once considered
unsolvable. We would not admit that we could not find a way to
master economic epidemics just as, after centuries of fatalistic
suffering, we had found a way to master epidemics of disease.
We refused to leave the problems of our common welfare to be
solved by the winds of chance and the hurricanes of disaster.
In this we Americans were discovering no wholly new truth;
we were writing a new chapter in our book of self-government.
This year marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of
�i. Second Inaugural Address
the Constitutional Convention which made us a nation. At that
Convention our forefathers found the way out of the chaos which
followed the Revolutionary War; they created a strong government with powers of united action sufficient then and now to
solve problems utterly beyond individual or local solution. A
century and a half ago they established the Federal Government
in order to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings
of liberty to the American people.
Today we invoke those same powers of government to achieve
the same objectives.
Four years of new experience have not belied our historic instinct. They hold out the clear hope that government within
communities, government within the separate States, and government of the United States can do the things the times require,
without yielding its democracy. Our tasks in the last four years
did not force democracy to take a holiday.
Nearly all of us recognize that as intricacies of human relationships increase, so power to govern them also must increase —
power to stop evil; power to do good. The essential democracy
of our Nation and the safety of our people depend not upon the
absence of power, but upon lodging it with those whom the
people can change or continue at stated intervals through an
honest and free system of elections. The Constitution of 1787
did not make our democracy impotent.
In fact, in these last four years, we have made the exercise of
all power more democratic; for we have begun to bring private
autocratic powers into their proper subordination to the public's government. The legend that they were invincible —above
and beyond the processes of a democracy — has been shattered.
They have been challenged and beaten.
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 second-hand 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.
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In that purpose we have been helped by achievements of mind
and spirit. Old truths have been relearned; untruths have been
unlearned. We have always known that heedless self-interest was
bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics. Out of the
collapse of a prosperity whose builders boasted their practicality
has come the conviction that in the long run economic morality
pays Wc are beginning to wipe out the line that divides the
practical from the ideal; and in so doing we are fashioning an
instrument of unimagined power for the establishment of a morally better world.
T h b new understanding undermines the old admiration of
worldly success as such. We are beginning to abandon our tolerance of the abuse of power by those who betray for profit the
elementary decencies of life.
In this process evil things formerly accepted will not be so
easily condoned. Hard-headedness will not so easily excuse hardheartedness. We are moving toward an era of good feeling. But
wc realize that there can be no era of good feeling save among
mcn of good will.
For these reasons I am justified in believing that the greatest
change we have witnessed has been the change in the moral climate of America.
Among men of good will, science and democracy together offer
an ever-richer life and ever-larger satisfaction to the individual.
With this change in our moral climate and our rediscovered ability to improve our economic order, we have set our feet upon the
road of enduring progress.
Shall we pause now and turn our back upon the road that lies
ahead? Shall we call this the promised land? Or, shall we continue on our way? For "each age is a dream that is dying, or one
that is coming to birth."
• Many voices are heard as we face a great decision. Comfort
says, "Tarry a while." Opportunism says, "This is a good spot."
Timidity asks, "How difficult is the road ahead?"
True, we have come far from the days of stagnation and de-
3
�/.Second Inaugural Address
spair. Vitality has been preserved. Courage and confidence have
been restored. Mental and moral horizons have been extended.
But our present gains were won under the pressure of more
than ordinary circumstance. Advance became imperative under
the goad of fear and suffering. The times were on the side of
progress.
To hold to progress today, however, is more difficult. Dulled
conscience, irresponsibility, and ruthless self-interest already reappear. Such symptoms of prosperity may become portents of disaster! Prosperity already tests the persistence of our progressive
purpose.
Let us ask again: Have we reached the goal of our vision of
that fourth day of March, 1933? Have we found our happy
valley?
I see a great nation, upon a great continent, blessed with a
great wealth of natural resources. Its hundred and thirty million
people are at peace among themselves; they are making their
country a good neighbor among the nations. I see a United States
which can demonstrate that, under democratic methods of government, national wealth can be translated into a spreading volume of human comforts hitherto unknown, and the lowest
standard of living can be raised far above the level of mere subsistence.
But here is the challenge to our democracy: I n this nation I
see tens of millions of its citizens —a substantial part of its whole
population — who at this very moment are denied the greater part
of what the very lowest standards of today call the necessities of
life.
I see millions of families trying to live on incomes so meager
that the pall of family disaster hangs over them day by day.
I see millions whose daily lives in city and on farm continue
under conditions labeled indecent by a so-called polite society
half a century ago.
I see millions denied education, recreation, and the opportunity to better their lot and the lot of their children.
I see millions lacking the means to buy the products of farm
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/. Second Inaugural Address
and factory and by their poverty denying work and productiveness to many other millions.
I sec one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.
It is not in despair that I paint you that picture. I paint it for
vou in hope - because the Nation, seeing and understanding the
injustice in it, proposes to paint it out. We are determined to
make every American citizen the subject of his country's interest
and concern; and we will never regard any faithful, law-abiding
group within our borders as superfluous. The test of our progress
is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have
much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too
little.
If I know aught of the spirit and purpose of our Nation, we
will not listen to Comfort, Opportunism, and Timidity. We will
carry on.
Overwhelmingly, we of the Republic are men and women of
good will; men and women who have more than warm hearts of
dedication; men and women who have cool heads and willing
hands of practical purpose as well. They will insist that every
agency of popular government use effective instruments to carry
out their will.
Government is competent when all who compose it work as
trustees for the whole people. It can make constant progress
when it keeps abreast of all the facts. It can obtain justified support and legitimate criticism when the people receive true information of all that government does.
If I know aught of the will of our people, they will demand
that these conditions of effective government shall be created and
maintained. They will demand a nation uncorrupted by cancers
of injustice and, therefore, strong among the nations in its example of the will to peace.
Today we reconsecrate our country to long-cherished ideals in
a suddenly changed civilization. In every land there are always
at work forces that drive men apart and forces that draw men together. In our personal ambitions we are individualists. But in
5
�2. Three Hundred and Thirty-eighth Press Conference
our seeking for economic and political progress as a nation, we
all go up, or else we all go down, as one people.
To maintain a democracy of effort requires a vast amount of
patience in dealing with differing methods, a vast amount of
humility. But out of the confusion of many voices rises an understanding of dominant public need. Then political leadership
can voice common ideals, and aid in their realization.
In taking again the oath of office as President of the United
States, I assume the solemn obligation of leading the American
people forward along the road over which they have chosen to
advance.
While this duty rests upon me I shall do my utmost to speak
their purpose and to do their will, seeking Divine guidance to
help us each and every one to give light to them that sit in darkness and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
2 ([The Three Hundred and Thirty-eighth
Press Conference. January 22, 1937
(Inaugural address in the rain — Statements by John L. Leivis — Government auditorium in Washington—TVA quarrel — Supreme Court
situation.)
(Referring to Inauguration Day Address delivered
in the open during a very heavy rainstorm) Did you have
any ill effects? Did you get a cold?
THE PRESIDENT: Not a sign of one. Charlie [Michelson] got one.
Q. Steve [Early] said that you wore out two silk hats.
Q. That was about the all-time high of bad weather.
THE PRESIDENT: I think it was.
MR. GODWIN:
MR. DONALDSON: A l l in.
Well, judging by the looks of people, I should
say you could take it, too. (Laughter)
Q. Nothing but a little rain.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. I don't think therp is any particular news
6
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Michael Waldman
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Michael Waldman was Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting from 1995-1999. His responsibilities were writing and editing nearly 2,000 speeches, which included four State of the Union speeches and two Inaugural Addresses. From 1993 -1995 he served as Special Assistant to the President for Policy Coordination.</p>
<p>The collection generally consists of copies of speeches and speech drafts, talking points, memoranda, background material, correspondence, reports, handwritten notes, articles, clippings, and presidential schedules. A large volume of this collection was for the State of the Union speeches. Many of the speech drafts are heavily annotated with additions or deletions. There are a lot of articles and clippings in this collection.</p>
<p>Due to the size of this collection it has been divided into two segments. Use links below for access to the individual segments:<br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+1">Segment One</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=43&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=2006-0469-F+Segment+2">Segment Two</a></p>
Creator
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Michael Waldman
Office of Speechwriting
Date
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1993-1999
Identifier
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2006-0469-F
Extent
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Segment One contains 1071 folders in 72 boxes.
Segment Two contains 868 folders in 66 boxes.
Provenance
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Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Text
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Original Format
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paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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[Franklin D. Roosevelt]: FDR [Franklin D. Roosevelt] - Inaugural #2 January 20, 1937
Creator
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Office of Speechwriting
Michael Waldman
Is Part Of
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Box 34
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36404"> Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763296">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0469-F Segment 2
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Medium
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Preservation-Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
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6/3/2015
Source
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7763296
42-t-7763296-20060469F-Seg2-034-009-2015