|
| |
Welcome to U.S. history!
Zachary Taylor's Inaugural Address
| ELECTED by the American people
to the highest office known to our laws, I appear here to take the oath prescribed by the
Constitution, and, in compliance with a time-honored custom, to address those who are now
assembled. |
| The confidence and respect shown by my countrymen in
calling me to be the Chief Magistrate of a Republic holding a high rank among the nations
of the earth have inspired me with feelings of the most profound gratitude; but when I
reflect that the acceptance of the office which their partiality has bestowed imposes the
discharge of the most arduous duties and involves the weightiest obligations, I am
conscious that the position which I have been called to fill, though sufficient to satisfy
the loftiest ambition, is surrounded by fearful responsibilities. Happily, however, in the
performance of my new duties I shall not be without able cooperation. The legislative and
judicial branches of the Government present prominent examples of distinguished civil
attainments and matured experience, and it shall be my endeavor to call to my assistance
in the Executive Departments individuals whose talents, integrity, and purity of character
will furnish ample guaranties for the faithful and honorable performance of the trusts to
be committed to their charge. With such aids and an honest purpose to do whatever is
right, I hope to execute diligently, impartially, and for the best interests of the
country the manifold duties devolved upon me. |
| In the discharge of these duties my guide will be the
Constitution, which I this day swear to "preserve, protect, and defend." For the
interpretation of that instrument I shall look to the decisions of the judicial tribunals
established by its authority and to the practice of the Government under the earlier
Presidents, who had so large a share in its formation. To the example of those illustrious
patriots I shall always defer with reverence, and especially to his example who was by so
many titles "the Father of his Country." |
| To command the Army and Navy of the United States;
with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties and to appoint ambassadors and
other officers; to give to Congress information of the state of the Union and recommend
such measures as he shall judge to be necessary; and to take care that the laws shall be
faithfully executed—these are the most important functions intrusted to the President
by the Constitution, and it may be expected that I shall briefly indicate the principles
which will control me in their execution. |
| Chosen by the body of the people under the assurance
that my Administration would be devoted to the welfare of the whole country, and not to
the support of any particular section or merely local interest, I this day renew the
declarations I have heretofore made and proclaim my fixed determination to maintain to the
extent of my ability the Government in its original purity and to adopt as the basis of my
public policy those great republican doctrines which constitute the strength of our
national existence. |
| In reference to the Army and Navy, lately employed
with so much distinction on active service, care shall be taken to insure the highest
condition of efficiency, and in furtherance of that object the military and naval schools,
sustained by the liberality of Congress, shall receive the special attention of the
Executive. |
| As American freemen we can not but sympathize in all
efforts to extend the blessings of civil and political liberty, but at the same time we
are warned by the admonitions of history and the voice of our own beloved Washington to
abstain from entangling alliances with foreign nations. In all disputes between
conflicting governments it is our interest not less than our duty to remain strictly
neutral, while our geographical position, the genius of our institutions and our people,
the advancing spirit of civilization, and, above all, the dictates of religion direct us
to the cultivation of peaceful and friendly relations with all other powers. It is to be
hoped that no international question can now arise which a government confident in its own
strength and resolved to protect its own just rights may not settle by wise negotiation;
and it eminently becomes a government like our own, founded on the morality and
intelligence of its citizens and upheld by their affections, to exhaust every resort of
honorable diplomacy before appealing to arms. In the conduct of our foreign relations I
shall conform to these views, as I believe them essential to the best interests and the
true honor of the country. |
| The appointing power vested in the President imposes
delicate and onerous duties. So far as it is possible to be informed, I shall make
honesty, capacity, and fidelity indispensable prerequisites to the bestowal of office, and
the absence of either of these qualities shall be deemed sufficient cause for removal. |
| It shall be my study to recommend such constitutional
measures to Congress as may be necessary and proper to secure encouragement and protection
to the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, to improve our rivers
and harbors, to provide for the speedy extinguishment of the public debt, to enforce a
strict accountability on the part of all officers of the Government and the utmost economy
in all public expenditures; but it is for the wisdom of Congress itself, in which all
legislative powers are vested by the Constitution, to regulate these and other matters of
domestic policy. I shall look with confidence to the enlightened patriotism of that body
to adopt such measures of conciliation as may harmonize conflicting interests and tend to
perpetuate that Union which should be the paramount object of our hopes and affections. In
any action calculated to promote an object so near the heart of everyone who truly loves
his country I will zealously unite with the coordinate branches of the Government. |
| In conclusion I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens,
upon the high state of prosperity to which the goodness of Divine Providence has conducted
our common country. Let us invoke a continuance of the same protecting care which has led
us from small beginnings to the eminence we this day occupy, and let us seek to deserve
that continuance by prudence and moderation in our councils, by well-directed attempts to
assuage the bitterness which too often marks unavoidable differences of opinion, by the
promulgation and practice of just and liberal principles, and by an enlarged patriotism,
which shall acknowledge no limits but those of our own widespread Republic. |
Back
to Zachary Taylor
Executive Oath of Office
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of
President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and
defend the Constitution of the United States."
United States Constitution, Article II,
Section 1, Clause 8
nextPage
back in Time
1George Washington, 2John
Adamsl, 3Thomas Jefferson, 4James Madison, 5James
Monroe, 6John Quincy Adams, 7Andrew Jackson, 8Martin
Van Buren,9William H Harrison,10John Tyler,11James K
Polk, 12Zachary Taylor, 13Millard Fillmore,14Franklin
Pierce,15James Buchanan,16Abraham Lincoln, 17Andrew
Johnson, 18Ulysses S Grant,19Rutherford B Hayes, 20James A Garfield, 21Chester
A. Arthur, 22Grover
Cleveland,23Benjamin Harrison, 24Grover Cleveland, 25William
McKinley,26Theodore Roosevelt, 27William H. Taft,28Woodrow Wilson, 29Warren
G. Harding,30Calvin Coolidge,31Herbert Hoover,32Franklin
D Roosevelt,33Harry S.
Truman, 34Dwight D Eisenhower,35John F Kennedy, 36Lyndon
B Johnson, 37RichardN. Nixon, 38Gerald R Ford, 39James E
Carter,40Ronald
W. Reagan, 41George
HerbertW. Bush, 42Bill Clinton,
43George Walker Bush
last updated
02/19/07
|
|
|
|
