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James Monroe's
First Inaugural Address
| I SHOULD be destitute of
feeling if I was not deeply affected by the strong proof which my fellow-citizens have
given me of their confidence in calling me to the high office whose functions I am about
to assume. As the expression of their good opinion of my conduct in the public service, I
derive from it a gratification which those who are conscious of having done all that they
could to merit it can alone feel. My sensibility is increased by a just estimate of the
importance of the trust and of the nature and extent of its duties, with the proper
discharge of which the highest interests of a great and free people are intimately
connected. Conscious of my own deficiency, I cannot enter on these duties without great
anxiety for the result. From a just responsibility I will never shrink, calculating with
confidence that in my best efforts to promote the public welfare my motives will always be
duly appreciated and my conduct be viewed with that candor and indulgence which I have
experienced in other stations. |
| In commencing the duties of the chief executive
office it has been the practice of the distinguished men who have gone before me to
explain the principles which would govern them in their respective Administrations. In
following their venerated example my attention is naturally drawn to the great causes
which have contributed in a principal degree to produce the present happy condition of the
United States. They will best explain the nature of our duties and shed much light on the
policy which ought to be pursued in future. |
| From the commencement of our Revolution to the
present day almost forty years have elapsed, and from the establishment of this
Constitution twenty-eight. Through this whole term the Government has been what may
emphatically be called self-government. And what has been the effect? To whatever object
we turn our attention, whether it relates to our foreign or domestic concerns, we find
abundant cause to felicitate ourselves in the excellence of our institutions. During a
period fraught with difficulties and marked by very extraordinary events the United States
have flourished beyond example. Their citizens individually have been happy and the nation
prosperous. |
| Under this Constitution our commerce has been
wisely regulated with foreign nations and between the States; new States have been
admitted into our Union; our territory has been enlarged by fair and honorable treaty, and
with great advantage to the original States; the States, respectively protected by the
National Government under a mild, parental system against foreign dangers, and enjoying
within their separate spheres, by a wise partition of power, a just proportion of the
sovereignty, have improved their police, extended their settlements, and attained a
strength and maturity which are the best proofs of wholesome laws well administered. And
if we look to the condition of individuals what a proud spectacle does it exhibit! On whom
has oppression fallen in any quarter of our Union? Who has been deprived of any right of
person or property? Who restrained from offering his vows in the mode which he prefers to
the Divine Author of his being? It is well known that all these blessings have been
enjoyed in their fullest extent; and I add with peculiar satisfaction that there has been
no example of a capital punishment being inflicted on anyone for the crime of high
treason. |
| Some who might admit the competency of our
Government to these beneficent duties might doubt it in trials which put to the test its
strength and efficiency as a member of the great community of nations. Here too experience
has afforded us the most satisfactory proof in its favor. Just as this Constitution was
put into action several of the principal States of Europe had become much agitated and
some of them seriously convulsed. Destructive wars ensued, which have of late only been
terminated. In the course of these conflicts the United States received great injury from
several of the parties. It was their interest to stand aloof from the contest, to demand
justice from the party committing the injury, and to cultivate by a fair and honorable
conduct the friendship of all. War became at length inevitable, and the result has shown
that our Government is equal to that, the greatest of trials, under the most unfavorable
circumstances. Of the virtue of the people and of the heroic exploits of the Army, the
Navy, and the militia I need not speak. |
| Such, then, is the happy Government under which
we live—a Government adequate to every purpose for which the social compact is
formed; a Government elective in all its branches, under which every citizen may by his
merit obtain the highest trust recognized by the Constitution; which contains within it no
cause of discord, none to put at variance one portion of the community with another; a
Government which protects every citizen in the full enjoyment of his rights, and is able
to protect the nation against injustice from foreign powers. |
| Other considerations of the highest importance
admonish us to cherish our Union and to cling to the Government which supports it.
Fortunate as we are in our political institutions, we have not been less so in other
circumstances on which our prosperity and happiness essentially depend. Situated within
the temperate zone, and extending through many degrees of latitude along the Atlantic, the
United States enjoy all the varieties of climate, and every production incident to that
portion of the globe. Penetrating internally to the Great Lakes and beyond the sources of
the great rivers which communicate through our whole interior, no country was ever happier
with respect to its domain. Blessed, too, with a fertile soil, our produce has always been
very abundant, leaving, even in years the least favorable, a surplus for the wants of our
fellow-men in other countries. Such is our peculiar felicity that there is not a part of
our Union that is not particularly interested in preserving it. The great agricultural
interest of the nation prospers under its protection. Local interests are not less
fostered by it. Our fellow-citizens of the North engaged in navigation find great
encouragement in being made the favored carriers of the vast productions of the other
portions of the United States, while the inhabitants of these are amply recompensed, in
their turn, by the nursery for seamen and naval force thus formed and reared up for the
support of our common rights. Our manufactures find a generous encouragement by the policy
which patronizes domestic industry, and the surplus of our produce a steady and profitable
market by local wants in less-favored parts at home. |
| Such, then, being the highly favored condition
of our country, it is the interest of every citizen to maintain it. What are the dangers
which menace us? If any exist they ought to be ascertained and guarded against. |
| In explaining my sentiments on this subject it
may be asked, What raised us to the present happy state? How did we accomplish the
Revolution? How remedy the defects of the first instrument of our Union, by infusing into
the National Government sufficient power for national purposes, without impairing the just
rights of the States or affecting those of individuals? How sustain and pass with glory
through the late war? The Government has been in the hands of the people. To the people,
therefore, and to the faithful and able depositaries of their trust is the credit due. Had
the people of the United States been educated in different principles, had they been less
intelligent, less independent, or less virtuous, can it be believed that we should have
maintained the same steady and consistent career or been blessed with the same success?
While, then, the constituent body retains its present sound and healthful state everything
will be safe. They will choose competent and faithful representatives for every
department. It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate
into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising the sovereignty. Usurpation is then
an easy attainment, and an usurper soon found. The people themselves become the willing
instruments of their own debasement and ruin. Let us, then, look to the great cause, and
endeavor to preserve it in full force. Let us by all wise and constitutional measures
promote intelligence among the people as the best means of preserving our liberties. |
| Dangers from abroad are not less deserving of
attention. Experiencing the fortune of other nations, the United States may be again
involved in war, and it may in that event be the object of the adverse party to overset
our Government, to break our Union, and demolish us as a nation. Our distance from Europe
and the just, moderate, and pacific policy of our Government may form some security
against these dangers, but they ought to be anticipated and guarded against. Many of our
citizens are engaged in commerce and navigation, and all of them are in a certain degree
dependent on their prosperous state. Many are engaged in the fisheries. These interests
are exposed to invasion in the wars between other powers, and we should disregard the
faithful admonition of experience if we did not expect it. We must support our rights or
lose our character, and with it, perhaps, our liberties. A people who fail to do it can
scarcely be said to hold a place among independent nations. National honor is national
property of the highest value. The sentiment in the mind of every citizen is national
strength. It ought therefore to be cherished. |
| To secure us against these dangers our coast and
inland frontiers should be fortified, our Army and Navy, regulated upon just principles as
to the force of each, be kept in perfect order, and our militia be placed on the best
practicable footing. To put our extensive coast in such a state of defense as to secure
our cities and interior from invasion will be attended with expense, but the work when
finished will be permanent, and it is fair to presume that a single campaign of invasion
by a naval force superior to our own, aided by a few thousand land troops, would expose us
to greater expense, without taking into the estimate the loss of property and distress of
our citizens, than would be sufficient for this great work. Our land and naval forces
should be moderate, but adequate to the necessary purposes—the former to garrison and
preserve our fortifications and to meet the first invasions of a foreign foe, and, while
constituting the elements of a greater force, to preserve the science as well as all the
necessary implements of war in a state to be brought into activity in the event of war;
the latter, retained within the limits proper in a state of peace, might aid in
maintaining the neutrality of the United States with dignity in the wars of other powers
and in saving the property of their citizens from spoliation. In time of war, with the
enlargement of which the great naval resources of the country render it susceptible, and
which should be duly fostered in time of peace, it would contribute essentially, both as
an auxiliary of defense and as a powerful engine of annoyance, to diminish the calamities
of war and to bring the war to a speedy and honorable termination. |
| But it ought always to be held prominently in
view that the safety of these States and of everything dear to a free people must depend
in an eminent degree on the militia. Invasions may be made too formidable to be resisted
by any land and naval force which it would comport either with the principles of our
Government or the circumstances of the United States to maintain. In such cases recourse
must be had to the great body of the people, and in a manner to produce the best effect.
It is of the highest importance, therefore, that they be so organized and trained as to be
prepared for any emergency. The arrangement should be such as to put at the command of the
Government the ardent patriotism and youthful vigor of the country. If formed on equal and
just principles, it can not be oppressive. It is the crisis which makes the pressure, and
not the laws which provide a remedy for it. This arrangement should be formed, too, in
time of peace, to be the better prepared for war. With such an organization of such a
people the United States have nothing to dread from foreign invasion. At its approach an
overwhelming force of gallant men might always be put in motion. |
| Other interests of high importance will claim
attention, among which the improvement of our country by roads and canals, proceeding
always with a constitutional sanction, holds a distinguished place. By thus facilitating
the intercourse between the States we shall add much to the convenience and comfort of our
fellow-citizens, much to the ornament of the country, and, what is of greater importance,
we shall shorten distances, and, by making each part more accessible to and dependent on
the other, we shall bind the Union more closely together. Nature has done so much for us
by intersecting the country with so many great rivers, bays, and lakes, approaching from
distant points so near to each other, that the inducement to complete the work seems to be
peculiarly strong. A more interesting spectacle was perhaps never seen than is exhibited
within the limits of the United States—a territory so vast and advantageously
situated, containing objects so grand, so useful, so happily connected in all their parts! |
| Our manufacturers will likewise require the
systematic and fostering care of the Government. Possessing as we do all the raw
materials, the fruit of our own soil and industry, we ought not to depend in the degree we
have done on supplies from other countries. While we are thus dependent the sudden event
of war, unsought and unexpected, can not fail to plunge us into the most serious
difficulties. It is important, too, that the capital which nourishes our manufacturers
should be domestic, as its influence in that case instead of exhausting, as it may do in
foreign hands, would be felt advantageously on agriculture and every other branch of
industry. Equally important is it to provide at home a market for our raw materials, as by
extending the competition it will enhance the price and protect the cultivator against the
casualties incident to foreign markets. |
| With the Indian tribes it is our duty to
cultivate friendly relations and to act with kindness and liberality in all our
transactions. Equally proper is it to persevere in our efforts to extend to them the
advantages of civilization. |
| The great amount of our revenue and the
flourishing state of the Treasury are a full proof of the competency of the national
resources for any emergency, as they are of the willingness of our fellow-citizens to bear
the burdens which the public necessities require. The vast amount of vacant lands, the
value of which daily augments, forms an additional resource of great extent and duration.
These resources, besides accomplishing every other necessary purpose, put it completely in
the power of the United States to discharge the national debt at an early period. Peace is
the best time for improvement and preparation of every kind; it is in peace that our
commerce flourishes most, that taxes are most easily paid, and that the revenue is most
productive. |
| The Executive is charged officially in the
Departments under it with the disbursement of the public money, and is responsible for the
faithful application of it to the purposes for which it is raised. The Legislature is the
watchful guardian over the public purse. It is its duty to see that the disbursement has
been honestly made. To meet the requisite responsibility every facility should be afforded
to the Executive to enable it to bring the public agents intrusted with the public money
strictly and promptly to account. Nothing should be presumed against them; but if, with
the requisite facilities, the public money is suffered to lie long and uselessly in their
hands, they will not be the only defaulters, nor will the demoralizing effect be confined
to them. It will evince a relaxation and want of tone in the Administration which will be
felt by the whole community. I shall do all I can to secure economy and fidelity in this
important branch of the Administration, and I doubt not that the Legislature will perform
its duty with equal zeal. A thorough examination should be regularly made, and I will
promote it. |
| It is particularly gratifying to me to enter on
the discharge of these duties at a time when the United States are blessed with peace. It
is a state most consistent with their prosperity and happiness. It will be my sincere
desire to preserve it, so far as depends on the Executive, on just principles with all
nations, claiming nothing unreasonable of any and rendering to each what is its due. |
| Equally gratifying is it to witness the
increased harmony of opinion which pervades our Union. Discord does not belong to our
system. Union is recommended as well by the free and benign principles of our Government,
extending its blessings to every individual, as by the other eminent advantages attending
it. The American people have encountered together great dangers and sustained severe
trials with success. They constitute one great family with a common interest. Experience
has enlightened us on some questions of essential importance to the country. The progress
has been slow, dictated by a just reflection and a faithful regard to every interest
connected with it. To promote this harmony in accord with the principles of our republican
Government and in a manner to give them the most complete effect, and to advance in all
other respects the best interests of our Union, will be the object of my constant and
zealous exertions. |
| Never did a government commence under auspices
so favorable, nor ever was success so complete. If we look to the history of other
nations, ancient or modern, we find no example of a growth so rapid, so gigantic, of a
people so prosperous and happy. In contemplating what we have still to perform, the heart
of every citizen must expand with joy when he reflects how near our Government has
approached to perfection; that in respect to it we have no essential improvement to make;
that the great object is to preserve it in the essential principles and features which
characterize it, and that is to be done by preserving the virtue and enlightening the
minds of the people; and as a security against foreign dangers to adopt such arrangements
as are indispensable to the support of our independence, our rights and liberties. If we
persevere in the career in which we have advanced so far and in the path already traced,
we can not fail, under the favor of a gracious Providence, to attain the high destiny
which seems to await us. |
| In the Administrations of the illustrious men
who have preceded me in this high station, with some of whom I have been connected by the
closest ties from early life, examples are presented which will always be found highly
instructive and useful to their successors. From these I shall endeavor to derive all the
advantages which they may afford. Of my immediate predecessor, under whom so important a
portion of this great and successful experiment has been made, I shall be pardoned for
expressing my earnest wishes that he may long enjoy in his retirement the affections of a
grateful country, the best reward of exalted talents and the most faithful and meritorious
service. Relying on the aid to be derived from the other departments of the Government, I
enter on the trust to which I have been called by the suffrages of my fellow-citizens with
my fervent prayers to the Almighty that He will be graciously pleased to continue to us
that protection which He has already so conspicuously displayed in our favor. |
Back
to James Monroe
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
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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
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