Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, my friends, you will understand and, I believe,
agree with my wish that the form of this inauguration be simple and its words brief.
We Americans of today, together with our allies, are passing
through a period of supreme test. It is a test of our
courage—of our resolve—of our wisdom—our essential democracy.
If we meet that test—successfully and honorably—we shall perform a service of historic
importance which men and women and children will honor throughout all time.
As I stand here today, having taken the solemn oath of office in the presence of my
fellow countrymen—in the presence of our God—I know that it is America’s purpose that we shall not
fail.
In the days and in the years that are to come we shall work for
a just and honorable peace, a durable peace, as today we work and fight for total
victory in war.
We can and we will achieve such a peace.
We shall strive for perfection. We shall not achieve it immediately—but we still shall
strive. We may make mistakes—but they must never be mistakes which
result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral principle.
I remember that my old schoolmaster, Dr. Peabody, said, in days that seemed to us
then to
be secure and untroubled: “Things in life will not always run
smoothly. Sometimes we will be rising toward the heights—then all will seem to
reverse itself and start downward. The great fact
to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward; that a line
drawn through the middle of the peaks and the valleys of the centuries always has
an
upward trend.”
Our Constitution of 1787 was not a perfect instrument; it is not perfect yet. But it provided a firm base upon which all manner of men, of all races
and colors and creeds, could build our solid structure of democracy.
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.
We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that “The only way to have a friend
is
to be one.”
We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and mistrust or with
fear.
We can gain it only if we proceed with the understanding, the confidence, and the
courage which flow from conviction.
The Almighty God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given
our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for
freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has become the hope of
all peoples in an anguished world.
So we pray to Him now for the vision to see our way clearly—to see
the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow men—to the
achievement of His will to peace on earth.