by Gerald Boerner
Today we look back, on the birthday of Franklin D. Roosevelt, on another time of challenges to our country and its economy. When FDR was inaugurated as our 32nd president, we were in the midst of the Great Depression. People were out of work and out of hope. Even the rich and famous were suffering, so one can only imagine the plight of the common man. FDR came to office with great hope for the country, for himself, and all Americans. This hope was not abstract, it was rooted in his long struggle with polio and the upward battle that he fought to overcome its crippling effects. Let us all hold onto such hope in today’s trials and gribulations GLB
“Remember you are just an extra in everyone else’s play.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“No group and no government can properly prescribe precisely what should constitute the body of knowledge with which true education is concerned.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Not only our future economic soundness but the very soundness of our democratic institutions depends on the determination of our government to give employment to idle men.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“One thing is sure. We have to do something. We have to do the best we know how at the moment… If it doesn’t turn out right, we can modify it as we go along.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Our national determination to keep free of foreign wars and foreign entanglements cannot prevent us from feeling deep concern when ideals and principles that we have cherished are challenged.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Prosperous farmers mean more employment, more prosperity for the workers and the business men of every industrial area in the whole country.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself”
The first inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as the 32nd President of the United States was held on Saturday, March 4, 1933. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President and John Nance Garner as Vice President. It was the last inauguration to be held on the prescribed date of March 4; under the terms of the Twentieth Amendment, all subsequent inaugurations have taken place on January 20. After being sworn-in, Roosevelt became the thirty-second President of the United States.
The inauguration took place in the wake of Democrat Roosevelt’s landslide victory over Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover in the 1932 presidential election. With the nation in the grips of the Great Depression, the new president’s inaugural speech was awaited with great anticipation. Broadcast nationwide on several radio networks, the speech was heard by tens of millions of Americans, and set the stage for Roosevelt’s urgent efforts to respond to the crisis.
Inauguration
Inauguration day was mostly cloudy with a few peaks of sun, and the estimated temperature at midday was 42 degrees Fahrenheit. That morning, Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor attended a 10:15 a.m. worship service at Washington’s St. John’s Episcopal Church, near the White House.
The swearing-in ceremony took place on the East Portico of the United States Capitol, with Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes administering the oath of office. Roosevelt wore a morning coat and striped trousers for the inauguration, and took the oath with his hand on his family Bible, open to I Corinthians 13. Published in 1686 in Dutch, it remains the oldest Bible ever used in an inaugural ceremony, as well as the only one not in English, and was used by Roosevelt for his 1929 and 1931 inaugurations as Governor of New York as well as for his subsequent presidential inaugurations.
Inaugural address
After taking the oath of office, Roosevelt proceeded to deliver his 1,880-word, 27 minute-long inaugural address, best known for his famously pointed reference to “fear itself” in one of its first lines:
So, 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.
Addressing himself to the causes of the economic crisis and its moral dimensions, Roosevelt placed blame squarely on the greed and shortsightedness of bankers and businessmen, as seen in the following excerpts:
…rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and have abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.
The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.
Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing.
Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.
Roosevelt then turned, in the following excerpts, to the daunting issue of unemployment, which had reached a staggering 25 per cent when he assumed office:
…the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously.
There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly.
After touching briefly on foreign relations — “the policy of the good neighbor — the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others” — Roosevelt turned again to the economic crisis, assuring his countrymen that he would act swiftly and with determination:
I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken Nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.
But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis — broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.
Aftermath
The day after his inauguration, Roosevelt assembled a special session of Congress to declare a four-day bank holiday, and on March 9 signed the Emergency Banking Act, which provided a mechanism for reopening. He continued on for what became his First Hundred Days of the New Deal.
Thinking about FDR
Notes on FDR:
FDR “entered politics because he was a man of ambition and because he wanted to serve his country. His plans were almost cut short while vacationing at Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada, in 1921 when he came down with what, at first, seemed to be a cold. He lost his appetite, his back began to ache, and his left leg went numb. A few days later, he couldn’t stand. At age thirty-nine Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio. Paralyzed from the waist down, he watched as the muscles of his legs began wasting away.
“Roosevelt was determined to beat the disease. For months he crawled from room to room in his house and dragged himself hand over hand up the stairs, gritting his teeth but never asking for help. Every day, he strapped steel braces onto his legs and tried hobbling on crutches to the end of his long driveway. Through rigorous exercise he developed tremendous upper body strength. ‘Maybe my legs aren’t so good,’ he said, ‘but look at those shoulders.’ Despite his efforts, he never again walked without aid.” — William Bennett and John Cribb
He overcame these obstacles to be elected as the 32nd president of the United States in 1932. So the speech above reflects this same outlook for our country in the middle of the Great Depression as he had viewed his own infirmities. He moved forward with hope and determination.
Other Events on this Day
- In 1798…
A brawl eruupts in the U.S. House when Matthew Lyon of Vermont spits on Roger Griswold of Connecticut after an exchange of insults. - In 1835…
In the first presidential assassination attempt, Richard Lawrence, a mentally ill man, tries to shoot Andrew Jackson in the U.S. Capitol. - In 1847…
The California town of Yerba Buena is renamed San Francisco. - In 1862…
The Union ironclad USS Monitor is launched at Greenpoint, New York. - In 1882…
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the thirty-second president, is born in Hyde Park, New York. - In 1933…
The first episode of the Lone Ranger is broadcast on radio station WXYZ in Detroit.
References:
Dates and events based on:
William J. Bennett and John Cribb, (2008) The American Patriot’s Almanac Daily Readings on America. (Kindle Edition)
Background information is from Wikipedia articles on:
Wikipedia: First Inaugural of Franklin D. Roosevelt…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_inauguration_of_Franklin_D._Roosevelt
Wikisource: Franklin Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address…
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Franklin_Roosevelt%27s_First_Inaugural_Address
Web Sites and Blogs:
BrainyQuote.com: Franklin D. Roosevelt…
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/f/franklin_d_roosevelt.html
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