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Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Politics / History Inaugural Address of the Day

Posted by Eli Sanders on Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 11:07 AM

Today brings words from the only man to ever give a fourth—fourth!—inaugural address: Franklin D. Roosevelt. It's a short speech, delivered in 1945 during World War II and without much surrounding celebration because of the anxious times. (Quite a contrast, by the way, with plans for this year's inaugural, which comes in the midst of an economic crisis and our "Global War on Terror," yet still will feature plenty of partying.)

Enjoy this speech for its brusque simplicity. Here is a man who (unlike Carter) knows the people need some optimistic words. He means to execute the required happy talk, teach the citizens some quick lessons, and then get down to the business of running a country:

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...

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.

The whole speech is here.

P.S. Is Franklin D. Roosevelt really A. Birch Steen?

I remember that my old schoolmaster, Dr. Peabody, said, in days that seemed to us then to be secure and untroubled...

Comments (8) RSS

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"our own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations". Truer now than ever. Roosevelt was such a great and wise leader. America and the world were lucky we had him when we did. He was always a step ahead of the American people and brought us along at key moments.

Posted by Vince on January 6, 2009 at 11:20 AM

Even more relevant: "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."

TOTAL VICTORY

-and-

"...we must live as men, not as ostriches, nor as dogs in the manger."

Proving yet again that even a stopped clock is right twice a day...

Posted by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me on January 6, 2009 at 11:31 AM

Innaugration Day, hurry up!
My New Years' Cliche Calender is almost filled up already!

Posted by a real big change to believe in on January 6, 2009 at 11:37 AM

Is Franklin D. Roosevelt really A. Birch Steen?

I dunno, but I'm pretty sure A. Birch Steen is really T. Herman Zweibel.

Posted by flamingbanjo on January 6, 2009 at 11:54 AM

Wow. What a different time. Ya think people were obsessed with the equivalent of what app they can get on thier iPhone then?

We're wusses.

Posted by gk on January 6, 2009 at 12:52 PM

@5: yes, yes I do. I'm not sure what that equivalent was, but I'm sure they were obsessed with it.

Posted by Abby on January 6, 2009 at 1:06 PM

I still think we should repeal the 22nd amendment and bring FDR back to life somehow.

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on January 6, 2009 at 3:13 PM

have all of you forgotten the most important history lesson of all? the history of mankind has proven without any doubt that we are all susceptable to corruption. ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY. check your facts, FDR was a freemason, as is historically most of this country's presidents. (want some interesting reading? look up our country's history and it's relationship with freemasonry) much of our history has been rewritten. you have to search for history books written before the 1940's to begin to understand. take the blinder's off, pull the ipods and the wax out of your ears, put down the c.phone's and step away from the digital cams. and stop living your pathetic lives on youtube. stop expecting DADDY GOVT. to take care of you. look around you, locally, statewide, nationally, internationally. start digging, and don't start with the msm. we hve become so selfabsorbed its beyond pathetic. where are the independent,critical thinkers of our generation? why are the media and the rest of the sheeple worshipping a man who has the thinnest resume' in pres. campaign history, and who hasn't done ONE thing to prove himself a capable leader. how could he???? HE HASN'T TAKEN OFFICE YET!!!!! and please spare me the " he ran a brilliant campaign" excuse. america has been short-changed strong, capable, expienced, honorable, truth-telling (this trait in particular is in scarce supply), willing to make the hard, constitutionally sound decisions, in it to be a public servant and not a rock star politician kind of candidate for decades maybe even acentury. wake up.

Posted by fw on January 13, 2009 at 8:13 AM