The Best Inaugural Addresses Ever

Heather Whipps, LiveScience's History Columnist

When he delivers his historic inaugural address on Jan.

20, President-elect and noted public speaker Barack

Obama will be continuing a 220-year-old oratorical

tradition begun by George Washington.

A set of spoken words hasn' t been so hotly anticipated

by so many people since perhaps Obama's victory

speech on election night.

Though not required by the Constitution, George

Washington gave the first inaugural address as the new

president in 1789, and every other incoming commander-

in-chief has kept up the practice. Since then, incoming

leaders have delivered speeches ranging from the prosaic

to the powerful and much in between, reflecting the

challenges of the era.

Obama’s speech-writer is just 27 years old ... a lot of

pressure for someone whose text could either rally a

nation or merely be slipped quietly into the archives of

history. For insurance, he might take a cue from a few of

the better inaugural addresses of the past -- the ones we

remember, that we quote, that we see pop up on

"Jeopardy" from time to time.

We' ve compiled the five inaugural addresses that most

historians consider tops:

Ronald Reagan: 1981 – Let us renew our faith and our

hope 

In the first inaugural address given on the West Front of

the Capitol building, Ronald Reagan delivered a

memorable summons to the American people, asking them

for some old-fashioned blood, sweat and tears to combat

the economic hardships that had hit the nation:

"We are not, as some would have us believe, doomed to

an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall

on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will

fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy

at our command, let us begin an era of national

renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage,

and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope."

Franklin D. Roosevelt: 1933 – The only thing we have to

fear is fear itself 

With the Great Depression entering its worst years, FDR

spoke to the very real concerns of everyday Americans

while imploring the people to get back on their feet:

"This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will

revive and will prosper. 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."

Thomas Jefferson: 1801 – We are all Republicans 

Thomas Jefferson opened the 19th century with a stirring,

eloquent speech aimed at repairing divisions caused by

his controversial election, which took recounts and

debates in Congress to decide:

"We have called by different names brethren of the same

principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.

If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this

Union or to change its republican form, let them stand

undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error

of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to

combat it."

Ironically, Jefferson went on to give what is considered

one of the worst inaugural addresses after his re-election

in 1804.

John F. Kennedy: 1961 – Ask not what your country can

do for you

Perhaps the most quotable inaugural line of all time comes

from the swearing-in of JFK. Speaking during the depths

of the Cold War, Kennedy asked his countrymen and

women to join in to defend America against the common

enemies of man:

"I do not believe that any of us would exchange places

with any other people or any other generation. The

energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this

endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and

the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country

can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country."

Abraham Lincoln: 1865 – Bind up the nation’s wounds 

With the Civil War in its final days and the country still

divided, Abraham Lincoln kept his second inaugural

address short but poignant in the hopes of reconciliation:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with

firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let

us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the

nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the

battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which

may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among

ourselves and with all nations."

Video – See Inaugural Address of the Past 

God's Role in Presidential Inaugurations and Beyond 

Quiz: American Independence 

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