“Inaugural Address”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Number each paragraph. Summarize the chunk in 10 words or more. Circle vocab you don’t know.______/ By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt became president on March 4, 1933, the United States economy had been shrinking for three years. More than 11,000 of the nation's 24,000 banks had failed and Americans who kept their money in those banks lost their savings. Millions were jobless. The value of the U.S. dollar was dropping. Roosevelt made clear that the nation was in a time of crisis and spelled out his plans to pull the country out of the Great Depression.
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I know my fellow Americans expect that as President, I will speak to them truthfully and decisively because of the situation our country is in. This is the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. We need not shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. 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 our efforts to progress as a country. In every dark hour of our national life, leaders have found understanding and support from the people. This understanding and support is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
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It is in this spirit that we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Accounts have shrunk terribly; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government is faced by a serious lack of money; the withered leaves of industry lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the life savings of thousands of families are gone.
More important, millions of unemployed citizens struggle just to live day to day. An equal number work for little pay. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
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Yet our distress comes from no real catastrophe. We have suffered no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered, we still have much to be thankful for. The land still gives its agricultural bounty, and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but we don't use it. Primarily this is because the banks and leaders of the stock markets have failed through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence.
True they have tried, but their efforts have followed old patterns. When people have failed to pay back loans, they only suggested lending more money. They plead tearfully for people to trust them. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision, the people perish.
The measure of how well we succeed is how well we follow social values. Such values are more important than just profit.
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Happiness doesn't come from having money; it comes from the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. This cannot be forgotten in the mad chase of profits, which don't last. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be taken care of but to care for ourselves and our fellow men.
Success should not be measured by material wealth. Likewise, public office and high political position should not be valued just as a source of pride and personal profit. The conduct in banking and in business which too often looks like wrong-doing must end. Small wonder that there is little confidence in our business and political systems. Confidence thrives only on honesty, on honor, on duty, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance. Without them, people cannot live.
We are not just talking about changing our ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.
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Our greatest task is to put people to work. This can be solved if we face the problem wisely and courageously, and can be accomplished in part if the Government finds people jobs. The government itself should treat the task as we would treat the emergency of a war.As we put people to work, we need to have them carry out greatly needed projects that care for our natural resources.
Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize that too many people live in our cities. And we must send some of them to the countryside to work on the land. The task can be helped by raising the prices of agricultural products, so farmers can purchase goods from our cities. It can help prevent people from losing their homes and farms because they cannot pay off their loans. It can help by insisting that the Federal, State, and local governments reduce costs. It can help by unifying all the charitable activities to help the poor and unemployed. These efforts today are often scattered, unequal and a bad use of money. It can help with national planning of transportation and of communications and other utilities. 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.
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Finally, in our progress toward getting people back to work, we require two safeguards. There must be a strict supervision of all banking and investments. There also must be rules and policies for a stable currency.
These are the suggestions that I shall presently urge upon a new Congress, in special session, and detailed directions for carrying them out. I shall seek the immediate assistance of the several States.
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Through this program of action we must put our own national house in order and not spend more than we earn. Although trade with other countries is vastly important, it cannot come before a stable national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade, but the emergency at home cannot wait.
The basic thought that guides national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is based upon the interdependence of the entire United States. It is a recognition that the American pioneer spirit will show us the way back. It is the immediate way. It gives us the best chance for a recovery that will be long lasting.
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In the field of world policy we must be good neighbors. The neighbor respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others. The neighbor respects his obligations and respects his agreements with a world of neighbors.
We now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other. We cannot merely take but we must give as well. If we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the common good. Otherwise, no progress is made and no leadership becomes effective. I pledge, by sharing a larger purpose, that we will be bound together by a unity felt only during wartime.
With this pledge taken, I take up leadership of this great army of our people. I dedicate it to an attack upon our common problems.
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Action is possible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to respond to extraordinary needs by changing the Constitution without losing its essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most enduring political systemthe modern world has produced. It has been flexible enough to respond to the stress of current events — gaining new territory, foreign wars, bitter national divisions, world relations.
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Hopefully the normal balance of Executive and Legislative authority may be enough to meet the new task before us. But it may be that the need for immediate action may call for temporary change.
I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend to Congress the measures that an at-risk nation may require. I will try to get these steps or those that Congress suggests passed quickly.
But even if Congress shall fail to take action, and there is a national emergency, I shall not evade the clear course of duty. I shall ask the Congress for broad Executive power to respond to the crisis. I shall ask for the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign enemy.
For the trust the country has in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time, because I can do no less.
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We face the difficult days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the satisfaction that comes from doing our duty.
We trust in the future of democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have made clear they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.
In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come. / Underline one claim in the chunked text. Explain the claim in this column.
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