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Zachary
Taylor Speech - Inaugural Address
Elected by the American people to the highest office known to our laws,
I appear here to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution , and, in
compliance with a time-honored custom, to address those who are now
assembled.
The confidence and respect shown by my countrymen in calling me to be the
Chief Magistrate of a Republic holding a high rank among the nations of
the earth have inspired me with feelings of the most profound gratitude;
but when I reflect that the acceptance of the office which their
partiality has bestowed imposes the discharge of the most arduous duties
and involves the weightiest obligations, I am conscious that the position
which I have been called to fill, though sufficient to satisfy the
loftiest ambition, is surrounded by fearful responsibilities. Happily,
however, in the performance of my new duties I shall not be without able
cooperation. The legislative and judicial branches of the Government
present prominent examples of distinguished civil attainments and matured
experience, and it shall be my endeavor to call to my assistance in the
Executive Departments individuals whose talents, integrity, and purity of
character will furnish ample guaranties for the faithful and honorable
performance of the trusts to be committed to their charge. With such aids
and an honest purpose to do whatever is right, I hope to execute
diligently, impartially, and for the best interests of the country the
manifold duties devolved upon me.
In the discharge of these duties my guide will be the Constitution , which
I this day swear to "preserve, protect, and defend." For the
interpretation of that instrument I shall look to the decisions of the
judicial tribunals established by its authority and to the practice of the
Government under the earlier Presidents, who had so large a share in its
formation. To the example of those illustrious patriots I shall always
defer with reverence, and especially to his example who was by so many
titles "the Father of his Country."
To command the Army and Navy of the United States; with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to make treaties and to appoint ambassadors and
other officers; to give to Congress information of the state of the Union
and recommend such measures as he shall judge to be necessary; and to take
care that the laws shall be faithfully executed--these are the most
important functions intrusted to the President by the Constitution, and it
may be expected that I shall briefly indicate the principles which will
control me in their execution.
Chosen by the body of the people under the assurance that my
Administration would be devoted to the welfare of the whole country, and
not to the support of any particular section or merely local interest, I
this day renew the declarations I have heretofore made and proclaim my
fixed determination to maintain to the extent of my ability the Government
in its original purity and to adopt as the basis of my public policy those
great republican doctrines which constitute the strength of our national
existence.
In reference to the Army and Navy, lately employed with so much
distinction on active service, care shall be taken to insure the highest
condition of efficiency, and in furtherance of that object the military
and naval schools, sustained by the liberality of Congress, shall receive
the special attention of the Executive.
As American freemen we can not but sympathize in all efforts to extend the
blessings of civil and political liberty, but at the same time we are
warned by the admonitions of history and the voice of our own beloved
Washington to abstain from entangling alliances with foreign nations. In
all disputes between conflicting governments it is our interest not less
than our duty to remain strictly neutral, while our geographical position,
the genius of our institutions and our people, the advancing spirit of
civilization, and, above all, the dictates of religion direct us to the
cultivation of peaceful and friendly relations with all other powers. It
is to be hoped that no international question can now arise which a
government confident in its own strength and resolved to protect its own
just rights may not settle by wise negotiation; and it eminently becomes a
government like our own, founded on the morality and intelligence of its
citizens and upheld by their affections, to exhaust every resort of
honorable diplomacy before appealing to arms. In the conduct of our
foreign relations I shall conform to these views, as I believe them
essential to the best interests and the true honor of the country.
The appointing power vested in the President imposes delicate and onerous
duties. So far as it is possible to be informed, I shall make honesty,
capacity, and fidelity indispensable prerequisites to the bestowal of
office, and the absence of either of these qualities shall be deemed
sufficient cause for removal.
It shall be my study to recommend such constitutional measures to Congress
as may be necessary and proper to secure encouragement and protection to
the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, to improve
our rivers and harbors, to provide for the speedy extinguishment of the
public debt, to enforce a strict accountability on the part of all
officers of the Government and the utmost economy in all public
expenditures; but it is for the wisdom of Congress itself, in which all
legislative powers are vested by the Constitution , to regulate these and
other matters of domestic policy. I shall look with confidence to the
enlightened patriotism of that body to adopt such measures of conciliation
as may harmonize conflicting interests and tend to perpetuate that Union
which should be the paramount object of our hopes and affections. In any
action calculated to promote an object so near the heart of everyone who
truly loves his country I will zealously unite with the coordinate
branches of the Government.
In conclusion I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon the high state
of prosperity to which the goodness of Divine Providence has conducted our
common country. Let us invoke a continuance of the same protecting care
which has led us from small beginnings to the eminence we this day occupy,
and let us seek to deserve that continuance by prudence and moderation in
our councils, by well-directed attempts to assuage the bitterness which
too often marks unavoidable differences of opinion, by the promulgation
and practice of just and liberal principles, and by an enlarged
patriotism, which shall acknowledge no limits but those of our own
widespread Republic.
Zachary Taylor
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