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Ulysses S. Grant's Second Inaugural Address:
| Fellow-Citizens: UNDER Providence I have been called a second time to act as Executive over
this great nation. It has been my endeavor in the past to maintain all the laws, and, so
far as lay in my power, to act for the best interests of the whole people. My best efforts
will be given in the same direction in the future, aided, I trust, by my four years'
experience in the office. |
| When my first term of the office of Chief Executive
began, the country had not recovered from the effects of a great internal revolution, and
three of the former States of the Union had not been restored to their Federal relations. |
| It seemed to me wise that no new questions should be
raised so long as that condition of affairs existed. Therefore the past four years, so far
as I could control events, have been consumed in the effort to restore harmony, public
credit, commerce, and all the arts of peace and progress. It is my firm conviction that
the civilized world is tending toward republicanism, or government by the people through
their chosen representatives, and that our own great Republic is destined to be the
guiding star to all others. |
| Under our Republic we support an army less than that
of any European power of any standing and a navy less than that of either of at least five
of them. There could be no extension of territory on the continent which would call for an
increase of this force, but rather might such extension enable us to diminish it. |
| The theory of government changes with general
progress. Now that the telegraph is made available for communicating thought, together
with rapid transit by steam, all parts of a continent are made contiguous for all purposes
of government, and communication between the extreme limits of the country made easier
than it was throughout the old thirteen States at the beginning of our national existence. |
| The effects of the late civil strife have been to
free the slave and make him a citizen. Yet he is not possessed of the civil rights which
citizenship should carry with it. This is wrong, and should be corrected. To this
correction I stand committed, so far as Executive influence can avail. |
| Social equality is not a subject to be legislated
upon, nor shall I ask that anything be done to advance the social status of the colored
man, except to give him a fair chance to develop what there is good in him, give him
access to the schools, and when he travels let him feel assured that his conduct will
regulate the treatment and fare he will receive. |
| The States lately at war with the General Government
are now happily rehabilitated, and no Executive control is exercised in any one of them
that would not be exercised in any other State under like circumstances. |
| In the first year of the past Administration the
proposition came up for the admission of Santo Domingo as a Territory of the Union. It was
not a question of my seeking, but was a proposition from the people of Santo Domingo, and
which I entertained. I believe now, as I did then, that it was for the best interest of
this country, for the people of Santo Domingo, and all concerned that the proposition
should be received favorably. It was, however, rejected constitutionally, and therefore
the subject was never brought up again by me. |
| In future, while I hold my present office, the
subject of acquisition of territory must have the support of the people before I will
recommend any proposition looking to such acquisition. I say here, however, that I do not
share in the apprehension held by many as to the danger of governments becoming weakened
and destroyed by reason of their extension of territory. Commerce, education, and rapid
transit of thought and matter by telegraph and steam have changed all this. Rather do I
believe that our Great Maker is preparing the world, in His own good time, to become one
nation, speaking one language, and when armies and navies will be no longer required. |
| My efforts in the future will be directed to the
restoration of good feeling between the different sections of our common country; to the
restoration of our currency to a fixed value as compared with the world's standard of
values—gold—and, if possible, to a par with it; to the construction of cheap
routes of transit throughout the land, to the end that the products of all may find a
market and leave a living remuneration to the producer; to the maintenance of friendly
relations with all our neighbors and with distant nations; to the reestablishment of our
commerce and share in the carrying trade upon the ocean; to the encouragement of such
manufacturing industries as can be economically pursued in this country, to the end that
the exports of home products and industries may pay for our imports—the only sure
method of returning to and permanently maintaining a specie basis; to the elevation of
labor; and, by a humane course, to bring the aborigines of the country under the benign
influences of education and civilization. It is either this or war of extermination: Wars
of extermination, engaged in by people pursuing commerce and all industrial pursuits, are
expensive even against the weakest people, and are demoralizing and wicked. Our
superiority of strength and advantages of civilization should make us lenient toward the
Indian. The wrong inflicted upon him should be taken into account and the balance placed
to his credit. The moral view of the question should be considered and the question asked,
Can not the Indian be made a useful and productive member of society by proper teaching
and treatment? If the effort is made in good faith, we will stand better before the
civilized nations of the earth and in our own consciences for having made it. |
| All these things are not to be accomplished by one
individual, but they will receive my support and such recommendations to Congress as will
in my judgment best serve to carry them into effect. I beg your support and encouragement. |
| It has been, and is, my earnest desire to correct
abuses that have grown up in the civil service of the country. To secure this reformation
rules regulating methods of appointment and promotions were established and have been
tried. My efforts for such reformation shall be continued to the best of my judgment. The
spirit of the rules adopted will be maintained. |
| I acknowledge before this assemblage, representing,
as it does, every section of our country, the obligation I am under to my countrymen for
the great honor they have conferred on me by returning me to the highest office within
their gift, and the further obligation resting on me to render to them the best services
within my power. This I promise, looking forward with the greatest anxiety to the day when
I shall be released from responsibilities that at times are almost overwhelming, and from
which I have scarcely had a respite since the eventful firing upon Fort Sumter, in April,
1861, to the present day. My services were then tendered and accepted under the first call
for troops growing out of that event. |
| I did not ask for place or position, and was entirely
without influence or the acquaintance of persons of influence, but was resolved to perform
my part in a struggle threatening the very existence of the nation. I performed a
conscientious duty, without asking promotion or command, and without a revengeful feeling
toward any section or individual. |
| Notwithstanding this, throughout the war, and from my
candidacy for my present office in 1868 to the close of the last Presidential campaign, I
have been the subject of abuse and slander scarcely ever equaled in political history,
which to-day I feel that I can afford to disregard in view of your verdict, which I
gratefully accept as my vindication. |
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to Ulysses S. Grant
Executive Oath of Office
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of
President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and
defend the Constitution of the United States."
United States Constitution, Article II,
Section 1, Clause 8
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Monroe, 6John Quincy Adams, 7Andrew Jackson, 8Martin
Van Buren,9William H Harrison,10John Tyler,11James K
Polk, 12Zachary Taylor, 13Millard Fillmore,14Franklin
Pierce,15James Buchanan,16Abraham Lincoln, 17Andrew
Johnson, 18Ulysses S Grant,19Rutherford B Hayes, 20James A Garfield, 21Chester
A. Arthur, 22Grover
Cleveland,23Benjamin Harrison, 24Grover Cleveland, 25William
McKinley,26Theodore Roosevelt, 27William H. Taft,28Woodrow Wilson, 29Warren
G. Harding,30Calvin Coolidge,31Herbert Hoover,32Franklin
D Roosevelt,33Harry S.
Truman, 34Dwight D Eisenhower,35John F Kennedy, 36Lyndon
B Johnson, 37RichardN. Nixon, 38Gerald R Ford, 39James E
Carter,40Ronald
W. Reagan, 41George
HerbertW. Bush, 42Bill Clinton,
43George Walker Bush 44
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last updated
07/14/09
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