Go back to All
Presidents 1,337 words
Frigid temperatures caused many of the events planned
for the second inauguration to be abandoned. The thermometer did not
rise mucha bove zero all day, persuading many to avoid the ceremony
on the East Portico of the Capitol. The oath of office was
administered by Chief Justice Salmon Chase. A parade and a display of
fireworks were featured later that day, as well as a ball in a
temporary wooden structure on Judiciary Square. The wind blew
continuously through the ballroom and many of the guests at the ball
never removed their coats.
"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."
March 4, 1873