This is the first complete anthology of presidential inaugural addresses ever published.

Reflecting the varied backgrounds of the nation itself, America's presidents have come from many ancestries and professions. Their goals and abilities have differed, but each proudly assumed the dignity of his office and each voiced his individual philosophy of government as he accepted the honor and burden of leadership.

We hear Thomas Jefferson telling the people in 1801: "A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry... when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, I... humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking." In 1833 Andrew Jackson says in his lean, straight-forward manner: "The eyes of all nations are faced on our Republic." Lincoln, with the nation on the threshold of Civil War: "The mystic chords of memory... will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." In 1917 Wilson, struggling to keep free of the conflict in Europe, warns: "There can be no turning back." And in the midst of the nationwide depression Franklin Delano Roosevelt tells us: "... the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

In clear, concise marginal comments Mr. Lott provides new insights into many passages of the inaugural addresses. On the facing page a brief biography of each president is presented, followed by a vignette of the national and world scene at the moment of inauguration.

Illustrated with vivid prints and photographs, this volume illuminates the drama of the American presidency and its ever-widening frontiers of responsibility from the days of George Washington to the administration of John F. Kennedy at mid-twentieth century. 

From the dust jacket