Inaugural Address of Harry S. Truman
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1949
Mr. Vice President, Mr. Chief Justice, and fellow citizens, I acceptwith humility the honor which the American people have conferred uponme. I accept it with a deep resolve to do all that I can for thewelfare of this Nation and for the peace of the world.
In performing the duties of my office, I need the help and prayers ofevery one of you. I ask for your encouragement and your support. Thetasks we face are difficult, and we can accomplish them only if we worktogether.
Each period of our national history has had its special challenges.Those that confront us now are as momentous as any in the past. Todaymarks the beginning not only of a new administration, but of a periodthat will be eventful, perhaps decisive, for us and for the world.
It may be our lot to experience, and in large measure to bring about,a major turning point in the long history of the human race. The firsthalf of this century has been marked by unprecedented and brutalattacks on the rights of man, and by the two most frightful wars inhistory. The supreme need of our time is for men to learn to livetogether in peace and harmony.
The peoples of the earth face the future with grave uncertainty,composed almost equally of great hopes and great fears. In this time ofdoubt, they look to the United States as never before for good will,strength, and wise leadership.
It is fitting, therefore, that we take this occasion to proclaim tothe world the essential principles of the faith by which we live, andto declare our aims to all peoples.
The American people stand firm in the faith which has inspired thisNation from the beginning. We believe that all men have a right toequal justice under law and equal opportunity to share in the commongood. We believe that all men have the right to freedom of thought andexpression. We believe that all men are created equal because they arecreated in the image of God.
From this faith we will not be moved.
The American people desire, and are determined to work for, a worldin which all nations and all peoples are free to govern themselves asthey see fit, and to achieve a decent and satisfying life. Above allelse, our people desire, and are determined to work for, peace onearth--a just and lasting peace--based on genuine agreement freelyarrived at by equals.
In the pursuit of these aims, the United States and other like-minded nations find
themselves directly opposed by a regime withcontrary aims and a totally different concept of life.
That regime adheres to a false philosophy which purports to offerfreedom, security, and greater opportunity to mankind. Misled by thisphilosophy, many peoples have sacrificed their liberties only to learnto their sorrow that deceit and mockery, poverty and tyranny, are theirreward.
That false philosophy is communism.
Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequatethat he is unable to govern himself, and therefore requires the rule ofstrong masters.
Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral andintellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to governhimself with reason and justice.
Communism subjects the individual to arrest without lawful cause,punishment without trial, and forced labor as the chattel of the state.It decrees what information he shall receive, what art he shallproduce, what leaders he shall follow, and what thoughts he shall think.
Democracy maintains that government is established for the benefit ofthe individual, and is charged with the responsibility of protectingthe rights of the individual and his freedom in the exercise of hisabilities.
Communism maintains that social wrongs can be corrected only by violence.
Democracy has proved that social justice can be achieved through peaceful change.
Communism holds that the world is so deeply divided into opposing classes that war is inevitable.
Democracy holds that free nations can settle differences justly and maintain lasting peace.
These differences between communism and democracy do not concern theUnited States alone. People everywhere are coming to realize that whatis involved is material well-being, human dignity, and the right tobelieve in and worship God.
I state these differences, not to draw issues of belief as such, butbecause the actions resulting from the Communist philosophy are athreat to the efforts of free nations to bring about world recovery andlasting peace.
Since the end of hostilities, the United States has invested itssubstance and its energy in a great constructive effort to restorepeace, stability, and freedom to the world.
We have sought no territory and we have imposed our will on none. Wehave asked for no privileges we would not extend to others.
We have constantly and vigorously supported the United Nations andrelated agencies as a means of applying democratic principles tointernational relations. We have consistently advocated and relied uponpeaceful settlement of disputes among nations.
We have made every effort to secure agreement on effectiveinternational control of our most powerful weapon, and we have workedsteadily for the limitation and control of all armaments.
We have encouraged, by precept and example, the expansion of world trade on a sound and fair basis.
Almost a year ago, in company with 16 free nations of Europe, welaunched the greatest cooperative economic program in history. Thepurpose of that unprecedented effort is to invigorate and strengthendemocracy in Europe, so that the free people of that continent canresume their rightful place in the forefront of civilization and cancontribute once more to the security and welfare of the world.
Our efforts have brought new hope to all mankind. We have beaten backdespair and defeatism. We have saved a number of countries from losingtheir liberty. Hundreds of millions of people all over the world nowagree with us, that we need not have war--that we can have peace.
The initiative is ours.
We are moving on with other nations to build an even strongerstructure of international order and justice. We shall have as ourpartners countries which, no longer solely concerned with the problemof national survival, are now working to improve the standards ofliving of all their people. We are ready to undertake new projects tostrengthen the free world.
In the coming years, our program for peace and freedom will emphasize four major courses of action.
First, we will continue to give unfaltering support to the UnitedNations and related agencies, and we will continue to search for waysto strengthen their authority and increase their effectiveness. Webelieve that the United Nations will be strengthened by the new nationswhich are being formed in lands now advancing toward self-governmentunder democratic principles.
Second, we will continue our programs for world economic recovery.
This means, first of all, that we must keep our full weight behindthe European recovery
program. We are confident of the success of thismajor venture in world recovery. We believe that our partners in thiseffort will achieve the status of self-supporting nations once again.
In addition, we must carry out our plans for reducing the barriers toworld trade and increasing its volume. Economic recovery and peaceitself depend on increased world trade.
Third, we will strengthen freedom-loving nations against the dangers of aggression.
We are now working out with a number of countries a joint agreementdesigned to strengthen the security of the North Atlantic area. Such anagreement would take the form of a collective defense arrangementwithin the terms of the United Nations Charter.
We have already established such a defense pact for the Western Hemisphere by the treaty of Rio de Janeiro.
The primary purpose of these agreements is to provide unmistakableproof of the joint determination of the free countries to resist armedattack from any quarter. Each country participating in thesearrangements must contribute all it can to the common defense.
If we can make it sufficiently clear, in advance, that any armedattack affecting our national security would be met with overwhelmingforce, the armed attack might never occur.
I hope soon to send to the Senate a treaty respecting the North Atlantic security plan.
In addition, we will provide military advice and equipment to freenations which will cooperate with us in the maintenance of peace andsecurity.
Fourth, we must embark on a bold new program for making the benefitsof our scientific advances and industrial progress available for theimprovement and growth of underdeveloped areas.
More than half the people of the world are living in conditionsapproaching misery. Their food is inadequate. They are victims ofdisease. Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their povertyis a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas.
For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and the skill to relieve the suffering of these people.
The United States is pre-eminent among nations in the development ofindustrial and scientific techniques. The material resources which wecan afford to use for the assistance of other peoples are limited. Butour imponderable resources in technical knowledge are constantlygrowing and are inexhaustible.
I believe that we should make available to peace-loving peoples thebenefits of our store of
technical knowledge in order to help themrealize their aspirations for a better life. And, in cooperation withother nations, we should foster capital investment in areas needingdevelopment.
Our aim should be to help the free peoples of the world, throughtheir own efforts, to produce more food, more clothing, more materialsfor housing, and more mechanical power to lighten their burdens.
We invite other countries to pool their technological resources inthis undertaking. Their contributions will be warmly welcomed. Thisshould be a cooperative enterprise in which all nations work togetherthrough the United Nations and its specialized agencies whereverpracticable. It must be a worldwide effort for the achievement ofpeace, plenty, and freedom.
With the cooperation of business, private capital, agriculture, andlabor in this country, this program can greatly increase the industrialactivity in other nations and can raise substantially their standardsof living.
Such new economic developments must be devised and controlled tobenefit the peoples of the areas in which they are established.Guarantees to the investor must be balanced by guarantees in theinterest of the people whose resources and whose labor go into thesedevelopments.
The old imperialism--exploitation for foreign profit--has no place inour plans. What we envisage is a program of development based on theconcepts of democratic fair-dealing.
All countries, including our own, will greatly benefit from aconstructive program for the better use of the world's human andnatural resources. Experience shows that our commerce with othercountries expands as they progress industrially and economically.
Greater production is the key to prosperity and peace. And the key togreater production is a wider and more vigorous application of modernscientific and technical knowledge.
Only by helping the least fortunate of its members to help themselvescan the human family achieve the decent, satisfying life that is theright of all people.
Democracy alone can supply the vitalizing force to stir the peoplesof the world into triumphant action, not only against their humanoppressors, but also against their ancient enemies-- hunger, misery,and despair.
On the basis of these four major courses of action we hope to helpcreate the conditions that will lead eventually to personal freedom andhappiness for all mankind.
If we are to be successful in carrying out these policies, it isclear that we must have
continued prosperity in this country and wemust keep ourselves strong.
Slowly but surely we are weaving a world fabric of international security and growing prosperity.
We are aided by all who wish to live in freedom from fear--even by those who live today in fear under their own governments.
We are aided by all who want relief from the lies of propaganda-- who desire truth and sincerity.
We are aided by all who desire self-government and a voice in deciding their own affairs.
We are aided by all who long for economic security--for the security and abundance that men in free societies can enjoy.
We are aided by all who desire freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom to live their own lives for useful ends.
Our allies are the millions who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
In due time, as our stability becomes manifest, as more and morenations come to know the benefits of democracy and to participate ingrowing abundance, I believe that those countries which now oppose uswill abandon their delusions and join with the free nations of theworld in a just settlement of international differences.
Events have brought our American democracy to new influence and newresponsibilities. They will test our courage, our devotion to duty, andour concept of liberty.
But I say to all men, what we have achieved in liberty, we will surpass in greater liberty.
Steadfast in our faith in the Almighty, we will advance toward a world where man's freedom is secure.
To that end we will devote our strength, our resources, and ourfirmness of resolve. With God's help, the future of mankind will beassured in a world of justice, harmony, and peace.
【中文译文】：
四项主要的行动方针
哈里-杜鲁门就职演讲
星期四,1949年1月20日
我国历史上的各个时期都面临过特殊的挑战。我们现在面临的挑战和过去面临的任何挑战一样严重，今天不仅标志着一届新政府的起点，而且标志着一个新时期的开始。对我们来说，对整个世界来说，这个时期特是个多事之秋，也许还将是决定性的岁月。也许命运注定我们要去体验，或者在更大程度上是去促成人类漫长历史中的一个重大转折。本世纪上半叶的特点是，人权遭到史无前例的粗暴践踏，并经历了历史上最可怕的两场战争。我们这个时代最迫切的需要是学会和睦相处。
世界各国人民都怀着忐忑不安的心情面对着未来，他们既充满希望又满腹忧虑。在这疑虑的时刻，他们比以往任何时候更期待着合众国的善意、力量以及明智的领导。
因此，我们审时度势，利用这一时机向全世界宣布指导我们生活的信念的基本原则，向所有的民族宜布我们的目标。
在今后几年，我们的和平自由纲领将着重于四项主要的行动方针。
第一，我们将继续坚定不移地支持联合国及其有关机构，继续寻求各种方法来加强这些机构的权威和增加这些机构的效率。今天，不少新的国家正在成立，正在民主原则的指引下向自治方向迈进，我们相信，联合国将因这些新国家而得到加强。
第二，我们将继续执行我们制定的世界经济复兴计划。
这意味着我们必须首先全力支持欧洲复兴计划。对于世界复兴中这一重大事业的成功，我们充满了信心。我们相信，通过这项工作，我们的伙伴将再一次取得自给国家的地位。此外，我们还必须执行为减少世界贸易壁垒、增加世界贸易额而制定的计划。经济复兴与和平本身都取决于世界贸易的增加。
第三，我们要加强热爱自由的国家的力量，以抵御侵略的威胁。
我们和许多国家一起，正在为增加北大西洋地区的安全面起草一项共同协议。这种协议将根据联合国宪章的规定，采取集体防御协定的形式。
我们已经根据里约热内卢公约为西半球建立了这样一个防御同盟。
这些协议的主要目的是明确表示自由国家抵抗来自任何地方的武装进攻的共同决心。参加这些协议的每个国家必须为共同防御贡献出全部力量。
如果我们能预先充分地表明，任何影响到我们国家安全的武装进攻必将遭到强大的抵抗，那么武装进攻也许就永远不会发生。
我希望关于北大西洋安全计划的条约不久将呈送参议院。
此外，我们还将向在维护和平与安全时同我们进行合作的自由国家，提供军事顾问和军事装备。
第四，我们必须着手拟定一项大胆的新计划，使不发达地区的进步与发展能受益于我们的先进的科学和发达的工业。
全世界半数以上的人口正濒临悲惨的境地，他们食不果腹、疾患加身。他们的经济生活原始落后，滞缀不振。无论对于他们自己还是对于比较繁荣的地区来说，他们的贫困既是一种阻碍又是一种威胁。
人类有史以来第一次掌握了能解除这些人苦难的知识和技术。
合众国在工业和科学技术发展方面居各国之首。尽管我们用来援助其他国家人民的物质资源是有限的，但我们在技术知识方面的资源却是无法估量的，是不断增长和用之不竭的。
我认为，为了帮助各爱好和平民族实现他们对美好生活的愿望，我们应该使他们受惠于我们丰富的技术知识。同时，我们还应该和其他国家合作，支持对急待开发的地区进行投资。
我们的目标应该是帮助世界上各个自由民族通过他们自己的努力，生产更多的食物，更多的衣物，更多的建筑材料，以及更多的机器来减轻他们的负担。
我们吁请其他国象汇集他们的技术力量以进行这项工作。我们热烈欢迎他们作出贡献。这应该是一种合作事业，所有国家通过联合国及其专门机构在任何可行的方面为此共同工作。这必须是在世界范围内为实现和平、繁荣和自由而作出的努力。
在我国企业、私人资本、农业和劳工等方面的协作下，这一计划能够极大促进其他国家的工业活动，从实质上提高他们的生活水平。
这种新的经济发展必须加以规划和控制，从而使被开发地区的人民有所得益。在保证投资者利益的同时，必须兼顾人民的利益，因为在这些经济发展中倾注着人民的才智和劳动。
在我们的计划中，剥削他国利润的老牌帝国主义没有立足之地。我们拟定的是一个以民主的公平交易的概念为基础的发展规划。
所有国家，包括我国在内，将极大地受益于为更合理地使用世界上的人力资源和自然资源而制定的一项建设性计划。经验证明，我们同其他国家的贸易将随着这些国家在工业和经济上的发展而扩大。
提高生产是繁荣与和平的关键，而提高生产的关键是更广泛、更积极地运用现代科学技术知识。
人类大家庭只有通过帮助最不幸的成员自助，才能享受体面的、令人满意的生活，而所有人郁有权过上这样的生活。
只有民主政治才能产生生机勃勃的力量，以激励世界人民不仅为反抗人类的压迫者，而且压力反抗人类古老的敌人——饥饿、贫困、失望——而斗争。
根据这四项主要的行动方针，我们希望有助于创造各种条件，最终实现个人自由和全人类的幸福。
Thomas Jefferson First Inaugural Address First Inaugural Address
March 4, 1801
FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS,
Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assembled to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the weakness of my powers so justly inspire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye -- 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 shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly, indeed, should I despair did not the presence of many whom I here see remind me that in the other high authorities provided by our Constitution I shall find resources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look with encouragement for that guidance and support which may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked amidst the conflicting elements of a troubled world.
During the contest of opinion through which we have passed the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of
the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.
Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too
high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter -- with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens -- a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.
About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration.
I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most
competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people -- a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.
I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have assigned me. With experience enough in subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of this the greatest of all, I have learnt to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and the favor which bring him into it. Without pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and greatest revolutionary character, whose preeminent services had entitled him to the first place in his country's love and destined for him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to the legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in all its parts. The approbation implied by your suffrage is a great consolation to me for the past, and my future solicitude will be to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all.
Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.
【中文译文】：
同心同德地团结起来
托马斯-杰斐逊第一次就职演讲
华盛顿,星期三,1801年3月4日
朋友们、同胞们：
我应召担任国家的最高行政长官，值此诸位同胞集会之时，我衷心感谢大家寄予我的厚爱，诚挚地说，我意识到这项任务非我能力所及，其责任之重大，本人能力之浅簿，自然使我就任时忧惧交加。一个沃野千里的新兴国家，带着丰富的工业产品跨海渡洋，同那些自恃强权、不顾公理的国家进行贸易，向着世人无法预见的天命疾奔——当我思考这些重大的目标，当我想到这个可爱的国家，其荣誉、幸福和希望都系于这个问题和今天的盛典，我就不敢再想下去，并面对这宏图大业自惭德薄能鲜。确实，若不是在这里见到许多先生们在场，使我想起无论遇到什么困难，都可以向宪法规定的另一高级机构寻找智慧、美德和热忱的源泉，我一定会完全心灰意懒。因此，负有神圣的立法职责的先生们和各位有关人士，我鼓起勇气期望你们给予指引和支持，使我们能够在乱世纷争中同舟共济，安然航行。
在我们过去的意见交锋中，大家热烈讨论，各展所长，这种紧张气氛，有时会使不习惯于自由思想、不习惯于说出或写下自己想法的人感到不安；但如今，这场争论既已由全国的民意作出决定，而且根据宪法的规定予以公布，大家当然会服从法律的意志，妥为安排，为共同的利益齐心协力，大家也会铭记这条神圣的原则；尽管在任何情况下，多数人的意志是起决定作用的，但这种意志必须合理才瞩公正；少数人享有同等权利，这种权利必须同样受到法律保护，如果侵犯，便是压迫。因此，公民们，让我们同心同德地团结起来。让我们在社会交往中和睦如初、恢复友爱，如果没有这些，自由，甚至生活本身都会索然寡味，让我们再想一想，我们已经将长期以来造成人类流血、受苦的宗教信仰上的不宽容现象逐出国上，如果我们鼓励某种政治上的不宽容，其专演、邪恶和可能造成的残酷、血腥迫害均与此相仿，那么我们必将无所收获。当旧世界经历阵痛和骚动，当愤怒的人挣扎着想通过流血、杀戮来寻求失去已人的自由，那波涛般的激情甚至也会冲击这片遥远而宁静的海岸；对此，人们的感触和忧患不会一样，因而对安全措施的意见就出现了分歧，这些都不足为奇。但是，各种意见分歧并不都是原则分歧。我们以不同的名字呼唤同一原则的兄弟。我们都是共和党人，我们都是联邦党人，如果我们当中有人想解散这个联邦，或者想改变它的共和体制，那就让他们不受干扰而作为对平安的纪念碑吧，因为有了平安，错误的意见就可得到宽容，理性就得以自由地与之抗争。诚然，我知道，有些正直人士担心共和制政府无法成为强有力的政府，担心我们这个政府不够坚强；但是，在实验取得成功的高潮中，一个诚实的爱国者，难道会因为一种假设的和幻想的疑惧，就以为这个被世界寄予最大希望的政府可能需要力量才得以自存，因而就放弃这个迄今带给我们自由和坚定的政府吗？我相信下会。相反，我相信这是世界上最坚强的政府。我相信唯有在这种政府的治理下，每个人才会响应法律的号召，奔向法律的旗帜下，像对待切身利益那样，迎击侵犯公共秩序的举动：有时我们听到一种说法：不能让人们自己管理自己。那么，能让他去管理别人吗？或者?我们在统治人民的君王名单中发现了无使吗？这个问题让历史来回答吧。
因此，让我们以勇气和信心，迫求我们自己的联邦与共和原则，拥戴联邦与代议制政府。我们受惠于大自然和大洋的阻隔，幸免于地球上四分之一地区发生的那场毁灭性浩动；
我们品格高尚，不能容忍他人的堕落；们天赐良邦，其幅员足以容纳子孙万代；我们充分认识到在发挥个人才干、以勤劳换取收入、受到同胞的尊敬与信赖上，大家享有平等的权利，但这种尊敬和信赖不是出于门第，而是出于我们的行为和同胞的评判；我们受到仁慈的宗教的启迪，尽管教派不同，形式各异，但它们都教人以正直、忠诚、节制、恩义和仁爱；我们承认和崇拜全能的上帝，而天意表明，他乐于使这里的人们得到幸福，今后还将得到更多的幸福——我们有了这些福祉，还需要什么才能够使我们成为快乐而兴旺的民族呢？公民们，我们还需要一件，那就是贤明而节俭的政府，它会制止人们相互伤害，使他们自由地管理自己的实业和进步活动，它不会侵夺人们的劳动果实。这就是良好政府的集粹，这也是我们达到幸福圆满之必需。
公民们，我即将履行职责，这些职责包括你们所珍爱的一切，因此，你们应当了解我所认为的政府基本原则是什么，确定其行政依据的原则又是什么。我将尽量扼要地加以叙述，只讲一般原则，不讲其种种限制。实行人人平等和真正的公平，而不论其宗教或政治上的地位或派别；同所有国家和平相处、商务往来、真诚友好，而下与任何国家结盟，维护备州政府的一切权利，将它们作为我国最有权能的内政机构，和抵御反共和趋势的最可靠屏障；维持全国政府在宪制上的全部活力，将其作为国内安定和国际安全的最后依靠；忠实地维护人民的选举仅——将它作为一种温和而稳妥的矫正手段，对革命留下的、尚无和平补救办法的种种弊端予以矫正；绝对同意多数人的决定，因为这是共和制的主要原则，反之，不诉诸舆论而诉诸武力乃是专制的主要原则和直接根源；建立一支训练有来的民兵，作为平时和战争初期的最好依靠，直到正规军来接替；实行文职权高于军职权；节约政府开支，减轻劳工负担；诚实地偿还债务，庄严地维护政府信誉；鼓励农业，辅之以商业；传播信息，以公众理智力准绳补偏救弊；实行宗教自由；实行出版自由和人身自由，根据人身保护法和公正选出陪审团进行审判来保证人身自由。这些原则构成了明亮的星座，它在我们的前方照闸，指引我们经历了革命和改革时朗，先皙的智慧和英雄的鲜血都曾为实现这些原则作出过奉献，这些原则应当是我们的政治信条，公民教育的课本，检验我们所信曹的人的工作的试金石，如果我们因一时错误或惊恐而背日这些原则，那就让我们赶紧回头，重返这唯一通向和平、自由和安全的大道。
各位公民，我即将担当起你们委派给我的职务。根据我担任许多较低职务的经验，我已经意识到这是最艰巨的职务，囵此，我能够预期，当一个并非尽善尽奏的人从这个职位卸任时，很少能像就任时那样深手众望。我不敢奢皇大家如同信任我们第一位最伟大的革命元勋那样对我高度信任，因为他的卓著勋劳使他最有资格受到全国的爱戳，使他在忠实的史书中占有汲辉煌的一页，我只要求大家给我相当的信任，使人足以坚定地、有效地依法管理大家的事务。由于判断有误，我会常常犯错误。即使我是正确的，那些不是站在统筹全局的立场上看问题的人，也会常常认为我是错误的，我请求你们宽容我自己犯的锗误，而这些错误决不是故意犯的，我请求你们支持我反对别人的错误，而这些人如果通盘考虑，也是决不会犯的。从投票结果来看，大家对我的过去甚为嘉许，这是我莫大的安慰；今后我所渴望的是，力求赐予我好评的各位能保持这种好评，在我职权范围内为其他各位效劳以博得他们的好评，并为所有同胞们的幸福和自由而尽力。
现在，我仰承各位的好意，恭顺地就任此职，一旦你们觉得需要作出你们有权作出的更好的选择，我便准备辞去此职。愿主宰夭地万物命运的上帝引导我们的机构臻于完善，并为大家的和平与昌盛，赐给它一个值得赞许的结果。
First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1861
Fellow-Citizens of the United States:
In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President before he enters on the execution of this office."
I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement.
Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you.
I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that--
I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.
Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had never recanted them; and more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:
Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.
I now reiterate these sentiments, and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause--as cheerfully to one section as to another.
There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its provisions:
No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.
It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitution--to this provision as much as to any other. To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause "shall be delivered up" their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath?
There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority, but surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done. And should anyone in any case be content that his oath shall go unkept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?
Again: In any law upon this subject ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not in any case surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that "the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States"?
I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed than to violate any of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.
It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution. During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the Government. They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.
I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its
organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself.
Again: If the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as acontract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it--break it, so to speak--but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it?
Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1778. And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was "to form a more perfect Union."
But if destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity.
It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.
I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, and Ishall perform it so far as practicable unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself.
In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. Where hostility to the United States in any interior locality shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people for that object. While the strict legal right may exist in the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating and so nearly impracticable withal that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.
The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. So far as possible the people everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. The course here indicated will be followed unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper, and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised, according to circumstances actually existing and with a view and a hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.
That there are persons in one section or another who seek to destroy the Union at all events and are glad of any pretext to do it I will neither affirm nor deny; but if there be such, I need address no word to them. To those, however, who really love the Union may I not speak?
Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly from, will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake?
All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right plainly written in the Constitution has been denied? I think not. Happily, the human mind is so constituted that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might in a moral point of view justify revolution; certainly would if such right were a vital one. But such is not our case. All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guaranties and prohibitions, in the Constitution that controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate nor any document of reasonable length contain express provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authority? The Constitution does not expressly say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say.
From questions of this class spring all our constitutional controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities. If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the Government must cease. There is no other alternative, for continuing the Government is acquiescence on one side or the other. If a minority in such case will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will divide and ruin them, for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority. For instance, why may not any portion of a new confederacy a year or two hence arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this.
Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new union as to produce harmony only and prevent renewed secession?
Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible. The rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left.
I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding in any case upon the parties to a suit as to the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments of the Government. And while it is obviously possible that such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it, being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled and never become a precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a different practice. At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes.
One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. The fugitive- slave clause of the Constitution and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, can not be perfectly cured, and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of the sections than before. The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without restriction in one section, while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other.
Physically speaking, we can not separate. We can not remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country can not do this. They can not but remain face to face, and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before? Can aliens
make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you can not fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again upon you.
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others, not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or refuse. I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution--which amendment, however, I have not seen--has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments so far as to say that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.
The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have referred none upon him to fix terms for the separation of the States. The people themselves can do this if also they choose, but the Executive as such has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the present Government as it came to his hands and to transmit it unimpaired by him to his successor.
Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? In our present differences, is either party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal of the American people.
By the frame of the Government under which we live this same people have wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief, and have with equal wisdom provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance no Administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years.
My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a
step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new Administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty.
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
【中文译文】：
永久联邦与总统权力
亚伯拉罕-林肯
第一次就职演讲
星期一,1861年3月4日
我今天正式宣誓时，并没有保留意见，也无意以任何苛刻的标准来解释宪法和法律，尽管我不想具体指明国会通过的哪些法案是适合施行的?但我确实要建议，所有的人，不论处于官方还是私人的地位，都得遵守那些未被废止的法令，这比泰然自若地认为其中某个法案是违背宪法的而去触犯它，要稳当得多。
自从第一任总统根据我国宪法就职以来已经72年了。在此期间，有15位十分杰出的公民相继主持了政府的行政部门。他们在许多艰难险阻中履行职责，大致说来都很成功。然而，虽有这样的先例，我现在开始担任这个按宪法规定任期只有短暂4年的同一职务时，却处在巨大而特殊的困难之下。联邦的分裂，在此以前只是一种威胁，现在却已成为可怕的行动。
从一般法律和宪法角度来考虑，我认为由各州组成的联邦是永久性的。在合国政府的根本法中，永久性即使没有明确规定，也是不盲而喻的。我们有把握说，从来没有哪个正规政府在自己的组织法中列入一项要结束自己执政的条款。继续执行我国宪法明文规定的条款，联邦就将永远存在，毁灭联邦是办不到的，除非采取宪法本身未予规定的某种行动。再者：假如合众国不是名
1974年美国总统福特就职演说 （文章一）：1974年美国总统福特就职演说Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th President of the United States after the resignation of President Nixon. President Ford;s Inaugural Address: [Oath of Office administered by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger] Mr. Chief Justice, my dear friends, my fellow Americans: The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the Constitution. But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts. Therefore, I feel it is my first duty to make an unprecedented pact with my countrymen. Not an inaugural address, not a fireside chat, not a caign speech -- just a little straight talk among friends. And I intend it to be the first of many. I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many. If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises. I have not caigned either for the Presidency or the Vice Presidency. I have not subscribed to any partisan platform. I am indebted to no man, and only to one woman -- my dear
美国总统罗斯福小时候的故事 一个小男孩几乎认为自己是世界上最 不幸的孩子，因为患脊髓灰质炎而留下了瘸腿和参差不齐且突出的牙齿。他很少与同学们游戏或玩耍，老师叫他回答问题时，他也总是低着头一言不发。 在一个平常的春天，小男孩的父亲从邻居家讨了一些树苗，他想把它们栽在房前。他叫他的孩子们每人栽一棵。父亲对孩子们说，谁栽的树苗长得最好，就给谁买一件最喜欢的礼物。小男孩也想得到父亲的礼物。但看到兄妹们蹦蹦跳跳提水浇树的身影，不知怎么地，萌生出一种阴冷的想法：希望自己栽的那棵树早点死去。因此浇过一两次水后，再也没去搭理它。 几天后，小男孩再去看他种的那棵树时，惊奇地发现它不仅没有枯萎，而且还长出了几片新叶子，与兄妹们种的树相比，显得更嫩绿、更有生气。父亲兑现了他的诺言，为小男孩买了一件他最喜欢的礼物，并对他
说，从他栽的树来看，他长大后一定能成为一名出色的植物学家。 从那以后，小男孩慢慢变得乐观向上起来。 一天晚上，小男孩躺在床上睡不着，看着窗外那明亮皎洁的月光，忽然想起生物老师曾说过的话：植物一般都在晚上生长，何不去看看自己种的那颗小树。当他轻手轻脚来到院子里时，却看见父亲用勺子在向自己栽种的那棵树下泼洒着什么。顿时，一切他都明白了，原来父亲一直在偷偷地为自己栽种的那颗小树施肥！他返回房间，任凭泪水肆意地奔流...... 几十年过去了，那瘸腿的小男孩虽然没有成为一名植物学家，但他却成为了美国总统，他的名字叫富兰克林?罗斯福。 爱是生命中最好的养料，哪怕只是一勺清水，也能使生命之树茁壮成长。也许那棵树是那样的平凡、不起眼；也许那棵树是如此的瘦小，甚至还有些枯萎，但只要有养料的浇灌，它就能长得枝繁叶茂，甚至长成参天大树。
卢东宁10179023 huiwenbuiding315 "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." - Harry S. Truman "If wrinkles must be written on our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old." - James Garfield "Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose." - Lyndon Johnson "Things do not happen. Things are made to happen." - John Fitzgerald "When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer "Present" or "Not Guilty."" - Theodore Roosevelt "That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well." - Abraham Lincoln "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb." - Calvin Coolidge
Inaugural Address of George Bush FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1989 Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. President, Vice President Quayle, Senator Mitchell, Speaker Wright, Senator Dole, Congressman Michel, and fellow citizens, neighbors, and friends: There is a man here who has earned a lasting place in our hearts and in our history. President Reagan, on behalf of our Nation, I thank you for the wonderful things that you have done for America. I have just repeated word for word the oath taken by George Washington 200 years ago, and the Bible on which I placed my hand is the Bible on which he placed his. It is right that the memory of Washington be with us today, not only because this is our Bicentennial Inauguration, but because Washington remains the Father of our Country. And he would, I think, be gladdened by this day; for today is the concrete expression of a stunning fact: our continuity these 200 years since our government began. We meet on democracy's front porch, a good place to talk as neighbors and as friends. For this is a day when our nation is made whole, when our differences, for a moment, are suspended. And my first act as President is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads: Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love. Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this day and the shared faith that makes its continuance likely. Make us strong to do Your work, willing to heed and hear Your will, and write on our hearts these words: "Use power to help people." For we are given power not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people. Help us to remember it, Lord. Amen. I come before you and assume the Presidency at a moment rich with promise. We live in a peaceful, prosperous time, but we can make it better. For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree. A new breeze is blowing, and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on. There is new ground to be broken, and new action to be taken. There are times when the future seems thick as a fog; you sit and wait, hoping the mists will lift and reveal the right
西点军校励志名言名句 有时候，阻碍我们成功的主要障碍，不是我们能力的大小，而是我们的心态。以下是由J.L为您整理推荐的西点军校励志名言名句，欢迎参考阅读。 才能出众者，才堪担当重任;而努力学习，刻苦训练，是获得才能的惟一途径。 一个战场指挥官假如不执行和维护纪律，那就是潜在的杀人犯;指挥官的放肆言词是锻炼部队的手段之一，没有粗俗劲儿就是无法指挥军队——。年西点军校毕业生巴顿将军 如果我们用你渡过最艰苦时刻的状态去应付现在的话，你将会很快渡过面前的这个难关。——西点军校年毕业生经营管理顾问考克斯 避免一切水水的失误，就能减少巨大的意外挫折。——著名西点学子美国南北战争时期北方军总司令格兰特将军 最聪明的人设计出来的最伟大的计划，执行的时候还是必须从小处着手，整个计划的成败就取决于这些细节。——西点前校长潘莫：细节决定成败 为了更好的解决问题，你不仅要助手，也需要对手。——年西点军校毕业生曾任校长的道格拉斯·麦克阿瑟“给我任何一个人，只要不是精神病人，我都能把
他训练成一个优秀的人才。”这是西点军校校长的名言。 很难想象，在列队的时候不干脆俐落的一群人，打起仗来能够把自己和鸟合之众区别开来。——年西点军校毕业生曾任校长的道格拉斯·麦克阿瑟 训练时多流一加仑汗，战场上少流一加仑血。——西点军校著名校友乔治·S·巴顿将军 努力不懈，是奔向梦想和目标的唯一坦途。——西点军校校友著名企业家威廉·B·富兰克林 闲暇时光如果不用来读书，以累积发展自我的力量，而在无所事事中任其流逝，是非常可惜的。——西点军校前学员团团长麦康尼夫 总在最前面：西点学员必须明白只有勇敢精神让平凡的自己作出惊人的事业，西点军人必须在最前面。 “没有办法”或“不可能”使事情画上句号，“总有办法”则使事情有突破的可能。——西点军校教官约翰·哈利 勇敢的面对危险，风险越高，人的情绪越接近恐慌，要训练自己在重大关头能处理恐慌，最好在控制的情况下，练习克服恐慌。 非常情况下能否坚持原则，常常是判断一个人道德水准的重要依据。——著名西点学子美国第十八任总统格兰特
名人故事：美国总统 在美国历曾诞生了很多有影响力的总统，他们的机智幽默在他们的政治生涯中体现得淋漓尽致，被全世界人们广为传诵。 钱和雨 在卡特的飞机降临在饱受旱灾之苦的得克萨斯某镇之前，该镇忽然下起了雨。卡特踏上滑溜溜的机场跑道，向聚集在那里前来欢迎他的农民们发出微笑，“你们很想要钱或者要雨，”他说：“我拿不出钱，所以我只好带来了雨。” 让人左右不是 约翰逊26岁时曾被任命为全国青年总署德克萨斯州分署署长。他在任期间，对手下人十分严格，喜欢指出他们做错的地方。一次，他走过一个同事的座位，看到他的办公桌子上堆满了文件，就故意提升嗓门说：“我希望你的思想不要像这张桌子一样乱七八糟。”这样，同一个办公室的人都听得一清二楚。这位同事费了好大的劲，才在约翰逊第二次巡视办公室前把文件整理好了，并清理了桌面。约翰逊又来到办公室时，一看原来乱糟糟的桌面变得空空荡荡，于是说：“我希望你的头脑不要像这张桌子一样空荡荡。” 惟一能干的事情 肯尼迪是在1961年当选为美国第35任总统的。他曾在1956年被提名为副总统的竞选中败北于对手凯弗维尔。失败后，他乘飞机去欧洲休养，一天，他在里韦拉他父亲租来的房子前晒太阳，他妹妹的前夫坎菲尔德刚巧从他面前经过。坎菲尔德问他为什么想当总统。“我想这是我惟一能干的事情。”肯尼迪漫不经心地说。 需要大量资金 约翰逊总统向一群商业界头面人物讲了一则轶事，以说明需要大量资金来实行导弹竞赛。故事如下：1861年，一位得克萨斯州人离家
前去参加南军士兵阵营。他告诉他的邻居他很快就会回来，这场战争 不会打的太久，“因为我们能用扫帚柄揍这些北方佬。”两年后，他 才重返故里，少了一条腿。他的邻居向这位神情悲惨、衣衫褴褛的伤 兵询问到底发生了什么事，“你不是说过战争不费力，你们能用扫帚 柄揍这些北方佬吗?”“我们当然能。”这位南军士兵回答，“但是麻 烦在于北方佬不用扫帚柄打仗。” 滑稽的回信 肯尼迪常常幽默地给一些专栏作家写东西，这些东西使这些作家 们既受宠若惊，又感到滑稽有趣。一天肯尼迪收到专栏作家伦纳 德·莱昂斯的一封信，信中说当前总统署名的照片每张价格如下：乔治·华盛顿-175美元；富兰克林·罗斯福75美元；格兰特55美元； 约翰·肯尼迪65美元。肯尼迪回信道：亲爱的伦纳德：承蒙来信告知 肯尼迪亲自署名照片的市场价格。持续上涨的价格现在已如此之高， 这实在令人难以置信。为了防止市场进一步萧条，请恕我不在这封信 上署名。 机智的回敬 在总统候选人的提名过程中，肯尼迪的年轻和孩子般的外表成了 一个不折不扣的不利条件。众议院发言人萨姆·雷伯恩就是攻击肯尼 迪乳臭未干的几个民主党领导人之一。肯尼迪哈哈一笑，把问题抛到 一边，“萨姆·雷伯恩可能认为我年轻。不过对一位已是78岁的人来说，他眼中的绝大部分人都年轻。”不过这个问题始终纠缠着肯尼迪。杜鲁门在一次全国性演讲中向肯尼迪挑战，“我们需要的是一个极其 成熟的人。”这位前总统说。肯尼迪用逻辑和机智回敬了他的挑战。 他说：“如果年龄一直被认为是一个标准的话，那么美国将放弃对44 岁以下所有人的信任。这种排斥可能阻止杰斐逊起草独立宣言，华盛 顿指挥独立战争中的美国军队，麦迪逊成为起草宪法的先驱，哥伦布 去发现新大陆。” 我也一直站着
美国历届总统名言录 第1任美国总统：乔治?华盛顿（George Washington 1789-1797） 由于剑是维护我们自由的最后手段，一旦这些自由得到确立，就应该首先将它放在一旁。 要努力让你心中的那朵被称为良心的火花永不熄灭。 在导致昌明政治的各种国民性格中，宗教和道德是不可或缺的支柱......我们应当告诫自己不要幻想，认为道德没有宗教也能维持，尽管良好的教育对于特殊结构的意识可能有所影响，但是根据理智和经验，不容我们期望在排除宗教原则的情况下，国民道德仍能普遍存在。 我就任政府首脑，心情恰如一个罪犯走向刑场。
在我执政之时，任何针对我政务的攻讦，我一概臵之不理，因为我深深地知道，如果这些攻讦经不起事实的检验，报上的一纸空文将无损于我一根毫毛。 第2任美国总统：约翰?亚当斯（John Adams 1797-1801） 我的一生是一个连着一个的失望。在我的记忆中，我所孜孜以求的东西几乎没有一例成功。不过，我怀着对上帝由衷的感激之情，承认我的一生亦同样充满着我未曾追求亦未曾预料到的非凡而又巨大的成功。 富者很少具有谦逊、机灵和仁爱的品德。他们的财富总是使他们变得吝啬而又自私。 商业的气息与纯洁的心灵和高尚的精神格格不入，而没有心灵的纯洁与高尚就不会有共和国的幸福。 如果没有托马斯?潘恩的这支笔，乔治?华盛顿所举起的剑将是徒然无功。 当过总统的人，谁也不会为朋友的当选而表示祝贺。他的每一项任命，将使一人忘恩负义，成为百人宿敌。 权力自然而然增长，为什么呢？因为人的欲壑难填。 第3任美国总统：托马斯?杰斐逊（Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809）
摘要：就职演说作为一种特殊的演讲形势，很好的诠释了演说词的深远意义和广泛影响力。本文以美国历届总统就职演说辞为研究对象，对排比的大量使用进行分析，旨在揭示排比修辞法在演讲文体中的巨大作用。排比的使用能给演讲者带来恢弘的气势，使演说的逻辑更加清晰，同时也增强了演说者的感召力，增强了读者和听众对演说词的深刻理解。 关键词：就职演说词；演讲；排比 公众演讲作为一种极为特殊的问题，既不同于日常谈话，也不同于小说、戏剧、诗歌等文学体裁。由于其都是在非常正式的场合，由特定的演讲者直接面向广大听众进行的旨在激起群众的热情，获得听众的支持和认可的一种社会活动，因此使其兼备口语和书面语俩种文体的语言特点同时，有着显著地差异。它扬口语浅显易懂之长，弃口语松散杂乱之短；既保留了书面语庄重文雅之风，又不失口语生动感人之韵，使人听来感到铿锵悦耳，感情充沛，极富感染力和号召力。 美国总统的就职演说是一种在特定场合下的演说。现场听众可达百万之众，并且向国内外进行现场直播。美国民众及世界各国总是对新总统有着无限期待，总统治国理想，对国家所面临的困难和挑战的分析，施政纲领的宣布以及如何实现民众的希望都通过这一就职演讲传达出来。据各大媒体的调查表明，大多数美国民众对美国新当选的总统奥巴马于2009年1月20日做出的就职演说感到满意和非常满意。由此可见，一次演讲所承担的使命以及其所能达到的效果非同凡响。本文以美国历届总统就职演说辞为语料，以排比修辞法的使用为基点进行简要的分析，揭示排比在演讲词中的巨大作用以及其所带来的恢弘气势、清晰地说理与强大的感召力，以增强读者对排比法的深刻理解。 排比（parallelism）是一种修辞手法，它是利用三个或三个以上意义相关或相近，结构相同或相似和语气相同的词组（主谓/动宾）或句子并排，达到一种加强语势的效果。Parallelism:Similarity of construction of adjacent word groups equivalent,complementary,or antithetic in sense esp.for rhetorical effect or rhythm;reiteration in similar phrases （Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of The English Language Unabridged1986）.这种结构的大量运用，使得演讲在句法结构上更加工整，在语篇上更具气势，在感情上更具有感染力。在诸多的美国总统中，每一位总统的就职演说词，都依据各自不同的政治目的，而或多或少的使用到了排比的修辞方法，以下则是笔者从美国历任总统的演说中例选出的经典排比句式。 例1.托马斯.杰斐逊在建国之初，国家建设时期的就职演讲中，排比句的使用感召了国民对进国家建设的热衷，鼓舞了民众士气。 Let us,then,fellow-citizens,unite with one heart and one mind.Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things.And let us reflect that,having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered,we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic,as wicked,and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions……Let us,then,with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. 公民们，让我们同心同德地团结起来。让我们在社会交往中和睦如初、恢复友爱，如果没有这些，自由，甚至生活本身都会索然寡味，让我们再想一想，我们已经将长期以来造成人类流血、受苦的宗教信仰上的不宽容现象逐出国上，如果我们鼓励某种政治上的不宽容，其专演、邪恶和可能造成的残酷、血腥迫害均与此相仿，那么我们必将无所收获。……因此，让我们以勇气和信心，迫求我们自己的联邦与共和原则，拥戴联邦与代议制政府。 四个Let us…平行排列，从团结到和睦如初，到想一想，最后到以勇气和欣欣追求共和原则，把团结置于首位，加强了感情联络，产生了强烈的感召力。 例2.在维护祖国统一的美国内战时期，林肯于1861年三月四日就职演说中通过排比的句式使用表现其坚定的反对国家分裂、维护国家统一的立场和信念，给我们留下了极其深刻的影响。 It was formed,in fact,by the Articles of Association in 1774.It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in1776.It was further matured,and the faith of all the then thirteen States…… 在三个平行结构的被动句式排比中，强调了联邦条款之于美国联邦的重要性，突出了国家宪法高于一切，人民的利益是以宪法为保障，一切组织和团体行为都要以宪法为依据，因而突出团结高于一切。 例3.在经济大危机施虐全球的30年代，富兰克林·罗斯福于新政改革时期所做的就职演说中，排比的使用加强了人们复苏经济的信心；他在就职演说中大量的使用排比以呼吁美国人摆脱恐惧心理，迅速行动起来应付危机。 The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise…It can be helped by preventing realistically the…It can be helped by 从历届美国总统就职演说辞中探讨 排比在演说词中的使用 贲延青 147
十大美国总统名言 1、Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your promise. 不要承你完成不了的事情，但一定要信守诺言。 ---- George Washington乔治·华盛顿(美国第1任总统) 2、Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives. 我们对祖国的义务永远都不会终结，直至我们的生命尽头。 ---- John Adams约翰·亚当斯(美国第2任总统) 3、Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. 没有人能阻挡有正确态度的人获得成功；也没有人能帮助有错误人生态度的人。 ---- Thomas Jefferson托马斯·杰斐逊(美国第3任总统) 4、Take time to deliberate；but when the time for action arrives,stop thinking and go in. 考虑时不要匆忙，但是一旦行动的时刻来到，就要毫不犹豫地付诸行动。 ---- Andrew Jackson安德鲁·杰克逊(美国第7任总统) 5、Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing. 永远铭记：你要成功的决心比任何东西都更重要。 ---- Abraham Lincoln阿拉伯罕·林肯(美国第16任总统) 6、When you play ,play hard;when you work,don't play at all. 玩耍的时候，尽情玩耍；工作的时候，不要儿戏。 ---- Theodore Roosevelt西奥多·罗斯福(美国第26任总统) 7、The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forword with strong and active faith. 今天的怀疑是对明日成就的唯一限制，让我们怀着坚定而主动的信念前进吧。 ---- Franklin D.Roosevelt富兰克林·D·罗斯福(美国第32任总统)
肯尼迪《就职演说》中的语域分析
摘要：肯尼迪一九六一年的就职演说被称作是二十世纪最令人难忘的两次美国 总统就职演说之一，引起了国际上的广泛关注。然而当前对政论性演说的研究主要集中于文体学、修辞学领域，从系统功能语言学角度进行的研究显得相对匮乏。本文从语场、语旨、语式三个方面分析了被奉为政治演说词经典的肯尼迪《就职演说》中的语域，进而发掘了该演说词的语言特征，加深了对演说者演说意图的理解。文章不仅丰富了政治演说词已经取得的研究成果，而且验证了语域理论用于政治演说词分析的有效性。 关键词：就职演说；语域特征；语域分析 一．引言 历届美国总统的就职演说的特点较其他形式的公开演说更为突出，表现在其时间的固定性（一月二十日）、地点的固定性（白宫）、演说者身份的固定性（当选为美国总统的人）、听众的固定性（美国民众和世界各国）、内容的相似性（施政纲领、国内国际形势等）。此类演说均是历任总统先生经过深思熟虑、字斟句酌的成果，因此往往成为学者和研究者们科学研究的语料。美国第35届总统约翰??菲茨杰拉德?肯尼迪于1961年1月20日发表的就职演说无论是在内容上还是形式上，均堪称政论性演说中的经典。对该就职演说的研究集中于文体学和修辞学领域，鲜有从语域角度进行的分析。本文将语域理论运用于对肯尼迪就职演说词的分析，从一个全新的角度探索政治演说词的特点，一方面可以丰富政治演说词已有的研究成果，另一方面可以验证语域理论用于演说词分析的有效性。 二．文献回顾 语域是语言学中的一个重要概念，它初是Reid在1956年研究双语现象时提出来的。英国籍波兰人类学家马林诺夫斯基（Malinowski）把语境分为三类：话语语境（context of utterance）、文化语境（context of culture）和情景语境（context of situation）。此后韩礼德等人将文化语境与情景语境的概念与语言系统相结合，并在其著作中进行阐释从而形成了语域理论。他将语域（register）定义为“语言的功能变体”（functional variety of language）,即因情景语境的变化和产生的语言变化形式。支配语域的情景因素包括三个部分：语场（field）、语旨（tenor）和语式（mode）。 国外对于语域的研究以系统功能语言学派主要人物韩礼德为代表，而人类学家马林诺夫斯基对于语域理论的发展研究也功不可没。以上研究者均对语域理论的形成和发展起到了极大的促进作用。随着系统功能语言学在国内的发展与盛行，对语域理论的应用研究也取得了一定的成果。最先把语域理论引进国内的学者是张德禄，其后，一些学者开始探讨语域理论在语言教学、语篇分析、翻译、诗歌、文体等领域的用途。张德禄分析了语域理论对于教学的意义，认为根据语域变异理论进行外语教学就是根据情景的变化决定语言的变异的教学法，强调意义决定形式这一基本语言学原理。陈丽江等认为语域理论对英语写作的语篇连贯有莫大帮助，在英语写作中我们不能一概而论，单纯教学生模仿或套用，或者教词汇和语法，改错句，而要把写作和语域分析结合起来。程晓堂认为从语场、语旨和语式三个方面分析英语诗歌的语义和语用特征，能够帮助我们深入领会诗歌的意义，
罗斯福的故事 罗斯福的故事 在某个学校的一间教室里，坐着一个八岁的小孩子，他胆小而脆弱，脸上经常带着一种惊恐的表情。他呼吸时就好像别人喘气一样。一旦被老师叫起来背诵课文或者回答问题，他就会惴惴不安地站起来，而且腿抖个不停，嘴唇也颤动不止。自然，他的回答时常含糊而不连贯，最后，他只好颓丧地坐到座位上。如果他能有个好看的面孔，也许给人的感觉会好点。但是，当你向他同情地望过去时，一眼就能看到他那一副实在无法恭维的龅牙。 通常，像他这样的孩子，自然很敏感，他们会主动地回避多姿多彩的生活，不喜欢交朋友，宁愿让自己成为一个沉默寡言的人。但是，这个孩子却不如此，他虽然有许多的缺憾，但是同时，在他身上也有一种坚韧的奋斗精神，一种无论什么人都难以具有的奋斗精神。事实上，对他而言，正是他的缺憾增强了他去奋斗的热忱。他并没有因为同伴的嘲笑而使自己奋斗的勇气有丝毫减弱，相反，他使自己经常喘气的习惯变成了一种坚定的声响；他用坚强的意志，咬紧牙根使嘴唇不再颤动，他挺直腰杆使自己的双腿不再抖动，以此来克服他与生惧来的胆小和其他众多的缺陷。这个孩子就是西奥多·罗斯福。 他并没有因为自己的缺憾而感到气馁。相反，他还想办法去利用它们，把它们转化为自己可以利用的资本，并以它们为扶梯爬到了荣誉的顶峰。当他晚年时，已经很少有人知道他曾经有过严重的缺陷，
他自己又曾经如何地惧怕过它。美国人民都爱戴他，他成了美国有史以来最得人心的总统之一。 每个人都不可能是完美无缺的，人人都有缺憾，人人都有弱点。过分地关注自己的缺憾是最愚蠢的做法，只能让自己沉闷和丧气。因此，不论处于怎样恶劣的境地，我们一定不能绝望，不要生气，不要忧伤，而是要努力拼搏，积极开发自己的优点，化劣势为优势，登上成功之巅。当你实现了这一点，成功的喜悦不是足以扫荡当初的不快？那时，也许你就是世上最快乐的人。
美国总统关于读书和成功的名言（摘录） 不管是在快速阅读的学习中，还是其它的学习生活中都需要的励志警醒名言。下面的系列的美国总统关于读书、节约时间与其它与成功有关的中英文名言选登。 ★Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your promise. 不要承你完成不了的事情，但一定要信守诺言。 乔治·华盛顿，George Washington，1732年2月22日－1799年12月14日，美国战争和建国中最重要的角色，华盛顿通常被称为美国国父，学者们则将他和亚伯拉罕·林肯并列为美国历史上最伟大的总统。（第１任） ★A free man obtains knowledge from many sources 1 besides books . 一个自由的人除了从书本上获取知识外，还可以从许多别的来源获得知识。 ★I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
我不缅怀过去的历史，而致力于未来的梦想。 ★Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. 没有人能阻挡有正确态度的人获得成功；也没有人能帮助有错误人生态度的人。 托玛斯·杰弗逊，或译作杰斐逊，Thomas Jefferson，1743－1826，美国政治家、思想家、哲学家、科学家、教育家，第三任美国总统。他是美国独立战争期间的主要领导人之一，《独立宣言》之一。他在任期间保护农业，发展民族资本主义工业。从法国手中购买路易斯安那州，使美国领土近乎增加了一倍。他被普遍视为美国历史上最杰出的总统之一，同华盛顿、林肯和罗斯福齐名。（第３任） ★Take time to deliberate；but when the time for action arrives,stop thinking and go in. 考虑时不要匆忙，但是一旦行动的时刻来到，就要毫不犹豫地付诸行动。 安德鲁·杰克逊，Andrew Jackson，1767年3月15日─1845年6月8日，是美国第七任总统。首任佛罗里达州州长、新奥尔良之役战争英雄、民主党创建者之一，杰克逊式民主因他而得名。在美国政治史上，1820年代与1830年代的第二党体系(Second Party System)以他为极端的象征。杰克逊始终被美国的专家学者
竭诚为您提供优质文档/双击可除 总统演讲稿英文 篇一：历届美国总统就职演讲--中英文对照 历届美国总统就职演讲译文 乔治·华盛顿 第一次就职演讲 纽约 星期四,1789年4月30日 美国人民的实验 参议院和众议院的同胞们： 在人生沉浮中，没有一件事能比本月14日收到根据你们的命令送达的通知更使我焦虑不安，一方面，国家召唤我出任此职，对于她的召唤，我永远只能肃然敬从；而隐退是我以挚爱心憎、满腔希望和坚定的决心选择的暮年归宿，由于爱好和习惯，且时光流逝，健康渐衰，时感体力不济，愈觉隐退之必要和可贵。另一方面，国家召唤我担负的责任如此重大和艰巨，足以使国内最有才智和经验的人度德量力，而我天资愚饨，又无民政管理的实践，理应倍觉自己能力之
不足，因而必然感到难以肩此重任。怀着这种矛盾心情，我唯一敢断言的是，通过正确估计可能产生影响的各种情况来克尽厥职，乃是我忠贞不渝的努力目标。我唯一敢祈望的是，如果我在执行这项任务时因陶醉于往事，或因由衷感激公民们对我的高度信赖，因而受到过多影响，以致在处理从未经历过的大事时，忽视了自己的无能和消极，我的错误将会由于使我误人歧途的各种动机而减轻，而大家在评判错误的后果时；也会适当包涵产生这些动机的偏见。 既然这就是我在遵奉公众召唤就任现职时的感想，那么，在此宣誓就职之际，如不热忱地祈求全能的上帝就极其失当，因为上帝统治着宇宙，主宰着各国政府，它的神助能弥补人类的任何不足，愿上帝赐福，侃佑一个为美国人民的自由和幸福而组成的政府，保佑它为这些基本目的而作出奉献，保佑政府的各项行政措施在我负责之下都能成功地发挥作用。我相信，在向公众利益和私人利益的伟大缔造者献上这份崇敬时，这些活也同样表达了各位和广大公民的心意。没有人能比美国人更坚定不移地承认和崇拜掌管人间事务的上帝。他们在迈向独立国家的进程中，似乎每走一步都有某种天佑的迹象；他们在刚刚完成的联邦政府体制的重大改革中，如果不是因虔诚的感恩而得到某种回报，如果不是谦卑地期待着过去有所预示的赐福的到来，那么，通过众多截然不同的集团的平静思考和自愿赞同来完成改革，这种方式是不能与
罗斯福的励志小故事 导读：我根据大家的需要整理了一份关于《罗斯福的励志小故事》的内容，具体内容：苦难本身是一次洗礼，是一种考验。苦难使罗斯福变得更加坚强，无论是精神上，还是肉体上都显示了杰出人物那种固有的特质。下面是我整理的，欢迎阅读。罗斯福39岁的时候不幸患上了... 苦难本身是一次洗礼，是一种考验。苦难使罗斯福变得更加坚强，无论是精神上，还是肉体上都显示了杰出人物那种固有的特质。下面是我整理的，欢迎阅读。 罗斯福39岁的时候不幸患上了小儿麻痹症，这场疾病让他以后只能呆在轮椅上。在残酷的疾病面前，罗斯福没有屈服，反而以更大的勇敢在政治上一步一步攀上顶峰。 自古英雄多磨难。富兰克林罗斯福于哈佛大学毕业后不久，便正式开始了政治生涯。先是于1909年参加纽约州参议员竞选获胜;继而于1912年积极为威尔逊获得民主党总统候选人的提名和为威尔逊竞选总统出力奔走。威尔逊当选为总统后，罗斯福被任命为海军助理部长。1914年7月，第一次世界大战爆发，罗斯福请假三周与民主党党阀支持的詹姆斯杰拉尔德竞争联邦参议员职位，结果党内提名遭到失败。1917年，美国对德宣战，宣布站在协约国一方参加第一次世界大战。为了增加实战经验，作为海军助理部长的罗斯福于1918年赴欧洲战场考察，目睹战争给人民造成的生命和财产的损失，留下了终生难忘的印象。1920年，在总统选举中，他被任命为民主党副总统候选人，结果被共和党候选人柯立芝击败;同年，回
到纽约重操律师旧业，暂时退出政坛，积蓄力量，准备东山再起。正在这时，一场意外的大灾难降临到他的头上。1921年8月10日，他在他的海滨别墅扑灭了一个小岛上的一场林火后，汗流浃背地跳人芬地湾游泳，不幸患上了小儿麻痹症。 一场严峻的考验摆在了39岁的罗斯福面前，它比生死的考验更为残酷，也更叫人难以忍受。 开始，他还竭力让自己相信病能够好转，但实际情况却在不断恶化。他的两条腿完全不顶用了，瘫痪的症状在向上身蔓延。他的脖子僵直，双臂也失去了知觉。最后膀胱也暂时失去了控制。每天导尿数次，每次都痛苦异常。他的背和腿疼痛难忍，好像牙痛放射到全身;肌肉像剥去皮肤暴露在外的神经，稍一触动，就忍受不了。 但最让人受不了的还是精神上的折磨。他从一个有着"光辉前程"的年轻力壮的硬汉子，一下子成了一个卧床不起、事事都需别人照料的残废人，真是痛苦极了。在他刚得病的最初几天里，他几乎绝望了，以为"上帝把他抛弃了"。但罗斯福毕竟是罗斯福，他依然受着痛苦的煎熬，却又以平时那种轻松活泼的态度和妻子埃莉诺开玩笑。他理智地控制住自己，绝不把自己的痛苦、忧愁传染给妻子和孩子们。他不允许把自己得病的消息告诉正在欧洲的妈妈，以免母亲牵肠挂肚。当医生正式宣布他患的是小儿麻痹症时，妻子埃莉诺几乎昏过去，而罗斯福却只是苦笑了一下。 "我就不相信这种娃娃病能够整倒一个堂堂男子汉，我要战胜它!" 但罗斯福也知道这只是在说大话，不过大话使他比较容易保持勇气。为了不想自己的病情，他拼命地思考问题，回想自己走过的路，哪些是对的，
最伟大的美国总统排名（前十） 美国总统（The President of the United States of America）是美利坚合众国的国家元首和政府首脑，同时是美国行政部门的最高领袖与三军统帅。根据现行的美国宪法第二十二修正案，美国总统任期4年，可以连任一届。一般称为，Mr. President, 总统先生。 作为世界上最强大的国家－美国的最高领导者，美国总统的权力与影响力极大。传统上，美国总统（若为男性）的夫人称为“第一夫人”，其家庭称为“第一家庭”。建国200多年来，44任美国总统全部为男性。 美国总统官邸为位于华盛顿特区的白宫。总统专用客机的无线电呼号称作“空军一号”，专用直升机的无线电呼号称为“海军陆战队一号”。美国总统乘坐的坐骑，历来被称作“美国一号”。 无论是哪一位，都为美国做出过贡献，就让我们来回顾一下他们的光辉历史吧！ NO.1 乔治·华盛顿 华盛顿在普林斯顿的战斗结束后美国首任总统（1789～1797年），美国独立战争大陆军总司令。他毕生未进大学学习，但注意自学，使自己具备了突出的才干。早年当过土地测量员。1752年，成为维农山庄园的主人。曾参加七年战争，获中校和上校衔，积累了军事指挥的经验。1758年当选为弗吉尼亚议员。翌年与富孀M.D.卡斯蒂斯结婚，获得大批奴隶和60.75平方千米土地，成为弗吉尼亚最大的种植园主。在经营农场、手工作坊的过程中，华盛顿饱尝了英国殖民当局限制、盘剥之苦。1774年和1775年，先后作为弗吉尼亚议会的代表出席第一届、第二届大陆会议。1775年7月3日，华盛顿就任大陆军总司令。他把一支组织松散、训练不足、装备落后、给养匮乏，主要由地方民军组成的队伍整编和锻炼成为一支能与英军正面抗衡的正规军。通过特伦顿、普林斯顿和约克德等战役，击败英军，取得了北美独立战争的胜利。1783年《巴黎和约》签订，英国被迫承认美国独立。同年12月23日递交辞呈，解甲归田。1787年他主持召开费城制宪会议。制定联邦宪法，为根除君主制，制订和批准维护有产者民主权利的宪法作出不懈的努力。 1789年，当选为美国第一任总统。他组织机构精干的联邦政府，颁布司法条例，成立联邦最高法院。他在许多问题上倾向于联邦党人的主张，但力求在联邦党和民主共和党之间保持平衡。他支持A.汉密尔顿关于成立国家银行的计划，确立国家信用。批准T.杰斐逊所支持的公共土地法案，奠定了西部自由土地制度的基础。1793年，再度当选总统。为了缓和同英国的矛盾，1794年11月4日华盛顿派出首席法官J.杰伊与英国谈判，签订杰伊条约，因有损于美国利益，遭反对。1796年9月17日，他发表告别词，表示不再出任总统。从而开创美国历史上摒弃终身总统，和平转移权力的范例。次年，回到维农山庄园。因对美国独立作出重大贡献，被尊为美国国父。 [编辑本段]生平介绍 乔治·华盛顿1732年生于美国弗吉尼亚的威克弗尔德庄园。他是一位富有的种植园主之子，二十岁时继承了一笔可观的财产。1753年到1758年期间华盛顿在军中服役，积极参加了法国人同印第安人之间的战争，从而获得了军事经验和威望；1758年解甲回到弗吉尼亚，不久便与一位带有四个孩子的富孀──玛莎·丹德利居·卡斯蒂斯结了婚（他没有亲生子女）。华盛顿在特拉华的战斗中 华盛顿在随后的十五年中经营自己的家产，表现出了非凡的才能，1774年他被选为弗吉尼亚的一位代表去参加第一届大陆会议时，就已经成为美国殖民地中最大的富翁之一了。华盛顿不是一位主张独立的先驱者，但是1775年6月的第二届大陆会议（他是一位代表）却一致推选他来统率大陆部队。他军事经验丰富，家产万贯，闻名遐迩；他外貌英俊，体魄健壮（身高6英尺2时），指挥才能卓越，尤其他那坚韧不拔的性格使他成为统帅的理所当然的人选。在整个战争期间，他忠诚效劳，分文不取，廉洁奉公，堪称楷模。