Speech Transcript:

Fellow-Citizens:

The will of the American people, expressed through their unsolicited
suffrages, calls me before you to pass through the solemnities
preparatory to taking upon myself the duties of President of the
United States for another term. For their approbation of my public
conduct through a period which has not been without its difficulties,
and for this renewed expression of their confidence in my good
intentions, I am at a loss for terms adequate to the expression of my
gratitude. It shall be displayed to the extent of my humble abilities
in continued efforts so to administer the Government as to preserve
their liberty and promote their happiness.

So many events have occurred within the last four years which have
necessarily called forth--sometimes under circumstances the most
delicate and painful--my views of the principles and policy which
ought to be pursued by the General Government that I need on this
occasion but allude to a few leading considerations connected with
some of them.

The foreign policy adopted by our Government soon after the formation
of our present Constitution, and very generally pursued by successive
Administrations, has been crowned with almost complete success, and
has elevated our character among the nations of the earth. To do
justice to all and to submit to wrong from none has been during my
Administration its governing maxim, and so happy have been its
results that we are not only at peace with all the world, but have
few causes of controversy, and those of minor importance, remaining
unadjusted.

In the domestic policy of this Government there are two objects which
especially deserve the attention of the people and their
representatives, and which have been and will continue to be the
subjects of my increasing solicitude. They are the preservation of
the rights of the several States and the integrity of the Union.

These great objects are necessarily connected, and can only be
attained by an enlightened exercise of the powers of each within its
appropriate sphere in conformity with the public will
constitutionally expressed. To this end it becomes the duty of all to
yield a ready and patriotic submission to the laws constitutionally
enacted, and thereby promote and strengthen a proper confidence in
those institutions of the several States and of the United States
which the people themselves have ordained for their own government.

My experience in public concerns and the observation of a life
somewhat advanced confirm the opinions long since imbibed by me, that
the destruction of our State governments or the annihilation of their
control over the local concerns of the people would lead directly to
revolution and anarchy, and finally to despotism and military
domination. In proportion, therefore, as the General Government
encroaches upon the rights of the States, in the same proportion does
it impair its own power and detract from its ability to fulfill the
purposes of its creation. Solemnly impressed with these
considerations, my countrymen will ever find me ready to exercise my
constitutional powers in arresting measures which may directly or
indirectly encroach upon the rights of the States or tend to
consolidate all political power in the General Government. But of
equal, and, indeed, of incalculable, importance is the union of these
States, and the sacred duty of all to contribute to its preservation
by a liberal support of the General Government in the exercise of its
just powers. You have been wisely admonished to "accustom yourselves
to think and speak of the Union as of the palladium of your political
safety and prosperity, watching for its preservation with jealous
anxiety, discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that
it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the
first dawning of any attempt to alienate any portion of our country
from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together
the various parts." Without union our independence and liberty would
never have been achieved; without union they never can be maintained.
Divided into twenty-four, or even a smaller number, of separate
communities, we shall see our internal trade burdened with numberless
restraints and exactions; communication between distant points and
sections obstructed or cut off; our sons made soldiers to deluge with
blood the fields they now till in peace; the mass of our people borne
down and impoverished by taxes to support armies and navies, and
military leaders at the head of their victorious legions becoming our
lawgivers and judges. The loss of liberty, of all good government, of
peace, plenty, and happiness, must inevitably follow a dissolution of
the Union. In supporting it, therefore, we support all that is dear to
the freeman and the philanthropist.

The time at which I stand before you is full of interest. The eyes of
all nations are fixed on our Republic. The event of the existing
crisis will be decisive in the opinion of mankind of the
practicability of our federal system of government. Great is the
stake placed in our hands; great is the responsibility which must
rest upon the people of the United States. Let us realize the
importance of the attitude in which we stand before the world. Let us
exercise forbearance and firmness. Let us extricate our country from
the dangers which surround it and learn wisdom from the lessons they
inculcate.

Deeply impressed with the truth of these observations, and under the
obligation of that solemn oath which I am about to take, I shall
continue to exert all my faculties to maintain the just powers of the
Constitution and to transmit unimpaired to posterity the blessings of
our Federal Union. At the same time, it will be my aim to inculcate
by my official acts the necessity of exercising by the General
Government those powers only that are clearly delegated; to encourage
simplicity and economy in the expenditures of the Government; to raise
no more money from the people than may be requisite for these objects,
and in a manner that will best promote the interests of all classes of
the community and of all portions of the Union. Constantly bearing in
mind that in entering into society "individuals must give up a share
of liberty to preserve the rest," it will be my desire so to
discharge my duties as to foster with our brethren in all parts of
the country a spirit of liberal concession and compromise, and, by
reconciling our fellow-citizens to those partial sacrifices which
they must unavoidably make for the preservation of a greater good, to
recommend our invaluable Government and Union to the confidence and
affections of the American people.

Finally, it is my most fervent prayer to that Almighty Being before
whom I now stand, and who has kept us in His hands from the infancy
of our Republic to the present day, that He will so overrule all my
intentions and actions and inspire the hearts of my fellow-citizens
that we may be preserved from dangers of all kinds and continue
forever a united and happy people.