On This Day: FDR Gives First Inauguration Speech
On March 4th, 1933 FDR gave his first inauguration speech as president during the height of the Great Depression.
Back then a president didn't take office until March.
This is when Roosevelt uttered the famous words, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933, the nation was reeling from the Great Depression and was dissatisfied with the previous administration’s reluctance to fight it. Roosevelt declared that, by electing him, the American people had "registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action."
The address is most remembered for FDR’s statement that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself," but it is also a declaration of war against economic hardship, a call to Americans to work together to face "the dark hour," and a notice of his intention to reorganize and redirect government action.
Open thread.