FDR's First Inaugural Address: Main Idea
FDR's First Inaugural Address: Main Idea
You See Me I Be Work, Work, Work, Work, Work
To paraphrase the famous Britishism, the primary message of FDR's inaugural address is keep calm and get to work.
While not downplaying the severity of the country's current predicament, he emphasizes that this bump in the road doesn't mean the end of the world. The financial failures of the present can't hold a candle to the dilemmas that faced the Founding Fathers.
And most importantly, FDR proves he is a man of action by outlining his plan of attack. He admits that circumstances dictate the international community takes a backseat to more pressing domestic issues, saying, "I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first."
The first things for FDR? To get people back to work and pull the bank industry back from the edge of complete collapse.
Questions
- The idea of framing the plan to fix the economy in the same light as a war effort is a deliberate choice by speechwriter Raymond Moley. How many references in the address can you find that use warlike language?
- Like most political speeches over the past 2,000 years, Roosevelt's inaugural address is littered with biblical references; people love their fire and brimstone. What purpose do they serve in the speech?
- FDR blames banks and their greed for the economic collapse, but he also blames the American people and their greedy society. Why does FDR blame the entire system? Is it an effective approach?
Chew On This
President Roosevelt's New Deal legislation completely blew up the idea of what government could be by showing people the lifelines that government could provide; programs like Social Security have their roots in these policies and have grown to be respected and depended upon by millions of Americans.
Despite the success of the public works programs that are the trademarks of the New Deal, the most effective thing Roosevelt did was get Americans to buy into his ideas.
Quotes
Quote #1
So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. (5)
Far and away the most famous line in FDR's most famous speech (as well as good all-around life advice), the president's first point of order in the inaugural address is to simultaneously quell public panic and reinvigorate a suffering populace.
He quickly dismisses the unemployment and financial turmoil rocking the nation as temporary bumps in the road; things will get better in time. But Roosevelt knows that this transition is a vulnerable time for the country, and a panicky populace would exacerbate everything. Addressing head-on the fear felt by the nation is the first step toward overcoming it and rebuilding America.
Quote #2
Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. (31)
This perhaps-hypocritical stance, coming from a child of the old-money New York elite, reflects just how much anger the country felt toward the banking industry in the early 20th century. But once the stock market crashed and people went bankrupt overnight, the entire banking sector was placed under intense scrutiny. FDR had spent his time as governor of New York fighting against the corrupt Tammany Hall machine and wanted to bring the hammer down on the banks as well.
Quote #3
There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. (43)
This line is the very essence of Roosevelt's vision for his first term. There were a lot of different strategies he and the Brain Trust could have used to get the country back on track. Reducing costs, centralizing relief efforts, and investing in new projects were all on the table. But the most important action they could take was to do something. Incumbent president Herbert Hoover was heavily criticized for the lack of steps he took to control economic damage. FDR helps the nation heal by suggesting just the opposite and swearing to act.
Quote #4
Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency. (45)
After railing against "the evils of the old order" and painting bankers as the greedy masterminds of the financial collapse, Roosevelt comes up with two major fixes for the future. The first is to impose more regulations on banking. Though there's no clear culprit, modern scholars attribute the stock market crash at least in part to speculation and risky financial tactics.
Understandably, that's why FDR's very first actions were to curb these abuses and get people to trust in the banks again. That's where his second safeguard comes in: federal deposit insurance. This guaranteed that people could put their money in banks again without the risk of it vanishing in a bank run. And his tactics worked, too. On the first day the stock market opened again for trading, the Dow Jones rose by over 15 percent, the single greatest one-day surge in history.
Quote #5
In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors. (57)
This passage marks a major new development in regional relations for the United States—mainly that the United States would end the decades-long occupations of Haiti and Nicaragua in defense of business interests. FDR's Good Neighbor doctrine was mostly a way to stop these costly military endeavors and focus all the country's energy toward building itself up again.