Brief Summary
The Set-Up
Inauguration speeches are a tradition as American as a game of baseball (and unfortunately just as long).
But with the country still reeling from the stock market crash, the American public looked to the incoming president for help, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered an address that invigorated the people by promising them the United States would persevere.
Get it, FDR.
The Text
FDR's inauguration was a much-heralded event for citizens across the country after years of suffering. Following the financial collapse, banks collapsed, taking families' entire life savings with them and sending the unemployment rate sky high.
So when Roosevelt called for swift and decisive action, the people were ecstatic. His plans to mobilize the full might of the U.S. government to put people back to work were the decisive actions citizens were clamoring for; his message that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" (5) were just the words America needed to hear.
FDR successfully soothed the panicky masses with reassurances of American exceptionalism while outlining the steps the country needed to take to right itself from ruin.
That's why, to this day, his first inauguration speech remains as stirring and patriotic as ever.
TL;DR
America is still awesome, banks are big bullies, and Congress can't stop FDR.