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Inagural Address of Zachary Taylor |
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The Inaugural Address of President Zachary Taylor
Monday, March 5, 1849
Elected by the American people to the highest office known to our
laws, I appear here to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution, and, in
compliance with a time-honored custom, to address those who are now assembled.
The confidence and respect shown by my countrymen in calling me to
be the Chief Magistrate of a Republic holding a high rank among the nations
of the earth have inspired me with feelings of the most profound gratitude;
but when I reflect that the acceptance of the office which their partiality
has bestowed imposes the discharge of the most arduous duties and involves
the weightiest obligations, I am conscious that the position which I have
been called to fill, though sufficient to satisfy the loftiest ambition, is
surrounded by fearful responsibilities. Happily, however, in the performance
of my new duties I shall not be without able cooperation. The legislative
and judicial branches of the Government present prominent examples of distinguished civil attainments and matured experience, and it shall be my
endeavor to call to my assistance in the Executive Departments individuals
whose talents, integrity, and purity of character will furnish ample
guaranties for the faithful and honorable performance of the trusts to be
committed to their charge. With such aids and an honest purpose to do
whatever is right, I hope to execute diligently, impartially, and for the
best interests of the country the manifold duties devolved upon me.
In the discharge of these duties my guide will be the
Constitution, which I this day swear to "preserve, protect, and defend." For
the interpretation of that instrument I shall look to the decisions of the
judicial tribunals established by its authority and to the practice of the
Government under the earlier Presidents, who had so large a share in its
formation. To the example of those illustrious patriots I shall always defer
with reverence, and especially to his example who was by so many titles "the
Father of his Country."
To command the Army and Navy of the United States; with the advice
and consent of the Senate, to make treaties and to appoint ambassadors and
other officers; to give to Congress information of the state of the Union
and recommend such measures as he shall judge to be necessary; and to take
care that the laws shall be faithfully executedthese are the most important
functions intrusted to the President by the Constitution, and it may be
expected that I shall briefly indicate the principles which will control me
in their execution.
Chosen by the body of the people under the assurance that my
Administration would be devoted to the welfare of the whole country, and not
to the support of any particular section or merely local interest, I this
day renew the declarations I have heretofore made and proclaim my fixed
determination to maintain to the extent of my ability the Government in its
original purity and to adopt as the basis of my public policy those great
republican doctrines which constitute the strength of our national existence.
In reference to the Army and Navy, lately employed with so much
distinction on active service, care shall be taken to insure the highest
condition of efficiency, and in furtherance of that object the military and
naval schools, sustain ed by the liberality of Congress, shall receive the
special attention of the Executive.
As American freemen we can not but sympathize in all efforts to
extend the blessings of civil and political liberty, but at the same time we
are warned by the admonitions of history and the voice of our own beloved
Washington to abstain from entangling alliances with foreign nations. In
all disputes between conflicting governments it is our interest not less
than our duty to remain strictly neutral, while our geographical position,
the genius of our institutions and our people, the advancing spirit of
civilization, and, above all, the dictates of religion direct us to the
cultivation of peaceful and friendly relations with all other powers. It is
to be hoped that no international question can now arise which a government
confident in its own strength and resolved to protect its own just rights
may not settle by wise negotiation; and it eminently becomes a government
like our own, founded on the morality and intelligence of its citizens and
upheld by their affections, to exhaust every resort of honorable diplomacy
before appealing to arms. In the conduct of our foreign relations I shall
conform to these views, as I believe them essential to the best interests
and the true honor of the country.
The appointing power vested in the President imposes delicate and
onerous duties. So far as it is possible to be informed, I shall make
honesty, capacity, and fidelity indispensable prerequisites to the bestowal
of office, and the absence of either of these qualities shall be deemed
sufficient cause for removal.
It shall be my study to recommend such constitutional measures to
Congress as may be necessary and proper to secure encouragement and
protection to the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and
manufactures, to improve our rivers and harbors, to provide for the speedy
extinguishment of the public debt, to enforce a strict accountability on the
part of all officers of the Government and the utmost economy in all public
expenditures; but it is for the wisdom of Congress itself, in which all
legislative powers are vested by the Constitution, to regulate these and
other matters of domestic policy. I shall look with confidence to the
enlightened patriotism of that body to adopt such measures of conciliation
as may harmonize conflicting interests and tend to perpetuate that Union
which should be the paramount object of our hopes and affections. In any
action calculated to promote an object so near the heart of everyone who
truly loves his country I will zealously unite with the coordinate branches
of the Government.
In conclusion I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon the
high state of prosperity to which the goodness of Divine Providence has
conducted our common country. Let us invoke a continuance of the same
protecting care which has led us from small beginnings to the eminence we
this day occupy, and let us seek to deserve that continuance by prudence and
moderation in our councils, by well-directed attempts to assuage the
bitterness which too often marks unavoidable differences of opinion, by the
promulgation and practice of just and liberal principles, and by an enlarged
patriotism, which shall acknowledge no limits but those of our own
widespread Republic.
Visit Mr. Taylor's Website
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The U. S. Constitution
