[Transcriber's note: The fourth inauguration was conducted without
fanfare. Because of the expense and impropriety of festivity during the
height of war, the oath of office was taken on the South Portico of the
White House. It was administered by Chief Justice Harlan Stone. No
formal celebrations followed the address. Instead of renominating Vice
President Henry Wallace in the election of 1944, the Democratic
convention chose the Senator from Missouri, Harry S. Truman.]
Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, my friends, you will understand
and, I believe, agree with my wish that the form of this inauguration be
simple and its words brief.
We Americans of today, together with our allies, are passing through a
period of supreme test. It is a test of our courage--of our resolve--of
our wisdom--our essential democracy.
If we meet that test--successfully and honorably--we shall perform a
service of historic importance which men and women and children will
honor throughout all time.
As I stand here today, having taken the solemn oath of office in the
presence of my fellow countrymen--in the presence of our God--I know
that it is America's purpose that we shall not fail.
In the days and in the years that are to come we shall work for a just
and honorable peace, a durable peace, as today we work and fight for
total victory in war.
We can and we will achieve such a peace.
We shall strive for perfection. We shall not achieve it immediately--but
we still shall strive. We may make mistakes--but they must never be
mistakes which result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral
principle.
I remember that my old schoolmaster, Dr. Peabody, said, in days that
seemed to us then to be secure and untroubled: "Things in life will not
always run smoothly. Sometimes we will be rising toward the
heights--then all will seem to reverse itself and start downward. The
great fact to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is
forever upward; that a line drawn through the middle of the peaks and
the valleys of the centuries always has an upward trend."
Our Constitution of 1787 was not a perfect instrument; it is not perfect
yet. But it provided a firm base upon which all manner of men, of all
races and colors and creeds, could build our solid structure of
democracy.
And so today, in this year of war, 1945, we have learned lessons--at a
fearful cost--and we shall profit by them.
We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own
well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations far away. We
have learned that we must live as men, not as ostriches, nor as dogs in
the manger.
We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human
community.
We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that "The only way to
have a friend is to be one."
We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and
mistrust or with fear. We can gain it only if we proceed with the
understanding, the confidence, and the courage which flow from
conviction.
The Almighty God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given our
people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows
for freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has
become the hope of all peoples in an anguished world.
So we pray to Him now for the vision to see our way clearly--to see the
way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow
men--to the achievement of His will to peace on earth.
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