I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. 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. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.

More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

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. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.

Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly.

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.

There are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the several States.

Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.

The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States — a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure.

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.

If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.

With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.

Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.

It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.

I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.

But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis — broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.

For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.

We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stem performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.

We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.

In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come.

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1

THE Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,

And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;

And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,

When the blue wave rolls nightly on the Galilee.

2

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,

That host with their banners at sunset were seen:

Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,

That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

3

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,

And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;

And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,

And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still!

4

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,

But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;

And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,

And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

5

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:

And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,

The lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.

6

And the widows of Ashur are load in their wail,

And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;

And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,

Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

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Related

• Self-Deception
• Self-Discipline
• Self-Respect
• Selfish and Self-Centered

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(click on image)

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• There is only one God, Allah.
• Muhammad was the last and the greatest of the prophets.
• The Qur’an is the sacred book—the last after the Torah and the Gospels.
• Life on earth is a preparation for eternal life.
• The faithful are expected to adore Allah, praise Muhammad, follow the Qur’an and perform good deesd.

The Five Pillars of Islam

• Shahadah—Profession of Faith: “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet.”
• Salat—Prayer: The prescribed prayers must be said five times a day facing Mecca. The chief prayer is the Shahadah. Special prayers are said on Fridays at noon in the mosque. This is called “The Assembly.” The Call to Prayer (Adhan), heard from the minarets or on TV and radio, is always in Arabic.
• Zakat—Almsgiving: middle and upper class persons are expected to give 2 ½%, not of what they earn, but of the value of all they possess.
• Sawm—Fasting: During the month of Ramadan (the 9th month of the lunar year) no food or drink may be consumed until sunset.
• Hajj—Pilgrimage: If possible, each of the faithful should try to visit Mecca at least once in his or her life.

The Five Social Teachings of Islam

• Brotherhood – this refers to the brotherhood of all Muslims, but does not include people of other religions. The Qur’an teaches: “Believers, do not make friends with any but your own people” [Sura 3:11], “Muhammad is God’s apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to unbelievers but merciful to one another” [Sura 48:29].
• The Muslims are the “favored of Allah,” unbelievers have incurred the wrath of Allah.
• “An eye for an eye . . . a tooth for a tooth.” This is exemplified by the Shari’ah (Islamic Law.) There is no allowance for repentance and forgiveness.
• Women must be veiled, preferably clothed in the chador, which covers them entirely. Their place is in the home. A man may have up to four wives at a time if he can provide for them equally. The majority of Muslims have only one wife. Male doctors may not treat women. Women may enter mosques to pray. Muhammad forbade female infanticide. Extra-marital sex is forbidden. Marriage is an honorable estate.
• Jihad – “Holy War.” Those who die in holy wars are martyrs. The Qur’an states: “Idolatry is more grievous than bloodshed . . . fight against them (idolaters) until idolatry is no more and God’s religion reigns supreme.” [ Sura 3:169] Jews, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists are all classified as idolaters. Muhammad set the example for religious war when he conquered Mecca.

(Source: The above are excerpted from the companion guide to the video series Christianity and Islam which is hosted by Dr. Timothy George, dean at Beeson Divinity School.)

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RELATED CONTENT

• Understanding Islam

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The Rabbi replied: “I am confident that God’s City will not fall into the hands of one less than the Emperor, and I cannot secure a surrender because of the misguided Zealots.

He was aksed in the form of a fable: “If there be a snake in a tower, what should be done?”  He said: “A snake-charmer should be brought to draw forth the snake, so that the Tower be not harmed.”  An Arabian general said: “A better way is to burn the Tower and the snake within it.”

Rabbi Johanan said to him: “You are a neighbor of Judea, and yet you advise that Jerusalem be destroyed.”

The general responded: “I offered this counsel for your good.  As long as the Temple stands, nations will make war against you; when it is destroyed, you will have peace.”

Vespasian soon after received word that hea had been chose Emperor.  He said to the Rabbi: “I will send my son in my place, but I wish to grant you a favor before I depart.”  Rabbi Johanan asked three things: that when the walss of Jerusalem should fall, the Western Gate should be left open for four hours that refugees might leave through it; that an Academy be permitted at Jabneh with the House of Hillel in its Presidency; that physicians be sent to Rabbi Zadok who had fasted so long that he could no longer swallow food.

These favors were granted to Rabbi Johanan.

(Source: Talmud, Gittin, 56; Ekah Rabbaah, 1)

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• Human Responsibility For Acts of God
• There Is No Place Like Home
• God’s Name In The 10 Commandments
• Marcus Aurelius and Rabbi Judah
• Master List of Great Quotes

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(click on image)

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RELATED CONTENT

• Trivia Index
• Index to Great Quotes

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(From Maryr’s Mirror and The Voice of the Martyrs)

King Hunneric ruled the western part o the Roman empire from 477 to 484. The leader of a vicious band of East Germanic peoples, King Hunneric took the title of King of the Vandals and became known for his brutal oppression of Christians. He fearfully defended not only his throne but also his Arian theology. During his reign, hosts of Christians were butchered.

At first, King Hunneric allowed a new bishop of Carthage to be elected, but soon he turned against them. He tried to make church property a part of the state. The resulting protests caused him to banish a number of clergy from his kingdom. In addition, Hunneric deprived Christians holding posts at the court or those belonging to the army of their positions and pay.

King Hunneric eventually gave orders for drastic restrinctions against the church. The first to suffer persecution were bishops assembled at Carthage. They were expelled from the town with nothing and were obliged to beg. The inhabitants were forbidden to give them shelter or food under penalty of being burnt alive with their whole families. His cruelty was not limited to Christian leadership. Noble ladies were stripped naked and suspended in the public streets with heavy weights attached to their feet. Their bodies weere burnt with red-hot irons, their arms and other body parts cut off and hot tar was applied to their back, front and sides. The king hoped to extort confessions of immorality that he could use against the bishops and clergy. Many perished under the torture and survivors were often maimed for life.

A collection of nearly 5,000 Orthodox bishops, priests, deacons and laity became victim to King Hunneric’s vendetta. They were commanded to swear against their previous claims to Christ. In the interest of survival, some declaired an oath. Some elders resisted, however, citing jesus Christ’s words, “swear not.” These elders of the church were sentenced to be banished or killed for not swearing. the others, having followed the king’s demand, did so in vain. They, too, received punishment because they swore against the command of the Scripture.

Other Christians were cruelly beaten, hung and burnt alive. Some had their eyes put out, others their hands, feet, noses, or ears cut off. Hunneric ordered some of the cruelest scenes of torture to be enacted in the streets he passed through on his way to the palace.

The persecution raged until Hunneric died, on December 11, 484.

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• Martyrdom – Select Quotes
• The Martyrdom of Polycarp
• Christian Persecution & Martyrdom
• 100 Most Important Events In Church History
• Affliction and Glory, by A.W. Pink
• The Genesius Medallion

Look what happens when a President gets elected in a year with a “0″ at the end.

• 1840: William Henry Harrison (died in office)
• 1860: Abraham Lincoln (assassinated)
• 1880: James A. Garfield (assassinated)
• 1900: William McKinley (assassinated)
• 1920: Warren G. Harding (died in office)
• 1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt (died in office)
• 1960: John F. Kennedy (assassinated)
• 1980: Ronald Reagan (survived assassination attempt)

And to think that we had two guys fighting it out in the courts to be the one elected in 2000.

You might also be interested in this. Have a history teacher explain this if they can.

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.

John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.

John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Now it gets really weird.

Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy.

Kennedy’s Secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.

Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

Now hang on to your seat.

Lincoln was shot at the theater named “Ford,”

Kennedy was shot in a car called ” Lincoln” made by “Ford,” Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

And here’s the “kicker”:

A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland.

A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.

Creepy, huh? Hey, this is one history lesson people don’t mind reading!

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Whose manners in art were invidious:

He carved Aphrodite

Without any nightie,

Which startled the ultrafastidious.