They have included some of the most stirring lines in U.S. history, often at times of great peril. They have included lines that marked moments of great change and defined an era. And many have been utterly forgettable.
They are the inaugural addresses delivered by U.S. presidents.
Here are 10 of the best:
"Let us, then, fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions."
– Thomas Jefferson, March 4, 1801.
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds."
– Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865.
"Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither."
– Theodore Roosevelt, March 4, 1905.
"We are provincials no longer. The tragic events of the 30 months of vital turmoil through which we have just passed have made us citizens of the world. There can be no turning back."
– Woodrow Wilson, March 5, 1917.
"We have reached a higher degree of comfort and security than ever existed before in the history of the world."
– Herbert Hoover, March 4, 1929
"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."
– Franklin D. Roosevelt, March 4, 1933.
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 20, 1961.
"My fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
– John F. Kennedy, Jan. 20, 1961.
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
– Ronald Reagan, Jan. 20, 1981.
“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."
– Bill Clinton, Jan. 20, 1993.