Posted on Monday, January 20, 2025
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by Outside Contributor
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1 Comments
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Millions will watch President Trump deliver his second inaugural address on Monday. Over the years, some of those speeches contained memorable lines; others were immediately forgotten. Below are some phrases from inaugural addresses. Do you know who said them?
1. “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”
A: George W. Bush, 2001
B: Lyndon Johnson, 1965
C: Bill Clinton, 1993
D: Richard Nixon, 1969
Answer: C. Bill Clinton, like many presidents before him, began his presidency on a positive note. He left office with the highest approval rating (66 percent) in the modern era.
2. “We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.”
A: Thomas Jefferson, 1801
B: Andrew Jackson, 1829
C: Benjamin Harrison, 1889
D: William Howard Taft, 1909
Answer: A. Despite the conciliatory tone, political historians trace the modern partisan divide back to the Jefferson era, when the role of political parties began to emerge.
3. “Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.”
A: Franklin Roosevelt, 1945
B: Harry Truman, 1949
C: Dwight Eisenhower, 1957
D: John F. Kennedy, 1961
Answer: D. Though best remembered for his famous “Ask not what your country can do for you” line, Kennedy’s speech came during the height of the Cold War and contained a tacit warning for world powers to keep their hands off former colonies that were becoming independent nations.
4. “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
A: Theodore Roosevelt, 1905
B: Franklin Roosevelt, 1941
C: Lyndon Johnson, 1965
D: Ronald Reagan, 1981
Answer: D. Reagan’s 1980 election saw not only the defeat of Jimmy Carter but also a reversal of a nearly 50-year embrace of ever-bigger government. His first inaugural address marked a sea change in how many Americans viewed Washington.
5. “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.”
A: Thomas Jefferson, 1805
B: Abraham Lincoln, 1865
C: Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877
D: Woodrow Wilson, 1917
Answer: B. Lincoln made this pledge of unity and compassion to a divided nation just 41 days before he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
6. “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
A: Calvin Coolidge, 1925
B: Herbert Hoover, 1929
C: Franklin Roosevelt, 1933
D: Jimmy Carter, 1977
Answer: C. Entering office at the depth of the Great Depression and amid increasing bank failures, Roosevelt used the first of his record four inaugural addresses to calm his jittery fellow citizens.
7. “Having determined not to be a candidate for reelection…”
A: Martin Van Buren, 1837
B: William Henry Harrison, 1841
C: James Buchanan, 1857
D: Ulysses S. Grant, 1869
Answer: C. Buchanan was the only first-term president to use his inaugural address to declare himself a lame duck. Given that the country fell apart and slid into the tragedy of the Civil War on his watch, that was probably a good thing.
8. “I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor.”
A: George Washington, 1793
B: James Garfield, 1881
C: Warren Harding, 1921
D: George H.W. Bush, 1989
Answer: A. Washington not only gave the first inaugural address, but his second (from which this line is taken) was also the shortest. At 135 words, he finished speaking in about one minute.
Holy Cow! History is written by novelist, former TV journalist, and diehard history buff J. Mark Powell.
Reprinted with permission from The DC Journal – By J. Mark Powell
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
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