For the first and only time, the election for Vice
President had been decided by the Senate, as provided by the
Constitution, when the electoral college could not select a
winner. The new Vice President, Richard M. Johnson, took his oath
in the Senate Chamber.
***
Fellow-Citizens: The practice of all my predecessors imposes on me
an obligation I cheerfully fulfill--to accompany the first and
solemn act of my public trust with an avowal of the principles
that will guide me in performing it and an expression of my
feelings on assuming a charge so responsible and vast. In
imitating their example I tread in the footsteps of illustrious
men, whose superiors it is our happiness to believe are not found
on the executive calendar of any country. Among them we recognize
the earliest and firmest pillars of the Republic--those by whom
our national independence was first declared, him who above all
others contributed to establish it on the field of battle, and
those whose expanded intellect and patriotism constructed,
improved, and perfected the inestimable institutions under which
we live. If such men in the position I now occupy felt themselves
overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude for this the highest of all
marks of their country's confidence, and by a consciousness of
their inability adequately to discharge the duties of an office so
difficult and exalted, how much more must these considerations
affect one who can rely on no such claims for favor or
forbearance! Unlike all who have preceded me, the Revolution that
gave us existence as one people was achieved at the period of my
birth; and whilst I contemplate with grateful reverence that
memorable event, I feel that I belong to a later age and that I
may not expect my countrymen to weigh my actions with the same
kind and partial hand.
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