Chosen by the body of the people under the assurance that my
Administration would be devoted to the welfare of the whole
country, and not to the support of any particular section or
merely local interest, I this day renew the declarations I have
heretofore made and proclaim my fixed determination to maintain to
the extent of my ability the Government in its original purity and
to adopt as the basis of my public policy those great republican
doctrines which constitute the strength of our national existence.
In reference to the Army and Navy, lately employed with so much
distinction on active service, care shall be taken to insure the
highest condition of efficiency, and in furtherance of that object
the military and naval schools, sustained by the liberality of
Congress, shall receive the special attention of the Executive.
As American freemen we can not but sympathize in all efforts to
extend the blessings of civil and political liberty, but at the
same time we are warned by the admonitions of history and the
voice of our own beloved Washington to abstain from entangling
alliances with foreign nations. In all disputes between
conflicting governments it is our interest not less than our duty
to remain strictly neutral, while our geographical position, the
genius of our institutions and our people, the advancing spirit of
civilization, and, above all, the dictates of religion direct us
to the cultivation of peaceful and friendly relations with all
other powers.
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