We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis. Wise
counsels, like those which gave us the Constitution, prevailed to
uphold it. Let the period be remembered as an admonition, and not
as an encouragement, in any section of the Union, to make
experiments where experiments are fraught with such fearful
hazard. Let it be impressed upon all hearts that, beautiful as our
fabric is, no earthly power or wisdom could ever reunite its
broken fragments. Standing, as I do, almost within view of the
green slopes of Monticello, and, as it were, within reach of the
tomb of Washington, with all the cherished memories of the past
gathering around me like so many eloquent voices of exhortation
from heaven, I can express no better hope for my country than that
the kind Providence which smiled upon our fathers may enable their
children to preserve the blessings they have inherited.
INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
James Buchanan
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 1857
***
The Democratic Party chose another candidate instead of their
incumbent President when they nominated James Buchanan at the
national convention. Since the Jackson Administration, he had a
distinguished career as a Senator, Congressman, Cabinet officer,
and ambassador.
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