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INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
James A. Garfield
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 1881
***
Snow on the ground discouraged many spectators from attending the
ceremony at the Capitol. Congressman Garfield had been nominated
on his party's 36th ballot at the convention; and he had won the
popular vote by a slim margin. The former Civil War general was
administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Morrison Waite on
the snow-covered East Portico of the Capitol. In the parade and
the inaugural ball later that day, John Philip Sousa led the
Marine Corps band. The ball was held at the Smithsonian
Institution's new National Museum (now the Arts and Industries
Building).
***
Fellow-Citizens:
We stand to-day upon an eminence which overlooks a hundred years
of national life--a century crowded with perils, but crowned with
the triumphs of liberty and law. Before continuing the onward
march let us pause on this height for a moment to strengthen our
faith and renew our hope by a glance at the pathway along which
our people have traveled.
It is now three days more than a hundred years since the adoption
of the first written constitution of the United States--the
Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The new Republic
was then beset with danger on every hand.
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