This is not a day of triumph; it is a day of dedication. Here
muster, not the forces of party, but the forces of humanity. Men's
hearts wait upon us; men's lives hang in the balance; men's hopes
call upon us to say what we will do. Who shall live up to the
great trust? Who dares fail to try? I summon all honest men, all
patriotic, all forward-looking men, to my side. God helping me, I
will not fail them, if they will but counsel and sustain me!
INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
Woodrow Wilson
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS
MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1917
***
March 4 was a Sunday, but the President took the oath of office at
the Capitol in the President's Room that morning. The oath was
taken again the next day, administered by Chief Justice Edward
White on the East Portico of the Capitol. The specter of war with
Germany hung over the events surrounding the inauguration. A
Senate filibuster on arming American merchant vessels against
submarine attacks had closed the last hours of the Sixty-fourth
Congress without passage. Despite the campaign slogan "He kept us
out of war," the President asked Congress on April 2 to declare
war. It was declared on April 6.
***
My Fellow Citizens:
The four years which have elapsed since last I stood in this place
have been crowded with counsel and action of the most vital
interest and consequence.
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