First Inaugural Address

Summary

Dwight D. Eisenhower began his presidency on 20 January 1953 with something no earlier inaugural address had contained. Before the speech proper, he asked the crowd at the Capitol's East Portico to bow their heads while he offered "a little private prayer of my own." He asked for power to discern right from wrong, for concern for all people "regardless of station, race, or calling," and for cooperation among those who hold "differing political faiths." The address itself is a Cold War creed. Eisenhower places the moment at the midpoint of "a century of continuing challenge" and asks whether mankind is nearing the light or whether "the shadows of another night" are closing in. Science can turn rivers and lengthen life, yet seems ready to confer "the power to erase human life from this planet." Against that danger he proclaims the faith of the fathers: the dignity of man under moral and natural law, rights given by the Creator, and leaders elected "not to rule but to serve." The miner, the furnace-tender, and the cotton-picker serve America as truly as the treaty-maker. He then sets out nine numbered principles: strength to deter aggression joined to readiness for real arms reduction; no appeasement; national strength held as a trust; no pressing American institutions on other peoples; help for allies who carry their own share; productive trade; regional groupings within the United Nations; equal honor for every race and continent; and an effective UN. The general's line that "a soldier's pack is not so heavy a burden as a prisoner's chains" sums up his refusal to trade honor for security. The close turns inward. Patriotism, moral stamina, and love of liberty are "laws of spiritual strength," and whatever America hopes to accomplish abroad "must first come to pass in the heart of America." The final sentence asks that the work be done "with bravery, with charity, and with prayer to Almighty God."

Plot or Argument

• A petition before the oath-speech

  Eisenhower asks the crowd to bow and prays for his executive associates: for discernment of right and wrong, concern for all people, and cooperation across parties "for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory."

• Midpoint of a century of trial

  Forces of good and evil are "massed and armed and opposed as rarely before." Wars from the Argonne to Iwo Jima to Korea frame the question whether mankind nears the light or another night.

• The genius that imperils

  Human power can level mountains, diminish disease, and lengthen life, yet the same genius builds weapons that level cities and threatens to erase human life altogether.

• The creed of free people

  Faith in "the deathless dignity of man" grounds equal rights, honor for humble labor, and leaders who serve rather than rule. Its enemies "know no god but force," and the struggle sets freedom against slavery.

• Nine rules of conduct

  Eisenhower lists fixed principles for American policy, from deterrence and arms reduction through the refusal of appeasement, respect for other nations' institutions, trade, regional alliances, racial equality among peoples, and support for the United Nations.

• Spiritual strength and the heart of America

  The principles are called laws of spiritual strength that generate material strength; every citizen, home, and community is summoned, and peace is described as "more than escape from death" but "a way of life."

Lessons

• Prayer as the first executive act

  Eisenhower asks the crowd's permission, then prays aloud for himself and his "future associates in the executive branch." The petitions are specific: discernment, concern for every station and race, cooperation across parties. The later principles can be tested against each petition.

  • Which of the nine principles answers most directly to the petition for concern "regardless of station, race, or calling"?
  • Why might Eisenhower call the prayer "private" while speaking it before a national audience?
  • Does opening with prayer bind a President more strictly, or can it become ornament?

• Leadership that is not empire

  Eisenhower distinguishes "world leadership and imperialism," "firmness and truculence," and planned goals from "spasmodic reaction" to emergencies, and promises never to press American institutions on another people. Power gained in war must be bound by stated rules if allies are to trust it.

  • What is the difference between firmness and truculence, in Eisenhower's usage?
  • Why would a former Allied commander think it necessary to reassure friends rather than enemies?
  • Which principle asks the most of America's allies, and why include it in a speech to Americans?

• Equal dignity of humble work

  The list of miners, furnace-tenders, bookkeepers, lathe-turners, cotton-pickers, healers, and corn-planters makes equality concrete: their work serves "as proudly, and as profitably" as that of statesmen. Eisenhower roots this in gifts of the Creator "that make all men equal in His sight."

  • Why does Eisenhower name trades instead of speaking generally about workers?
  • How does the claim that leaders are elected "not to rule but to serve" follow from equality before God?
  • What does the sentence about anyone who "seeks to deny equality among all his brothers" warn against at home in 1953?

Context

Eisenhower took office as the first Republican President in twenty years, with the Korean War in its third year, the Soviet Union armed with atomic weapons since 1949, and the first American hydrogen device tested in November 1952. The address states the outlook his administration pursued: deterrence, alliances, and support for the United Nations, joined to a public piety that marked the 1950s.

Composition

Delivered 20 January 1953 on the East Portico of the Capitol. The opening prayer was Eisenhower's own addition, introduced as "a little private prayer of my own." The text stored here follows the Project Gutenberg transcription (#4938); spelling and punctuation follow that source.

Reception

The opening prayer set a precedent of explicit public petition that later inaugurals echoed in various forms. The nine principles anticipated the alliance diplomacy of the decade, and an armistice in Korea followed in July 1953.

Comparisons

• Order of the Day, 6 June 1944

  Eisenhower's 1944 order to the invasion forces ends by asking God's blessing on the undertaking; the 1953 inaugural begins with prayer. Compare how the same man joins command and petition in war and in office.

• First Inaugural Address

  Washington in 1789 also put "fervent supplications" before policy; Eisenhower turns the supplication into a prayer spoken aloud with the crowd. Compare how each places Providence at the start of an administration.

• Inaugural Address

  Kennedy in 1961 also spoke of man's power to abolish human life; set his pledge to "pay any price, bear any burden" beside Eisenhower's nine bounded principles.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The opening prayer: what Eisenhower asks for, and on whose behalf.
• The question of light and night, and how science appears as both gift and threat.
• The list of ordinary trades set beside statesmen and legislators.
• The nine numbered principles, and which ones limit American power rather than extend it.
• The closing claim that spiritual strength generates material strength.

Key terms and names

Cold War

The postwar rivalry between the United States and its allies and the Soviet bloc, which Eisenhower frames as freedom pitted against slavery.

Deterrence

Building enough strength to discourage attack; Eisenhower calls it "the first task of statesmanship."

Appeasement

Yielding to an aggressor to buy safety, associated with Munich in 1938; Eisenhower calls it "the false and wicked bargain of trading honor for security."

Imperialism

Rule over other peoples; Eisenhower promises America knows "the difference between world leadership and imperialism."

United Nations

The international body founded in 1945, which Eisenhower calls "the living sign of all people's hope for peace."

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension What three things does Eisenhower ask of God in his opening prayer?
2. Comprehension Name four of the nine principles and the problem each addresses.
3. Interpretation Why does Eisenhower say the change of party "does not imply turbulence, upheaval or disorder"?
4. Interpretation How can the same "genius" both lengthen life and threaten to erase it, in Eisenhower's account?
5. Interpretation What does Eisenhower mean by calling a lack of "stanch faith" the "one capital offense against freedom"?
6. Big Question Can a nation's foreign policy really depend on what "first must come to pass in the heart" of its citizens?
7. Big Question Is it fitting for a President to pray aloud at his inauguration, and what would make such a prayer sincere?

Faith Connections

• 1 Kings 3:9 (Scripture)

  Solomon asks for "an understanding heart... that I may discern between good and bad"; Eisenhower's petition for "the power to discern clearly right from wrong" follows the same pattern of a new ruler asking wisdom first.

• Acts 17:26 (Scripture)

  Paul's teaching that God "hath made of one blood all nations" stands behind Eisenhower's refusal to treat any race or people as "inferior or expendable."

• Augustine, City of God XIX.13 (Church Fathers)

  Augustine defines peace as the tranquillity of order, more than the absence of war; Eisenhower likewise calls peace "more than the stilling of guns" and "a way of life."

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Because the free world's danger is moral as well as military, Eisenhower argues, America must lead by fixed principles of deterrence, restraint, and cooperation, and its strength abroad depends on the faith and conduct of its citizens at home.

Rhetorical device: enumeration. Eisenhower numbers nine principles, "(1)" through "(9)," turning a ceremonial speech into a statement of policy rules.

Debate: Resolved: that Eisenhower's nine principles struck the right balance between strength and restraint for the early Cold War.

Memory Work

power to discern clearly right from wrong, and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby, and by the laws of this land

regardless of station, race, or calling

Writing Prompts

Essay: Eisenhower calls the conflict of his time "no argument between slightly differing philosophies." Explain why he thinks so and how that judgment shapes his nine principles.

Comparison with Order of the Day, 6 June 1944: Compare the 1944 order to the Allied invasion forces with the 1953 inaugural: how does Eisenhower speak of God, freedom, and sacrifice as commander and as President?

Medical Lens

Presidential inaugurals concern constitutional politics and national crisis; they have no medical content for this library's lens.

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Pair each of the three petitions in Eisenhower's opening prayer with the numbered principle that best fulfills it, and defend your matches.

• Fiction

  Write a short scene in which a Korean War soldier's parent hears the inaugural prayer on the radio in January 1953.

• Essay

  Eisenhower says peace is "more than escape from death, it is a way of life." Explain what he means, using at least two of the nine principles.

Further Reading

• Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States, Avalon Project / GPO

  Parallel official texts for classroom comparison.

• The Rhetorical Presidency, Jeffrey K. Tulis

  A study of how inaugural and other presidential speech reshaped the office.