First Inaugural Address

Summary

Andrew Jackson took the oath on 4 March 1829, the first President inaugurated on the Capitol's East Portico. He came to office after the bitter campaign of 1828, still mourning his wife Rachel, who had died in December, as the hero of New Orleans and the leader of a coalition that claimed to speak for ordinary voters against a Washington establishment. The address he read is short, about 1,100 words, and far more measured than the crowds who afterward packed the White House reception. Jackson presents himself as "the instrument of the Federal Constitution" and walks through the duties of the office in turn. He will keep in view "the limitations as well as the extent of the Executive power"; respect the States as "sovereign members of our Union"; and seek peace abroad with "the forbearance becoming a powerful nation rather than the sensibility belonging to a gallant people." The revenue calls for "strict and faithful economy" to retire a national debt whose long duration he calls "incompatible with real independence." Tariffs should favor agriculture, commerce, and manufactures equally. Standing armies are dangerous in peace; the militia, "a million of armed freemen," is the true defense. Two brief paragraphs carried the heaviest consequences. Jackson promises the Indian tribes "within our limits" a "just and liberal policy" and "humane and considerate attention"; fifteen months later he signed the Indian Removal Act. And he reads his election as a mandate for "the task of reform," correcting patronage that had placed "power in unfaithful or incompetent hands." His allies called the policy rotation in office; his critics called it the spoils system. He closes in diffidence, looking to his predecessors and to "the mind that founded and the mind that reformed our system," usually read as Washington and Jefferson, and to the Providence that "mercifully protected our national infancy."

Plot or Argument

• Accountability to a free people

  Jackson thanks the voters for "the choice of a free people" and says the best return he can make is "the zealous dedication of my humble abilities to their service."

• The circle of duties

  He names the President's constitutional tasks and promises to stay within executive limits, respect the reserved powers of the States, and keep peace abroad with the restraint of a strong nation.

• Economy and the national debt

  Strict economy will pay off the debt and check "public and private profligacy"; tariffs should treat agriculture, commerce, and manufactures equally, and internal improvements proceed only by constitutional acts.

• Militia over standing armies

  A small regular force, a growing navy, and civilian control are paired with confidence in the militia: a government worth defending will be covered "with an impenetrable aegis."

• Indian policy and the task of reform

  Jackson promises a "just and liberal policy" toward the tribes and announces reform of federal patronage, choosing officers for "integrity and zeal" rather than multiplying their numbers.

• Diffidence and Providence

  Professing doubt of his qualifications, he looks to the examples of earlier Presidents, asks aid from Congress and the courts, and prays for divine care of the country.

Lessons

• A strong man promising limits

  Jackson arrived with a military reputation and a popular mandate, yet his first substantive sentence promises to remember "the limitations as well as the extent of the Executive power." The address lets students test a leader's stated limits against his later use of the veto, removals, and the Bank war.

  • Why would a popular general begin his program by naming the limits of his office?
  • What does Jackson mean by preferring "the forbearance becoming a powerful nation" to "the sensibility belonging to a gallant people"?
  • Can a President who claims to speak for the people also be bound by constitutional limits? Where might the two pull apart?

• Reform or spoils?

  Jackson says the election "inscribes on the list of Executive duties... the task of reform," aimed at officeholders who had kept "power in unfaithful or incompetent hands." Supporters saw rotation in office as democratic accountability; opponents saw rewards for partisans. The text itself speaks only of integrity and competence.

  • What evidence does Jackson give that federal patronage had come into "conflict with the freedom of elections"?
  • How might the same policy look like reform to one citizen and spoils to another?
  • Is long tenure in public office a safeguard of competence or a danger to self-government?

• A promise and the policy that followed

  Jackson pledges "a just and liberal policy" toward "the Indian tribes within our limits." The phrase "within our limits" already raises the question of State and federal jurisdiction over tribal lands, and the Indian Removal Act followed in 1830. Students should read the sentence on its own terms, then set it beside the later policy.

  • What does "consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of our people" add to, or subtract from, the promise?
  • Why might the question of tribes "within our limits" have been pressing for States like Georgia in 1829?
  • How should a historian weigh a public pledge against a leader's later actions?

Context

Jackson had won the most popular and electoral votes in 1824 but lost the presidency in the House of Representatives to John Quincy Adams; his supporters denounced a "corrupt bargain." In 1828 a greatly enlarged electorate gave him a decisive victory. Questions of tariffs, internal improvements, the national debt, Indian lands in the Southern States, and federal patronage dominated the politics he inherited.

Composition

Delivered 4 March 1829 on the East Portico of the Capitol, the first inaugural given there. Contemporary accounts report that much of the crowd could not hear him read it. The text stored here follows the Project Gutenberg transcription (#4938); spelling and punctuation follow that source.

Reception

The address itself drew less notice than the crowd that followed Jackson to the White House reception, an event remembered as a symbol of the new popular politics. Its brief paragraphs on reform and Indian policy anticipated two of the most contested measures of his presidency.

Comparisons

• First Inaugural Address (Jefferson)

  Jefferson in 1801 promised frugal government, payment of the debt, and "a well disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace"; Jackson in 1829 repeats each pledge, claiming the Jeffersonian inheritance for his new coalition.

• Inaugural Address (John Quincy Adams)

  Adams in 1825 championed federal internal improvements; Jackson, who had lost to him in the House that year, allows them only "so far as they can be promoted by the constitutional acts of the Federal Government."

• First Inaugural Address

  Jackson looks "with reverence to the examples of public virtue left by my illustrious predecessors"; compare his diffident close with Washington's own professions of unfitness in 1789.

Quotes

For Students

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

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The list of duties Jackson calls "this circle of duties," and the principle he attaches to each.
• The pairing of executive "limitations" with executive "extent."
• The reasons Jackson gives for paying off the national debt quickly.
• The brief paragraph on the Indian tribes "within our limits."
• The "task of reform" in federal appointments, and the standard he sets for officers.

Key terms and names

Corrupt bargain

The charge that Adams won the House vote in 1825 by promising Henry Clay the State Department; it fueled Jackson's 1828 campaign.

Rotation in office

Jackson's policy of replacing federal officeholders, defended as reform and attacked as the spoils system.

Impost

A tax on imports; Jackson asks that duties treat agriculture, commerce, and manufactures equally.

Internal improvements

Federally aided roads, canals, and similar works, which Jackson supports only within constitutional limits.

Militia

Citizen soldiers organized by the States, which Jackson calls "the bulwark of our defense."

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension What constitutional duties does Jackson list as his "circle of duties"?
2. Comprehension Give two reasons Jackson offers for retiring the national debt.
3. Interpretation Why does Jackson say the debt's "unnecessary duration" is "incompatible with real independence"?
4. Interpretation How does Jackson connect the worth of a government to the willingness of citizens to defend it?
5. Interpretation What does Jackson's phrase "the mind that founded and the mind that reformed our system" suggest about whom he wished to be compared with?
6. Big Question Should a democratic election be read as a mandate to replace the officials who serve the government?
7. Big Question How should we judge a leader whose public promises and later deeds seem to diverge?

Faith Connections

• Psalm 75:6-7 (Scripture)

  "Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west... But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another": a check on reading 1828 as merely the people's reversal of 1824, which Jackson himself tempers with appeal to Providence.

• Luke 16:10 (Scripture)

  "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much" bears on Jackson's promise to choose officers for "integrity and zeal" rather than numbers.

• Machiavelli, The Prince, chapters 12-13 (Great Conversation)

  Machiavelli argues that citizen arms are more reliable than hired troops; Jackson's trust in "a million of armed freemen" over a standing army belongs to the same long argument.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Because he holds office by "the choice of a free people" under a Constitution of limited powers, Jackson argues, he will execute the laws within those limits, respect the States, govern frugally, rely on the militia, and reform a patronage system that had escaped the people's control.

Rhetorical device: catalogue. Jackson moves through the duties to "execute the laws," "superintend" foreign relations, "manage their revenue," and "command their forces," then supplies a principle for each in order.

Debate: Resolved: that rotation in office, as Jackson proposed it in 1829, strengthens republican government rather than corrupting it.

Memory Work

In administering the laws of Congress I shall keep steadily in view the limitations as well as the extent of the Executive power, trusting thereby to discharge the functions of my office without transcending its authority

cultivate friendship on fair and honorable terms, and in the adjustment of any differences that may exist or arise to exhibit the forbearance becoming a powerful nation rather than the sensibility belonging to a gallant people

Writing Prompts

Essay: Jackson promises to remember "the limitations as well as the extent of the Executive power." Using the address and one event from his presidency, judge whether he kept that promise.

Comparison with First Inaugural Address (Jefferson): Compare Jefferson's 1801 and Jackson's 1829 inaugurals on debt, the militia, and the States: where does Jackson follow Jefferson, and where does his tone or emphasis differ?

Medical Lens

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

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  List every promise Jackson makes in the address, then mark each one kept, broken, or disputed during his presidency, citing one event for each.

• Dialogue

  Write a conversation in March 1829 between a newly appointed customs officer and the man he replaced, each judging Jackson's "task of reform."

• Essay

  Jackson says a government is "worth defending" only so long as it secures rights and is ruled by the people's will. Explain and evaluate that condition.

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.