arms; the preservation of
our forts, arsenals, and dockyards, and the introduction of
progressive improvements in the discipline and science of both
branches of our military service are so plainly prescribed by
prudence that I should be excused for omitting their mention sooner
than for enlarging on their importance. But the bulwark of our
defense is the national militia, which in the present state of our
intelligence and population must render us invincible. As long as
our Government is administered for the good of the people, and is
regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of
person and of property, liberty of conscience and of the press, it
will be worth defending; and so long as it is worth defending a
patriotic militia will cover it with an impenetrable aegis. Partial
injuries and occasional mortifications we may be subjected to, but
a million of armed freemen, possessed of the means of war, can
never be conquered by a foreign foe. To any just system, therefore,
calculated to strengthen this natural safeguard of the country I
shall cheerfully lend all the aid in my power.
It will be my sincere and
constant desire to observe toward the Indian tribes within our
limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that humane and
considerate attention to their rights and their wants which is
consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of
our people.
The recent demonstration
of public sentiment inscribes on the list of Executive duties, in
characters too legible to be overlooked, the task of reform, which
will require particularly the correction of those abuses that have
brought the patronage of the Federal Government into conflict with
the freedom of elections, and the counteraction of those causes
which have disturbed the rightful course of appointment and have
placed or continued power in unfaithful or incompetent
hands.
In the performance of a
task thus generally delineated I shall endeavor to select men whose
diligence and talents will insure in their respective stations able
and faithful cooperation, depending for the advancement of the
public service more on the integrity and zeal of the public
officers than on their numbers.
A diffidence perhaps too
just, in my own qualifications will teach me to look with reverence
to the examples of public virtue left by my illustrious
predecessors, and with veneration to the lights that flow from the
mind that founded and the mind that reformed our system. The same
diffidence induces me to hope for instruction and aid from the
coordinate branches of the Government, and for the indulgence and
support of my fellow-citizens generally. And a firm reliance on the
goodness of that Power whose providence mercifully protected our
national infancy, and has since upheld our liberties in various
vicissitudes, encourages me to offer up my ardent supplications
that He will continue to make our beloved country the object of His
divine care and gracious benediction.”
Jackson folded the speech
and put it in his pocket. Then he faced Chief Justice
Marshall.
Marshall held the Bible
toward Jackson with both hands. “Please place your left hand on the
Bible and raise your right hand.”
Jackson winced slightly as
he extended his bad left arm to place his hand on the book, then he
raised his right hand.
“Do you, Andrew Jackson,
solemnly swear that you will faithfully execute the office of
President of the United States, and will, to the best of your
ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States?”
“Yes,” Jackson said clearly,
“to the people in all their majesty, I do solemnly swear, so help
me God.” He took the Bible from Marshall, raised it to his lips
then bowed once again to the people and returned the Bible to the
Chief Justice.
As Jackson turned back
toward the rotunda, guns on the heights at Alexandria and Fort
Warburton thundered in almost perfect unison puffing white
smoke-rings across the Potomac. With
our forts, arsenals, and dockyards, and the introduction of
progressive improvements in the discipline and science of both
branches of our military service are so plainly prescribed by
prudence that I should be excused for omitting their mention sooner
than for enlarging on their importance. But the bulwark of our
defense is the national militia, which in the present state of our
intelligence and population must render us invincible. As long as
our Government is administered for the good of the people, and is
regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of
person and of property, liberty of conscience and of the press, it
will be worth defending; and so long as it is worth defending a
patriotic militia will cover it with an impenetrable aegis. Partial
injuries and occasional mortifications we may be subjected to, but
a million of armed freemen, possessed of the means of war, can
never be conquered by a foreign foe. To any just system, therefore,
calculated to strengthen this natural safeguard of the country I
shall cheerfully lend all the aid in my power.
It will be my sincere and
constant desire to observe toward the Indian tribes within our
limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that humane and
considerate attention to their rights and their wants which is
consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of
our people.
The recent demonstration
of public sentiment inscribes on the list of Executive duties, in
characters too legible to be overlooked, the task of reform, which
will require particularly the correction of those abuses that have
brought the patronage of the Federal Government into conflict with
the freedom of elections, and the counteraction of those causes
which have disturbed the rightful course of appointment and have
placed or continued power in unfaithful or incompetent
hands.
In the performance of a
task thus generally delineated I shall endeavor to select men whose
diligence and talents will insure in their respective stations able
and faithful cooperation, depending for the advancement of the
public service more on the integrity and zeal of the public
officers than on their numbers.
A diffidence perhaps too
just, in my own qualifications will teach me to look with reverence
to the examples of public virtue left by my illustrious
predecessors, and with veneration to the lights that flow from the
mind that founded and the mind that reformed our system. The same
diffidence induces me to hope for instruction and aid from the
coordinate branches of the Government, and for the indulgence and
support of my fellow-citizens generally. And a firm reliance on the
goodness of that Power whose providence mercifully protected our
national infancy, and has since upheld our liberties in various
vicissitudes, encourages me to offer up my ardent supplications
that He will continue to make our beloved country the object of His
divine care and gracious benediction.”
Jackson folded the speech
and put it in his pocket. Then he faced Chief Justice
Marshall.
Marshall held the Bible
toward Jackson with both hands. “Please place your left hand on the
Bible and raise your right hand.”
Jackson winced slightly as
he extended his bad left arm to place his hand on the book, then he
raised his right hand.
“Do you, Andrew Jackson,
solemnly swear that you will faithfully execute the office of
President of the United States, and will, to the best of your
ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States?”
“Yes,” Jackson said clearly,
“to the people in all their majesty, I do solemnly swear, so help
me God.” He took the Bible from Marshall, raised it to his lips
then bowed once again to the people and returned the Bible to the
Chief Justice.
As Jackson turned back
toward the rotunda, guns on the heights at Alexandria and Fort
Warburton thundered in almost perfect unison puffing white
smoke-rings across the Potomac. With
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