Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-03-04
THE ADDRESSES
OF the Presidents Upon Their
InauguratiOn---NOHe Has EX-
ceeded 5000 Words and Nest
OF Them Have Been Eriei.
WashingtOn's Nervousness.

w deuiuS ltuf -. - NdlCu o. mere
is a tradition which has been crystal
lied into an unwritten law requiring
the President who takes the cath of
office 10 deliver On inaugural address
TO the people, whose Chief Magistrate
he is TO be. This CUSTOM begun by
George Washington, has never been
broken, nor has there been through the
history Of the government any wide
differences in the character Of the
speeches with which Presidents have
begun their official service. In two
features nearly all Of the addresses
have been cast in the same mold, for al
most without exception they have been
begun with an Introductory sentence,
expressing in some form the gratitude
Of the President for the high honor
which the people have conferred upon
him, and they have ended by an invo-
cation of the help Of the Supreme Be
ing in performing the duties of the
Office. The body Of the address has
varied according TO the spirit of the
times L. which it has been made. The
inaugural speeches Of the first Presi-
dents. those who served during the first
quarter century Of the government,
were largely treaties upon q republican
form of government, contrasting the
peace and prosperity which it gave to
the people of the United States with
the wars which We're disturbing the
monarchies of Europe, and pIaising the
balance between the Federal authori-
ties and the States secured by the Con-
StitutiOn.
In later years, particularly since the
war OF the rebellion, the Presidents
have given themselves to the discus
sion of absorbing current issues, and
judged by the standards of the more
modern addresses those Of the old
school style, if reviewed, might seem
somewhat p0nderous and academic.
The inaugural utterances Of the Presi-
dents have rarely been tinged with
partiSGnShip. and they have not often
been the most important official ut
terances of the men who have spoken
them. With the notable exception Of
LincOln's second inaugural address the
inaugurals are not held in the first rank
of state papers, either by their rhetOr-
ical or political worth. The whole of
LinColn's second address is preserved
in the school readers and rected on
the platform, but other Presidents have
spoken few sentences on their install
laticn which have been considered
epigrammatic or are often quoted. The
more important and historic UJtorances
Of the Presidents, those which have
marked out policies, have been con-
veyed through messages to Congress.
The average length Of an inaugural
address has been about 5000 words,
enough to FIJI two columns Of a news
paper, and they have taken about forty
minutes for their delivery. The long
est speech ever made was that of Gen.
William H. Harrison. which contained
$500 words; the shortest was that VITA
which George Washington began his
second term. The latter was formal
and personal UtteranCe of only 1874
words, and did not touch upon any pub
} lie questions. The inaugural was in
/ the old Independence Hall in Phjladel-
phia. where the Third Congress sat in
1872. and was in the room where the
. Declaration of Independence had been
signed. All the officials of the govern
ment and foreign Ambassadors, with
prominent citizens We're present
+ Washington first address,. made in
the Federal building i'm New York, on
/ April so. 1889, contained 1900 words.
I None of the speeches, except Gen. VIII
liam Henry Harriscu's, have been more
than 5000 words long, while the Vice
Presidents who have been called 10 the
b praride,rc,- Inv Tho death of four PTpSi-