Appendix I: Thomas Jefferson's First Inauguration Address (1801)

• Author: Arthur Rizer
• Profession: Director of Justice Policy and a senior fellow at the R Street Institute
• Pages: 243-247

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APPENDIX I

Thomas Jefferson’s

FirstInauguration

Address(1801)

One of omas Jeerson’s primary purposes in his rst inaugural address was

to heal a nation that had gone through its rst truly contentious presidential

election. Newspapers had been “teeming with every falsehood they c[ould]

invent for defamation”: Jeerson was labeled an atheist; Adams a monarchist.

Friends and Fellow-Citizens:

CALLED upon to undertake the duties of the rst executive oce of our

country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens

which is here assembled to express my grateful thanks for the favor with

which they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a sincere con-

sciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those

anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the

weakness of my powers so justly inspire. A rising nation, spread over a wide

and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their in-

dustry, engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right,

advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye—when I con-

template these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the

hopes of this beloved country committed to the issue, and the auspices of this

day, I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before the magni-

tude of the undertaking. Utterly, indeed, should I despair did not the presence

of many whom I here see remind me that in the other high authorities