First inaugural Address
　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　Franklin D. Roosevelt

Brief introduction to the speaker:
　　Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) . Roosevelt became president in 1933.
The United States was then in the grip of a world-wide business depression.
Roosevelt used his powers to create jobs and to help those who needed helps.
Many of Roosevelt's ideas of government are still part of the law of the land.
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President Hoover Mister Chief Justice, my friends:

This is a day of national consecration, and I am certain that on this day
my fellow Americans expect that on my induction in the Presidency I will
address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of
our people impeIs. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the
whole truth, frankly and boldly Nor need we shrink from honestly facing
the conditions facing our country today This great nation will endure as
it has endured, will revive and will prosper So first of all, let me express
my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless,
unreasoning, un justified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert
retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership
of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the
people themselves, which is essential to victory And I am convinced that
you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

In such a spirit on my part and on yours, we face our common difficulties.
They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to
fantastic levels; taxes have risen, our ability to pay has fallen, government
of all kinds is faced by serious curtaiIment of income, the means of exchange
are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial
enterprise lie on every side, farmers find no markets for their produce,
and the savings of many years and thousands of families are gone.

More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of
existence, and an equal and great number toil with little return. Only
a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

And yet, our distress comes from no failure of substance, we are stricken
by no plagUe of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers
conquered, because they believed and
were not afraid, we have so much to be thankful for Nature surrounds us
with her bounty and human, efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our
doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the
supply Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's
goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence,
have admitted their failure and have abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous
money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected
by the hearts and minds of men.

True, they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the patten of
an outworn tradition. Faced by a failure of credit, they have proposed
only the lending of more money Stripped of the lure of profit by which
they induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted
to exhortation, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They only know
the rules of a generation of self seekers. They have no vision, and when
there is no vision, the people perish.

Yes, the money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of
our civiIization. We may now restore that temp1e to the ancient truths.
A measure of that restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social
value, more noble than mere monetary profits.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money it lies in the joy of
achievement, in the thrill of creative efforts, the joy and moral stimulation
of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.
These dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us, if they teach
us that our true destiny is not to be ministered on to, but to minister
to ourselves, to our fellow men.

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success
goes hand in hand with the abandonment of a false belief that public office
and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride
of place and personal profits, and there must be an end to our conduct
in banking and in business, which too of ten has given to a sacred trust
the likeness of callous and selfish wrong-doing. Small wonder that confidence
languishes, for it thrives only on honesty on honon on the sacredness of
our obligation, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without
them it cannot live.

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This nation
is asking for action, and action now.

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable
problem if we take it wise1y and courageously It can be accomplished in
part by direct recruiting by the government itself, treating the task as
we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this
employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize
the use of our great natural resources.

Hand in hand with that, we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population
in our industrial centers and by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution
in an effort to provide better use of the land for those best fitted for
the land.

Yes the task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the value of the
agricultural product and with this the power to purchase the output of
our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of
the growing losses through fore closures of our small homes and our farms.
It can be helped by insistence that the federal, the state, and the local
government act forthwith on the demands that their costs be drastically
reduce. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today
are of ten scattered, uneconomical, unequal. It can be helped by national
planning for, and supervision of all forms of transportation, and of communications,
and other utilities that have a definitely public character. There are
many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped by mere1y
talking about it. We must act, we must act quickly.

And finally in our progress toward a resumption of work, we require two
safeguards against the return of the evils of the old order; there must
be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there
must be an end to speculation with other people-s money; and there must
be provisions for an adequate but sound currency.

These, my friends, are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon
a new Congress in special session, detailed measures for their fulfillment,
and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the 48 states.

Through this program of action, we address ourselves to putting our own
national house in order, and making income balance outflow Our international
trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity
secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy I favor as a
practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort
to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the
emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.

The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery
is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration
upon the inter-dependence of the various elements in all parts of the United
States of America - a recognition of the old and the permanently important
manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery
it is the immediate way it is the strongest assurance that recovery will
endure.

In the field of world policy I would dedicate this nation to the policy
of the good neighbor. The neighbor who resolutely respects himself, and
because he does so, respects the rights of others. The neighbor who
respects his ob1igation, and respects the sanctity of his agreement,
in and with, a world of neighbor.

If I read the temper of our people correctly we now realize what we have
never realized before, our inter-dependence on each other, that we cannot
merely take, but we must give as well. That if we are to go forward, we
must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good
of a common discipline, because without such discip1ine, no progress can
be made, no leadership becomes effective. We are all ready and willing
to submit our lives and our property to such discipline because it makes
possible a 1eadership which aims at the larger good. This, I propose to
offet we are going to larger purposes, bind upon us, bind upon us all,
as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in times
of armed strife.

With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly, the leadership of this
great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common
problems. Action in this image, action to this end, is feasible under the
form of government which we have inherited from my ancestors. Our constitution
is so simple, so practical, that it is possible always, to meet extraordinary
needs, by changes in emphasis and arrangements without loss of a central
form, that is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most
superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has ever seen. It
has met every stress of vast expansion of territory of foreign wars, of
bitter internal strife, of world relations.

And it is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative
authority wi1l be fully equal, fully adequate to meet the unprecedented
task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for
underlay action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance
of public procedure.

We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national
unity in the clearest consciousness of seeking all and precious moral values,
with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty
by old and young alike, we aim at the assurance of a rounded, a permanent
national life.

We do not distrust the future of essential democracy The people of the
United States have not failed. In their need, they have registered a mandate
that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline,
and direction under leadership, they have made me the present instrument
of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift, I take it.

In this dedication, in this dedication of a nation, we humbly ask the b1essings
of God, may He protect each and every one of us, may He guide me in the
days to come.

演讲者简介：
　　罗斯福在1933年成为总统。当时美国正陷于世界性的经济危机之中。罗斯福以他的能力为人民创造就业机会并带去援助。罗斯福的许多施政观点至今仍是美国治国方针的一部分。
*************
胡佛总统，首席法官先生，朋友们：

　　今天，对我们的国家来说，是一个神圣的日子。我肯定，同胞们都期待我在就任总统时，会像我国目前形势所要求的那样，坦率而果断地向他们讲话。现在正是坦白、勇敢地说出实话，说出全部实话的最好时刻。我们不必畏首畏尾，不老老实实面对我国今天的情况。这个伟大的国家会一如既往地坚持下去，它会复兴和繁荣起来。因此，让我首先表明我的坚定信念：我们唯一不得不害怕的就是害怕本身--一种莫名其妙、丧失理智的、毫无根据的恐惧，它把人转退为进所需的种种努力化为泡影。凡在我国生活阴云密布的时刻，坦率而有活力的领导都得到过人民的理解和支持，从而为胜利准备了必不可少的条件。我相信，在目前危急时刻，大家会再次给予同样的支持。

　　我和你们都要以这种精神，来面对我们共同的困难。感谢上帝，这些困难只是物质方面的。价值难以想象地贬缩了；课税增加了；我们的支付能力下降了；各级政府面临着严重的收入短缺；交换手段在贸易过程中遭到了冻结；工业企业枯萎的落叶到处可见；农场主的产品找不到销路；千家万户多年的积蓄付之东流。

　　更重要的是，大批失业公民正面临严峻的生存问题，还有大批公民正以艰辛的劳动换取微薄的报酬。只有愚蠢的乐天派会否认当前这些阴暗的现实。

　　但是，我们的苦恼决不是因为缺乏物资。我们没有遭到什么蝗虫的灾害。我们的先辈曾以信念和无畏一次次转危为安，比起他们经历过的险阻，我们仍大可感到欣慰。大自然仍在给予我们恩惠，人类的努力已使之倍增。富足的情景近在咫尺，但就在我们见到这种　情景的时候，宽裕的生活却悄然离去。这主要是因为主宰人类物资交换的统治者们失败了，他们固执己见而又无能为力，因而已经认定失败了，并撒手不管了。贪得无厌的货币兑换商的种种行径。将受到舆论法庭的起诉，将受到人类心灵理智的唾弃。

　　是的，他们是努力过，然而他们用的是一种完全过时的方法。面对信贷的失败，他们只是提议借出更多的钱。没有了当诱饵引诱　人民追随他们的错误领导的金钱，他们只得求助于讲道，含泪祈求人民重新给予他们信心。他们只知自我追求者们的处世规则。他们没有眼光，而没有眼光的人是要灭亡的。

　　如今，货币兑换商已从我们文明庙宇的高处落荒而逃。我们要以千古不变的真理来重建这座庙宇。衡量这重建的尺度是我们体现比金钱利益更高尚的社会价值的程度。

　　幸福并不在于单纯地占有金钱；幸福还在于取得成就后的喜悦，在于创造努力时的激情。务必不能再忘记劳动带来的喜悦和激励，而去疯狂地追逐那转瞬即逝的利润。如果这些暗淡的时日能使我们认识到，我们真正的天命不是要别人侍奉，而是为自己和同胞们服务，那么，我们付出的代价就完全是值得的。

　　认识到把物质财富当作成功的标准是错误的，我们就会抛弃以地位尊严和个人收益为唯一标准，来衡量公职和高级政治地位的错误信念；我们必须制止银行界和企业界的一种行为，它常常使神圣的委托混同于无情和自私的不正当行为。难怪信心在减弱，信心，只有靠诚实、信誉、忠心维护和无私履行职责。而没有这些，就不可能有信心。

　　但是，复兴不仅仅只要改变伦理观念。这个国家要求行动起来，现在就行动起来。

　　我们最大、最基本的任务是让人民投入工作。只要我信行之以智慧和勇气，这个问题就可以解决。这可以部分由政府直接征募完成，就象对待临战的紧要关头一样，但同时，在有了人手的情况下，我们还急需能刺激并重组巨大自然资源的工程。

　　我们齐心协力，但必须坦白地承认工业中心的人口失衡，我们必须在全国范围内重新分配，使土地在最适合的人手中发表挥更大作用。

　　明确地为提高农产品价值并以此购买城市产品所做的努力，会有助于任务的完成。避免许多小家庭业、农场业被取消赎取抵押品的权利的悲剧也有助于任务的完成。联邦、州、各地政府立即行动回应要求降价的呼声，有助于任务的完成。将现在常常是分散不经济、不平等的救济活动统一起来有助于任务的完成。对所有公共交通运输，通讯及其他涉及公众生活的设施作全国性的计划及监督有助于任务的完成。许多事情都有助于任务完成，但这些决不包括空谈。我们必须行动，立即行动。

　　最后，为了重新开始工作，我们需要两手防御，来抗御旧秩序恶魔卷土从来；一定要有严格监督银行业、信贷及投资的机制：一定要杜绝投机；一定要有充足而健康的货币供应。

　　以上这些，朋友们，就是施政方针。我要在特别会议上敦促新国会给予详细实施方案，并且，我要向18个州请求立即的援助。

　　通过行动，我们将予以我们自己一个有秩序的国家大厦，使收入大于支出。我们的国际贸易，虽然很重要，但现在在时间和必要性上，次于对本国健康经济的建立。我建议，作为可行的策略、首要事务先行。虽然我将不遗余力通过国际经济重新协调所来恢复国际贸易，但我认为国内的紧急情况无法等待这重新协调的完成。

　　指导这一特别的全国性复苏的基本思想并非狭隘的国家主义。我首先考虑的是坚持美国这一整体中各部分的相互依赖性--这是对美国式的开拓精神的古老而永恒的证明的体现。这才是复苏之路，是即时之路，是保证复苏功效持久之路。

　　在国际政策方面，我将使美国采取睦邻友好的政策。做一个决心自重，因此而尊重邻国的国家。做一个履行义务，尊重与他国协约的国家。

　　如果我对人民的心情的了解正确的话，我想我们已认识到了我们从未认识的问题，我们是互相依存的，我们不可以只索取，我们还必须奉献。我们前进时，必须象一支训练有素的忠诚的军队，愿意为共同的原则而献身，因为，没有这些原则，就无法取得进步，领导就不可能得力。我们都已做好准备，并愿意为此原则献出生命和财产，因为这将使志在建设更美好社会的领导成为可能。我倡议，为了更伟大的目标，我们所有的人，以一致的职责紧紧团结起来。这是神圣的义务，非战乱，不停止。

　　有了这样的誓言，我将毫不犹豫地承担领导伟大人民大军的任务，致力于对我们普遍问题的强攻。这样的行动，这样的目标，在我们从祖先手中接过的政府中是可行的。我们的宪法如此简单，实在。它随时可以应付特殊情况，只需对重点和安排加以修改而不丧失中心思想，正因为如此，我们的宪法体制已自证为是最有适应性的政治体制。它已应付过巨大的国土扩张、外战、内乱及国际关系所带来的压力。

　　而我们还希望行使法律的人士做到充分的平等，能充分地担负前所未有的任务。但现在前所未有的对紧急行动的需要要求国民暂时丢弃平常生活节奏，紧迫起来。

　　让我们正视面前的严峻岁月，怀着举国一致给我们带来的热情和勇气，怀着寻求传统的、珍贵的道德观念的明确意识，怀着老老少少都能通过克尽职守而得到的问心无愧的满足。我们的目标是要保证国民生活的圆满和长治久安。

　　我们并不怀疑基本民主制度的未来。合众国人民并没有失败。他们在困难中表达了自己的委托，即要求采取直接而有力的行动。他们要求有领导的纪律和方向。他们现在选择了我作为实现他们的愿望的工具。我接受这份厚赠。

　　在此举国奉献之际，我们谦卑地请求上帝赐福。愿上帝保信我们大家和每一个人，愿上帝在未来的日子里指引我。