Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
Excerpts from Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953 Washington, D.C.
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
MS East portico of the capitol building, man at podium chewing gum, looking around, turning around to look at something. TLS/pan men & women congregating, coming down steps, greeting each other, taking off hats, some U.S. military personnel, standing around, bleachers. MS U.S. National emblem (bald eagle holding arrows & olive branch). TLS exterior, people waiting HARRY S. TRUMAN to come through doorway. TLS Harry S. Truman in coat & top hat, coming down steps toward podium, removes hat. TLS RICHARD MILHOUS NIXON & some men coming down steps toward podium, stops, shake hands. TLS DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER steps out of doorway, pauses, places top hat over heart & begins down steps, crowd behind.
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
MS Richard M. Nixon behind podium, places hand on bible and takes oath of office for vice-president, shakes hands.
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
MS/pan Dwight D. Eisenhower taking the oath of presidential office from Chief Justice FREDERICK VINSON, shakes hands, steps out of view, approaches podium.
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
Eisenhower places hands above head in celebration, those behind him sit, puts glasses on to prayer for the world. "My Friends, before I begin the expression of those thoughts that I deem appropriate to this moment, would you permit me the privilege of uttering a little private prayer of my own. And I ask that you bow your heads: Almighty God, as we stand here at this moment my future associates in the Executive branch of Government join me in beseeching that Thou will make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people in this throng, and their fellow citizens everywhere. Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby, and by the laws of this land. Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all the people regardless of station, race or calling. May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who, under the concepts of our Constitution, hold to differing political faiths; so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory. Amen."
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
MS Dwight D. Eisenhower giving inaugural address. "My fellow citizens: The world and we have passed the midway point of a century of continuing challenge. We sense with all our faculties that forces of good and evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history."
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
Eisenhower, " ... to inflict evil surpasses the brightest hopes and the sharpest fears of all ages. We can turn rivers in their courses, level mountains to the plains. Oceans and land and sky are avenues for our colossal commerce. Disease diminishes and life lengthens. Yet the promise of this life is imperiled by the very genius that has made it possible. Nations amass wealth. Labor sweats to create and turns out devices to level not only mountains but also cities. Science seems ready to confer upon us, as its final gift, the power to erase human life from this planet. At such a time in history, we who are free must proclaim anew our faith. This faith is the abiding creed of our fathers. It is our faith in the deathless dignity of man, governed by eternal moral and natural laws. This faith defines our full view of life."
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
MS Dwight D. Eisenhower giving inaugural address. " ... magic of free labor and capital, nothing lies safely beyond the reach of this struggle. Freedom is pitted against slavery; lightness against the dark. The faith we hold belongs not to us alone but to the free of all the world. This common bond binds the grower of rice in Burma and the planter of wheat in Iowa, the shepherd in southern Italy and the mountaineer in the Andes. It confers a common dignity upon the French soldier who dies in Indo-China, the British soldier killed in Malaya, the American life given in Korea. We know, beyond this, that we are linked to all free peoples not merely by a noble idea but by a simple need. No free people can for long cling to any privilege or enjoy any safety in economic solitude. For all our own material might, even we need markets in the world for the surpluses of our farms and our factories. Equally, we need for these same farms and factories vital materials and products of distant lands. This basic law of interdependence, so manifest in the commerce of peace, applies with thousand-fold intensity in the event of war. So we are persuaded by necessity and by belief that the strength of all free peoples lies in unity; their danger, in discord. To produce this unity, to meet the challenge of our time, destiny has laid upon our country the responsibility of the free world's leadership. So it is proper that we assure our friends once again that, in the discharge of this responsibility, we Americans know and we observe the difference between world leadership and imperialism; between firmness and truculence; between a thoughtfully calculated goal and spasmodic reaction to the stimulus of emergencies. We wish our friends the world over to know this ..."
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
MS Dwight D. Eisenhower giving inaugural address. "... by which every participating nation will prove good faith in carrying out its pledge. 2. Realizing that common sense and common decency alike dictate the futility of appeasement, we shall never try to placate an aggressor by the false and wicked bargain of trading honor for security. Americans, indeed, all free men, remember that in the final choice a soldier's pack is not so heavy a burden as a prisoner's chains."
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
Eisenhower, " 5. Assessing realistically the needs and capacities of proven friends of freedom, we shall strive to help them to achieve their own security and well-being. Likewise, we shall count upon them to assume, within the limits of their resources, their full and just burdens in the common defense of freedom. (edit) ... the impoverishment of any single people in the world means danger to the well-being of all other peoples. 7. Appreciating that economic need ... (edit) ...with the different problems of different areas. In the Western Hemisphere, we enthusiastically join with all our neighbors in the work of perfecting a community of fraternal trust and common purpose. In Europe, we ask that enlightened and inspired leaders of the Western nations strive with renewed vigor to make the unity of their peoples a reality. Only as free Europe unitedly marshals its strength can it effectively safeguard, even with our help, its spiritual and cultural heritage. 8. Conceiving the defense of freedom, like freedom itself, to be one and indivisible, we hold all continents and peoples in equal regard and honor. We reject any insinuation that one race or another, one people or another, is in any sense inferior or expendable." (edit) "By these rules of conduct, we hope to be known to all peoples. By their observance, an earth of peace ... "
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
MS Dwight D. Eisenhower giving inaugural address, "We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must acquire proficiency in defense and display stamina in purpose. We must be willing, individually and as a Nation, to accept whatever sacrifices may be required of us. A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. These basic ... (edit) ... the wealth of our soil to the genius of our scientists. And so each citizen plays an indispensable role. The productivity of our heads, our hands... (edit) ...to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America. The peace we seek, then, is nothing less than the practice and fulfillment of our whole faith among ourselves and in our dealings with others. This signifies more than the stilling of guns, easing the sorrow of war. More than escape from death, it is a way of life. More than a haven for the weary, it is a hope for the brave. This is the hope that beckons us onward in this century of trial. This is the work that awaits us all, to be done with bravery, with charity, and with prayer to Almighty God. My citizens I thank you."
Eisenhower Inauguration, 1953
Eisenhower shaking hands. MS/pan Marine band playing, "Star Spangled Banner" to National Emblem above Portico of the capitol building & tilt down to Eisenhower & Truman, then crowd. MS/pan Eisenhower smiling. CU National Emblem.