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George Washington, 1789 -

“And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

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Thomas Jefferson, 1801 -

"But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists."

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Abraham Lincoln, 1865 -

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

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Andrew Johnson, 1865 -

“Gentlemen, I shall lean upon you; I feel I shall need your support. I am deeply impressed with the solemnity of the occasion and the responsibilities of the duties of the office I am assuming.” (Johnson sworn into office just hours after the death of Abraham Lincoln). 

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Ulysses S. Grant, 1869 -

“The proper treatment of the original occupants of this land, the Indians, one deserving of careful study. I will favor any course toward them which tends to their civilization and ultimate citizenship.”

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James A. Garfield, 1881 -

“It is the high privilege and sacred duty of those now living to educate their successors and fit them, by intelligence and virtue, for the inheritance which awaits them.”

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Theodore Roosevelt, 1905 -

"Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither."

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Theodore Roosevelt, 1905 -

“Never before have men tried so vast and formidable an experiment as that of administering the affairs of a continent under the forms of a Democratic republic….Upon the success of our experiment much depends, not only as regards our own welfare, but as regards the welfare of mankind.”

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Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933 -

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

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Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1937 -

"Old truths have been relearned; untruths have been unlearned. We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics."

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Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953 -

“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.”

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John F. Kennedy, 1961 -

"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility - I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it - and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

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John F. Kennedy, 1961 -

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of Liberty. This much we pledge and more.”

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Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965 -

"How incredible it is that in this fragile existence, we should hate and destroy one another. There are possibilities enough for all who will abandon mastery over others to pursue mastery over nature. There is world enough for all to seek their happiness in their own way. Our Nation’s course is abundantly clear. We aspire to nothing that belongs to others. We seek no dominion over our fellow man. but man’s dominion over tyranny and misery."

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Richard Nixon, 1969 -

"In these difficult years, America has suffered from a fever of words; from inflated rhetoric that promises more than it can deliver; from angry rhetoric that fans discontents into hatreds; from bombastic rhetoric that postures instead of persuading. We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another–until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices."

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Jimmy Carter, 1977 -

“The American dream endures. We must once again have full faith in our country — and in one another. I believe America can be better. We can be even stronger than before.”

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Jimmy Carter, 1977 -

“You have given me a great responsibility–to stay close to you, to be worthy of you, and to exemplify what you are. Let us create together a new national spirit of unity and trust. Your strength can compensate for my weakness, and your wisdom can help to minimize my mistakes.”

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Ronald Reagan, 1981 -

“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

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Ronald Reagan, 1985 -

“In this blessed land, there is always a better tomorrow.”

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George H.W. Bush, 1989 -

“We have more will than wallet; but will is what we need.”

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George H.W. Bush, 1989 -

"My friends, we are not the sum of our possessions. They are not the measure of our lives. In our hearts we know what matters. We cannot hope only to leave our children a bigger car, a bigger bank account. We must hope to give them a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, a loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood and town better than he found it.”

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Bill Clinton, 1993 -

“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”

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Bill Clinton, 1993 -

“Each generation of Americans must define what it means to be an American.”

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George W. Bush, 2001 -

“The most important tasks of a democracy are done by everyone.”

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George W. Bush, 2005 -

“We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.”

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Barack Obama, 2009 -

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

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Barack Obama, 2013 -

“But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.”

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Donald J. Trump, 2017 -

“It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag.”

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Joe Biden, 2021 -

"Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated, and even manufactured."

Sources: (National Park Service) (U.S. News) (Santa Fe College) (News 10)

See also: The biggest presidential inauguration controversies in American history

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