Inaugurals Rock!

Ok, most Inaugural Addresses are forgettable. But all the historians and speech writers I've heard today agreed on 3 that really stood out.

• One I know really well -- JFK's. "Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed," and "So my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

• One I am very familiar with -- Lincoln's second. "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."

• One (FDR's first) I only heard snippets of until this evening, when C-Span ran the it in it's entirety. "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts," and "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."

Sleep well, President-Elect Obama. You'll need all your strength tomorrow, since all we expect from you is a combination of JFK's enthusiastic call to action, Lincoln's unifying sensitivity, and FDR's comforting optimism. I know it's too much to ask, and probably almost impossible to accomplish … but still, I hope you can pull it off. I am soooo enjoying the wave of hope we're all riding as we wait for you to take the oath of office.