George Washington: First Inaugural Address

( 1789 ) Commentary by John P. Kaminski, University of Wisconsin—Madison

“I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love.” - Paragraph 1
“It has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected.” - Paragraph 1
“No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.” - Paragraph 2
“The foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world.” - Paragraph 3
“There exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity.” - Paragraph 3
“The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” - Paragraph 3

George Washington's First Inaugural Address (National Archives and Records Administration)

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