Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address: List 2

In the very depths of the Great Depression, a new president took office. Franklin D. Roosevelt would serve longer than any other president. He would bring the nation out of its worst economic crisis and through most of World War II. Read the full text here.

This list covers paragraphs 7–16.

Here are links to our lists for the speech: List 1, List 2, List 3
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. moral
    psychological rather than physical or tangible in effect
    The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.
  2. evanescent
    short-lived; tending to vanish or disappear
    The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.
  3. minister
    attend to the wants and needs of others
    These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.
  4. callous
    emotionally hardened
    Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing.
  5. thrive
    make steady progress
    Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.
  6. obligation
    the social force that binds you to a course of action
    Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.
  7. ethics
    motivation based on ideas of right and wrong
    Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.
  8. stimulate
    provide the needed input for
    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 natural resources.
  9. endeavor
    attempt by employing effort
    Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land.
  10. output
    final product; the things produced
    The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities.
  11. foreclosure
    proceedings initiated to repossess the collateral for a loan
    It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms.
  12. relief
    assistance in time of difficulty
    It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal.
  13. uneconomical
    wasteful of resources
    It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal.
  14. utility
    something provided by a company performing a public service
    It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character.
  15. resumption
    beginning again
    Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a 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 provision for an adequate but sound currency.
  16. speculation
    an investment that is risky but could yield great profits
    Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a 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 provision for an adequate but sound currency.
  17. provision
    the activity of supplying something
    Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a 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 provision for an adequate but sound currency.
  18. adequate
    having the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task
    Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a 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 provision for an adequate but sound currency.
  19. relation
    mutual dealings or connections among persons or groups
    Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy.
  20. establishment
    the act of forming something
    Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy.
  21. practical
    concerned with actual use
    I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first.
  22. interdependence
    a relation between entities that rely on each other
    It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States—a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer.
  23. manifestation
    an indication of the existence of some person or thing
    It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States—a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer.
  24. assurance
    freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities
    It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure.
  25. resolutely
    showing firm determination or purpose
    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 obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.
Created on Sat Dec 02 16:03:25 EST 2023 (updated Tue Dec 05 16:39:41 EST 2023)

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