Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address: List 3

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 17–26.

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. discipline
    a system of rules of conduct or method of practice
    If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective.
  2. submit
    accept or undergo, often unwillingly
    We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good.
  3. hitherto
    up to this point; until the present time
    This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.
  4. evoke
    summon into action or bring into existence
    This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.
  5. strife
    bitter conflict; heated or violent dissension
    This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.
  6. assume
    take on titles, offices, duties, or responsibilities
    With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.
  7. feasible
    capable of being done with means at hand
    Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors.
  8. emphasis
    special importance or significance
    Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form.
  9. bitter
    proceeding from or exhibiting great hostility or animosity
    It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.
  10. executive
    having the function of carrying out plans or orders
    It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us.
  11. legislative
    of or relating to or created by law
    It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us.
  12. unprecedented
    novel; having no earlier occurrence
    But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.
  13. adoption
    the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception
    These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.
  14. evade
    avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing
    But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me.
  15. confront
    be face to face with
    But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me.
  16. crisis
    an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty
    I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.
  17. wage
    carry on (wars, battles, or campaigns)
    I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.
  18. foe
    an armed adversary
    I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.
  19. repose
    put or place something (e.g., trust) in or on
    For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time.
  20. arduous
    taxing to the utmost; testing powers of endurance
    We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike.
  21. consciousness
    the state of having knowledge of
    We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike.
  22. stern
    strict and demanding
    We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike.
  23. register
    record in a public office or in a court of law
    In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action.
  24. mandate
    commission given to a government through electoral victory
    In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership.
  25. instrument
    the means whereby some act is accomplished
    They have made me the present instrument of their wishes.
Created on Sat Dec 02 16:03:38 EST 2023 (updated Tue Dec 05 16:38:32 EST 2023)

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