March 4

[This is from my address to the citizens of Washington, D.C., on March 4, 1809. We hold our ideals high for our nation and for all of humanity.]

The station which we occupy among the nations of the earth is honorable, but awful. Trusted with the destinies of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, & the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom & self-government from hence it is to be lighted up in other regions, of the earth, if other regions of the earth shall ever become susceptible of its benign influence. All mankind ought then, with us, to rejoice in its prosperous, & sympathize in its adverse fortunes, as involving every thing dear to man. And to what sacrifices of interest, or convenience ought not these considerations to animate us & to what compromises of opinion & inclination, to maintain harmony & union among ourselves, & to preserve from all danger this hallowed ark of human hope & happiness.

That differences of opinion should arise among men, on politics, on religion, & on every other topic of human enquiry, & that these should be freely expressed in a country where all our faculties are free, is to be expected. But these valuable privileges are much perverted when permitted to disturb the harmony of social intercourse, and to lessen the tolerance of opinion. To the honor of society here, it has been characterized by a just & generous liberality, and an indulgence of those affections which, without regard to political creeds, constitute the happiness of life.

[This message is from my Inauguration Address, March 4, 1801. I wanted to be conciliatory to my political opponents, often inviting them to dinners during my Presidency.]

I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in all its parts. The approbation implied by your suffrage is a great consolation to me for the past, and my future solicitude will be to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all.

Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make. And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.

[This is from my Inauguration Address, March 4, 1801. Note how I didn’t capitalize the words “republicans” and “federalists” (some published books of my writings erroneously capitalized those two words) because regardless of which party (label) we belong to, our similarities in actual ideals (not labels) are more than our differences as fellow Americans. I believe in both federalism and republicanism.]

Let us, fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others; that this should divide opinions as to measures of safety. 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.