Franklin Roosevelt’s second inauguration was the first to occur in January. The 20th Amendment changed the inauguration date from March 4 to Jan. 20.
In 1937, Jan. 20 was a cold day with heavy rain. Roosevelt delivered his address from the east portico of the US Capitol.
In his speech, he described the dismal state many Americans faced during the Great Depression.
“It is not in despair that I paint you that picture,” he said. “I paint it for you in hope – because the Nation, seeing and understanding the injustice in it, proposes to paint it out. We are determined to make every American citizen the subject of his country’s interest and concern; and we will never regard any faithful law-abiding group within our borders as superfluous. The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
Roosevelt said that the country's progression out of the depression was obvious – his New Deal programs ignited ongoing recovery efforts. But he also addressed his "selfish" critics, bankers and businessmen, and warned that “such symptoms of prosperity may become portents of disaster.” Thus, he laid foundation for many of America's modern-day social welfare programs.
“I see a United States which can demonstrate that, under democratic methods of government, national wealth can be translated into a spreading volume of human comforts hitherto unknown, and the lowest standard of living can be raised far above the level of mere subsistence.”
Roosevelt went on to set two other inaugural records: swearing in for third and fourth terms. His fourth inauguration in 1945 was a simple affair with no official celebrations and no parade, because of gasoline rationing and a lumber shortage.
