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Primary sourceSpeech4 March 1933

First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt · 4 March 1933

FDR's March 1933 inaugural speech, delivered at the height of the Great Depression, famous for 'the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.'

FDR delivered this address as the newly inaugurated president, launching his response to the Great Depression.

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Black-and-white photo of FDR's 1933 inauguration on a decorated balcony with a large eagle seal, laurel garlands, and a crowd of men in hats and coats below. A speaker stands at a lectern.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inauguration ceremony, March 4, 1933. Photograph, Architect of the Capitol.

About this source

What it is

This is the inaugural address delivered by Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 4, 1933, at the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol, as he took the oath of office as the 32nd president. A surviving photograph shows the ceremony on a decorated balcony with a crowd gathered below.

Why it matters

Roosevelt spoke to a nation at the depth of the Great Depression, with over a quarter of Americans out of work. He used the speech to calm fear, explain his plan to fight unemployment, help farmers, and reform banking, and to ask for broad power to act quickly. Broadcast by radio, it reached tens of millions of Americans and set the tone for his presidency and the New Deal.

Look closer

  • Why might Roosevelt have chosen to talk about fear itself rather than simply listing economic facts?
  • What does the photograph suggest about how large and formal this public event was?
  • What does the speech ask ordinary citizens to do, and what does it ask of Congress?

This speech is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Franklin D. Roosevelt on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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