What Did Franklin Roosevelt's First Inaugural Speech Really Mean?

During the time of President's Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address in early 1933, the United States was still feeling the horrible shock and disappointments the Great Depression brought about. In addition, the rest of the world, especially Europe was also suffering from the outcome of the Great Depression, since the US immediately demanded that foreign debts be paid. Other world issues included Europe still dealing with the aftermath of World War I in a revolutionary style (an example is the instating of the Third Reich in Germany by the Nazi Party with Adolf Hitler as the country's Chancellor).

The document was written/presented to the citizens of the United States on March 4, 1933 at the Capitol in Washington DC. The purpose of Franklin Roosevelt's speech was to start his presidency by addressing the people of the United States on his inauguration day. With this speech he addressed several issues and major themes that currently surrounded the country at the time, especially the Great Depression and the economic panic that was still sweeping the nation and hitting home in the majority of US towns and cities. Other major themes included the unimportance of material wealth, unemployment, the greatness of the constitutional system, and the future.

To fix employment, Franklin suggested, "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." He truly believed that military jobs could fix greatly help unemployment, but at the same time bring the nation back on its feet by taking advantage economically with what the country had to offer. Through his speech, Franklin acknowledged the fears, tragedies, hopes, and dreams that lingered in the heart of every American.