A Rare Signed Copy of “The Inaugural Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States”, Inscribed to FDR’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget

Only one other copy of this work shows up as having reached the public market

The three greatest inaugural addresses ever delivered were Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural, and John F. Kennedy’s only inaugural. Lincoln was killed a month after the address and never had time to implement its lofty aspirations of “malice toward none and charity for all”. Kennedy set the stage for the can-do optimism of the 1960s, calling on Americans, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” But his life was also cut short.

Roosevelt, however was a different story. On Inauguration Day, March 4, 1933, the nation was in the grip of a profound depression. Washington was cold and overcast. At the Capitol, FDR braced himself on his son James’s arm as he made his slow way to the rostrum to take the oath of office. Then, as the crowd grew quiet, he delivered his inaugural address. The new President offered hope to a desperate people: “This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive, and will prosper.” Then, in bold words that reverberate in public memory, he proclaimed, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” He said he would ask – and insist – that Congress act against the emergency. The hope he imparted was immediate, and I well recall my mother telling me that it changed people’s attitudes from despair to hope and resilience. In the end, the country beat the Depression.

FDR’s second inaugural on January 20, 1937, may well have been the fourth greatest inaugural. In it he summarized his – and the nation’s – accomplishments, but surprisingly went on to say that “these symptoms of prosperity may become portents of disaster.” He continued by elaborating, “I see one third of the nation ill-housed, ill-clad, and ill-nourished.” Until the U.S. tackled that problem, its work was not done. His third inaugural, on January 20, 1941, was set against the backdrop of the Second World War, then raging in Europe. FDR spoke of democracy, saying, “Democracy is not dying. We know it because we have seen it revive–and grow. We know it cannot die–because it is built on the unhampered initiative of individual men and women joined together in a common enterprise–an enterprise undertaken and carried through by the free expression of a free majority. We know it because democracy alone, of all forms of government, enlists the full force of men’s enlightened will. We know it because democracy alone has constructed an unlimited civilization capable of infinite progress in the improvement of human life…In the face of great perils never before encountered, our strong purpose is to protect and to perpetuate the integrity of democracy. For this we muster the spirit of America, and the faith of America. We do not retreat. We are not content to stand still. As Americans, we go forward, in the service of our country, by the will of God.”

For Christmas 1943, FDR had produced a Limited Edition of 100 copies of a book entitled, “The Inaugural Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States”. It was datelined, “The White House, Washington, Christmas 1943.”

This is a presentation copy of that book, number 34 of the 100, inscribed by the President “For Harold D. Smith from his old friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Christmas 1943”. It is a small slim quarto, 24 pages, vellum-backed marble paper boards, with gilt-stamped black leather title label to spine.

In 1939, Harold D. Smith was selected by FDR to serve as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget. This post today would be called director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Smith served in that position for seven years, during which time he handled the enormous expansion of spending resulting from American participation in the Second World War.

This is our first ever copy of this book, making it as well as our first ever signed copy of any work containing his First (or indeed Second) Inaugural Address.