Fourth inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1-20-45)

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Inaugural Address by President Roosevelt
January 20, 1945, 12:00 p.m. EWT

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Broadcast audio:

Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, my friends:

You will understand and, I believe, agree with my wish that the form of this inauguration be simple and its words brief.

We Americans of today, together with our allies, are passing through a period of supreme test. It is a test of our courage – of our resolve – of our wisdom – of our essential democracy.

If we meet that test – successfully and honorably – we shall perform a service of historic importance which men and women and children will honor throughout all time.

As I stand here today, having taken the solemn oath of office in the presence of my fellow countrymen – in the presence of our God – I know that it is America’s purpose that we shall not fail.

In the days and the years that are to come, we shall work for a just and honorable peace, a durable peace, as today we work and fight for total victory in war.

We can and we will achieve such a peace.

We shall strive for perfection. We shall not achieve it immediately, but we still shall strive. We may make mistakes – but they must never be mistakes which result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral principle.

I remember that my old schoolmaster, Dr. Peabody, said-in days that seemed to us then to be secure and untroubled, “Things in life will not always run smoothly. Sometimes we will be rising toward the heights – then all will seem to reverse itself and start downward. The great fact to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward; that a line drawn through the middle of the peaks and the valleys of the centuries always has an upward trend.”

Our Constitution of 1787 was not a perfect instrument; it is not perfect yet. But it provided a firm base upon which all manner of men, of all races and colors and creeds, could build our solid structure of democracy.

Today, in this year of war, 1945, we have learned lessons – at a fearful cost – and we shall profit by them.

We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own wellbeing is dependent on the wellbeing of other nations, far away. We have learned that we must live as men and not as ostriches, nor as dogs in the manger.

We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community.

We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that, “The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and mistrust – or with fear. We can gain it only if we proceed with the understanding and the confidence and the courage which flow from conviction.

The Almighty God has blessed our land in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth. He has given to our country a faith which has become the hope of all peoples in an anguished world.

So, we pray to Him now for the vision to see our way clearly to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow men – and to the achievement of His will to peace on earth.

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The Pittsburgh Press (January 20, 1945)

Roosevelt takes fourth term oath

President warns we must approach peace without mistrust or fear
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer

Washington –
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, inaugurated today as President for the fourth term, warned that we shall have no lasting peace if we approach its commitments with suspicion, mistrust and fear.

He took the oath of his office on the South Portico of the White House instead of the East Capitol steps where inaugurations are traditionally held. Some 7,000 specially invited guests stood on the snow-sodden lawn below him.

Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone administered the oath a few minutes after noon. Just before Mr. Roosevelt was sworn, his 1944 running mate, Harry S. Truman, took the oath of office as Vice President. It was administered by Henry A. Wallace, who was chosen by Mr. Roosevelt as his campaign partner in 1940 but was discarded last year in favor of the Missourian.

Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Truman, their families and their closest political associates and friends were in the shelter of the South Portico.

The other card-holding, carefully-sifted guests stood down below, churning a two-inch snow into the White House turf. This was not the worst inauguration weather on record – the Taft affair in 1909 and Mr. Roosevelt’s 1937 ceremony were in a class by themselves.

For the President, this day was one of prayer. For him it began with family prayers at 10:00 a.m. EWT in the East Room of the White House. On each of his successive inaugurations, he has thus sought Divine guidance.

To the inaugural guests after the oath-taking, he said:

We pray now to Him for the vision to seek our way clearly – to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for all our fellow men to the achievement of His will to peace on earth.

The cost of the war is a fearful cost, he told them, and from it we are learning our lesson. And he promised better days to come.

Diplomats, political figures of local and national importance, the Cabinet, the judiciary, the top figures of the armed services, a few campaign contributors were in the crowd of inauguration guests. They listened in chill and solemn silence as Mr. Roosevelt uttered his fourth inaugural address, a quickie of 540 words. He told them it was appropriate that this occasion be both simple and brief.

To the south, outside the White House fence and some hundred yards away, was the public. Loudspeakers carried the words but the public couldn’t see much nor distinguish who was who.

Mr. Roosevelt ended with a prayer for vision and peace on earth.

It was all over, the important parts, almost before the guests and fence peckers knew it had begun. While some few were still shuffling to their appointed places, Capt. William F. Santelmann flipped a baton and the U.S. Marine band hit “Hail to the Chief.”

The Rt. Rev. Angus Dun, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, delivered the invocation and the Rt. Rev. Msgr. John A. Ryan, director of the Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, uttered thre benediction.

That was all. The band hit up “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Inside the White House, servants were ready with coffee, cakes and chicken salad to give a dab of food and a lot of White House hospitality to 1,500 or more guests. A tea party was scheduled for 4:45 p.m. Presidential electors and party leaders will attend that.

There is a big party tonight, sponsored by the Thousand Club, each member of which anted up at least $1,000 toward Mr. Roosevelt’s campaign expenses. And there will be much lifting of glasses and celebrating on into the night.

This was Mr. Roosevelt’s first wartime inauguration and possibly the most solemn moment in his life, barring that blustery March day in 1933 when, aged 51, he stood on the East Capitol steps calm and unafraid with his first inaugural proclamation of a New Deal. Mr. Roosevelt will celebrate his 63rd birthday Jan. 30.

Precedents broken

Precedents and tradition have taken a licking since 1933. This fourth inaugural is no exception and is itself the biggest break in tradition of them all – the old tradition about two terms in the White House.

Mr. Roosevelt abruptly canceled Congressional plans to put on the customary Capitol inaugural circus. He announced that a $2,000 party would suit him and that he’d have it right in the backyard, handy to his office. He barred the public – the Secret Service was a factor in that.

The war and chances of early victory in Europe overshadow inaugural events. An uneasy public and disturbed officials look to the coming Big Three conference to reorient United Nations political actions and aspirations. They hope that causes of friction or suspicion among Washington, London and Moscow will be removed. They look to the central figure of today’s ceremony to come back from the conference with some plain and reassuring answers to some questions on a number of subjects – Poland, Germany, all of Europe.

Victory assured

Good news from the European and Pacific fronts made today a happier occasion than it might have been. Victory is assured. The question now is merely when. But there are grave problems of the peace to be considered by Mr. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Marshal Stalin.

In 12 years since his first inaugural, Mr. Roosevelt has turned gradually from domestic reform to urgent matters of foreign affairs which culminated in war with Germany, Japan and some of their now-reeling satellites.

Makes, breaks leaders

Almost everything pertaining to his administration has been bigger or better or both than anything which went before. He has handed Republican candidates four successive and spectacular defeats at the polls.

He made radio a political instrument of incalculable significance in the United States – a trend which had its parallels throughout the world.

Seven of the nine justices of the Supreme Court were appointed by Mr. Roosevelt.

He has been able to make and break Congressional leaders almost at will.

He took the country off the gold standard, closed all the banks and assured the reopening of most of them, reorganized the executive branch of government and made it more powerful than either the legislative or judicial.

Faces 13th deficit

Mr. Roosevelt has never been able to run the government on tax revenue. He is budgeted now for his 13th successive Treasury deficit and directs a stupendous war spending program in which the figures involved are so large as to be almost improbable.

The daily spending rate for war purposes is averaging more than $290 million. The public debt, a matter of about $16 billion when Mr. Roosevelt took office, has grown to $233 billion and will hit at least $300 billion.

Defense and war spending from July 1, 1940, to Dec. 31, 1944, aggregated $244.5 billion.

Silent on No. 5

The President now is shooting at a high rolling post-war economy in which the government will collect and spend about $25 billion a year, including an annual sum, yet undetermined, for the orderly liquidation of the public debt.

Mr. Roosevelt undertakes his fourth term without any commitments for or against seeking a fifth. That was the situation, too, when he was sworn four years ago for No. 3.

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Roosevelt prays for victory

Services precede his inauguration

Washington (UP) –
President Roosevelt prefaced his fourth-term inauguration today with prayers for God’s help in the battle against “the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Praying for victory and for guidance in “the preparations of the gospel of peace,” the President followed the custom of his past inaugurations in participating in Holy services before taking the oath of office.

Meet in East Room

With him were his family and the top men of his wartime government, justices of the Supreme Court, the Cabinet, military and naval chiefs of staff and Congressional leaders. They met together in the crystal-chandeliered East Room of the White House at 10:00 a.m. ET.

In the midst of the service, the cross bearer, standing behind the altar, fainted. White House policemen revived him and he was able to take his place in the processional when the service ended.

As the President sat in his heavy, gilt chair before the improvised altar in the most formal room of the White House, his thoughts and his prayers must have turned to his own four sons fighting overseas and the sons and daughters of millions of Americans. He prayed for Divine might on the side of the United Nations and he sought heavenly guidance and forgiveness for our enemies.

Scripture lesson

There was no sermon; only three hymns, the prayers led by three clergymen and the Scripture lesson from the New Testament – Ephesians 6:10-20, which included this passage:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

Three ministers there

Conducting the services today were Rev. John G. Magee and Rev. Howard A. Johnson, both of St. John’s Episcopal Church, and Rev. Howard S. Wilkinson of St. Thomas’ where the President has worshipped on frequent intervals. The choir was from St. John’s.

Most of the prayers and collects were from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, including the General Confession, the Declaration of Absolution, the Lord’s Prayer, and the prayers for the President, the nation and for those who have died in their country’s service.

Special prayers included the prayer for all in the service of the United Nations published by the Forward Movement Commission, prayer for our enemies written by the late Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple; and the Victory Prayer published by the Army and Navy Commission of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

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Wallace holds inside track for Jones’ job

Roosevelt, however, remains silent

Washington (UP) –
Vice President Henry A. Wallace, turning over his job and title to Harry S. Truman today, became the mystery man of the hour.

With Mr. Truman’s future taken care of for the next four years, what everyone around here wants to know for certain is, what will the ex-Vice President’s next job be?

When John Nance Garner stepped out of the Vice Presidency four years ago, he went home. Mr. Wallace has no such intention. He wants – and there is considerable evidence that he may get – Jesse H. Jones’ job as Secretary of Commerce.

Nothing definite

But thus far, it has been impossible to get anything definite on Mr. Wallace’s fate, either from him or from the man in whose charge it appears to be, President Roosevelt.

Nothing definite, that is, except the assurance given by Mr. Roosevelt at his news conference yesterday that he did not think Mr. Wallace would starve; and subsequent hints that Mr. Wallace would continue to sit in Cabinet meetings.

Not starving, in the lexicon of official Washington, doesn’t mean merely that; it means having a big job in the government – a job, it would seem in this case, of Cabinet rank.

What about Jones?

The way Mr. Jones’ Texas friend have been running around lately would appear to indicate that whatever the President’s intention, Mr. Wallace has definitely drawn a bead on the Commerce post.

If Mr. Wallace bags his game, interest would switch immediately in Mr. Jones’ future. One possibility is that he would be kept in charge of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the other lending and subsidizing agencies over which he now presides.

But friends of Mr. Wallace believe he will succeed Mr. Jones not only as Secretary of Commerce but also as chairman of the RFC.

Mr. Wallace and Mr. Jones sat at the head table – nine seats apart – at a presidential inaugural dinner given last night by members of the Electoral College.

Introduces Truman

Mr. Wallace introduced Mr. Truman in a brief, unrevealing speech during which he continually smiled and chuckled as if something pleased him very much.

Mr. Jones didn’t make a speech. But he was observed to drink a furtive champagne toast of mysterious significance with Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, two seats away.

Miss Perkins is reportedly on her way out, too.

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Thousand Club has big day

Washington (UP) –
Some 300 members of the One Thousand Club, each of whom paid $1,000 into Democratic Party coffees in the recent campaign, hied themselves over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue today to see and hear the fellow club member, Franklin D., begin his fourth term as President.

Mr. Roosevelt gave $1,000, too.

In addition to appearing at all the official inaugural sessions, including the inaugural ceremony, buffet luncheon afterward as well as tea and reception later in the afternoon, they planned a gala banquet for the evening at which singer Frank Sinatra, comedian George Jessel and screen star Orson Welles will appear.

At the banquet some 500 additional guests will be dined with part of the nearly $52,000 reportedly remaining in club coffers as the balance of the $252,000 collected in the campaign.

It was reported that a number of $1,000 contributors to other Democratic bodies were irked at the failure to get club membership and the Democratic High Command was said to have suggested the dinner as a means of smoothing their ruffled feelings.

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The Pittsburgh Press (January 21, 1945)

Takes fourth term oath –
Roosevelt warns fear and mistrust can upset lasting peace program

Simple inauguration lasts 13 minutes – Truman is sworn in by Wallace

Washington (UP) – (Jan. 20)
President Roosevelt began his fourth term today in a semi-private, 13-minute inauguration marked by his warning that this nation cannot expect a lasting peace if suspicion, mistrust and fear color our approach to post-war international commitments.

The inaugural ceremony – usually an occasion for colorful splendor – was so brief and simple, and was witnessed by so comparatively few people, that it seemed almost an incident in the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt rather than the unprecedented beginning of his fourth term in the White House.

The President had decreed that it be short and simple so as to be in keeping with the times.

Chief Justice Stone gives oath

Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone administered the oath to Mr. Roosevelt on the South Portico of the White House at 12:03 p.m. EWT. A minute earlier, retiring Vice President Henry A. Wallace had sworn in his successor, Harry S. Truman.

The President followed his oath with a simple, prayerful five-minute speech. Two minutes later – time for the benediction and the “Star-Spangled Banner” by the Marine Band – one of the nation’s most historic occasions was over.

War lesson stressed

Obviously mindful of his meeting soon with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Marshal Joseph Stalin and of isolationist feeling in this country, Mr. Roosevelt made a forceful point of this nation’s role in a world community in his 540-word inaugural speech.

The war, he said, has taught us the lesson that we must “live as men, not as ostriches, nor dogs in the manger.”

‘Citizens of world’

He said:

We have learned that we cannot live alive, at peace; that our own wellbeing is dependent on the wellbeing of other nations, far away.

We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community.

As he spoke amid his generals and admirals, his Congressional leaders and his political aides, there stretched before him four years more promising of trouble and burdens than any other phase of Mr. Roosevelt’s career.

In those four years, his ultimate role in history probably will be determined – by when and how the war ends and the justice and durability of the peace that follows. And mindful of this, the 62-year-old, graying Chief Executive started what no other man has ever started – a fourth term in the White House.

Stand in snow

White House officials counted 7,806 persons admitted to the mansion’s grounds. They stood in two inches of snow on the south lawn. Several hundred yards away from the portico, an estimated 6,000 spectators stood outside the fence. They heard the President’s address over a loudspeaker system.

There were no seats, no stands – just the snow-covered lawn for most. A tarpaulin was spread over part of the grounds for a select 2,000. An even more select few – most members of the Roosevelt and Treuman families, the Cabinet, the Supreme Court and the Armed Forces chiefs of staff – were on the portico.

The weather was on the miserable side – not very cold, but mushy, drippy. About noon, a pale sun started the snow melting and guests under the trees got wet. The Secret Service allowed no umbrellas in the White House grounds.

Prayer service held

The President’s day began early as members of his family filed into his large bedroom for brief visits. At 10:00 a.m., he went to the red-draped East Room to follow his inaugural custom of praying for strength and Divine guidance before taking the oath of office. With him were his family and leaders of his government – some 300 in all.

At noon, he went out on the portico. The Marine Band broke out a ruffle of drums and a flourish of trumpets, then burst forth – as only it can – with the inspiring “Hail to the Chief.”

A hush settled over the crowd while the Rt. Rev. Angus Dun, Episcopal Bishop of Washington. prayed that this nation would not be “content with any peace save that of a world at unity with itself…”

Truman smiles

Mr. Wallace, whom the President rejected at the last Democratic National Convention in favor of Mr. Truman, stepped up to the battery of microphones in the center or the portico and Mr. Truman faced him. Mr. Wallace seemed serious and Mr. Truman’s face was one big smile. It took only a moment to switch Vice Presidents.

Justice Stone stepped up, and the President faced him. Charles Elmore Cropley, dignified clerk of the Supreme Court, held Mr. Roosevelt’s old Dutch family Bible between them. The President placed his large hand on the thrice-used “Faith, hope and charity” verse of I Corinthians and repeated, after the Chief Justice, the historic oath.

Promising to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” to the best of his ability, the President intoned the oath in a strong, vibrant voice.

Applause muffled

There was no shouting or cheering from the crowd when Mr. Roosevelt had become President again – just a brief burst of muffled applause. The spectators acted as though they were in church, so solemn was the general tone of the entire ceremony.

The President shook hands with the Chief Justice, then faced the crowd and began his brief speech – a lesson on the advantages of open-minded international cooperation and an assurance that America would work as hard for a just peace as it is working now toward sure, total victory.

A brief applause as he ended sounded almost sacrilegious, coming as it did just after he had besought God for vision and strength to meet the nation’s present period of “supreme test… of our courage, of our resolve, of our wisdom, of our essential democracy.”

Stands with son

The Rt. Rev. Msgr. John A. Ryan, director of the Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, pronounced the benediction and the President stood gravely, bowed and with his hand on the arm of his tall Marine colonel son, James.

The Marine Band began the heavy, strident strains of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Mr. Roosevelt placed his right hand over his heart and stared out over the heads of the crowd near him to the snow-covered ellipse, and at the Washington Monument whose peak disappeared in the low-hanging clouds.

Waves to crowd

And when the music ended, so did the inauguration. The President waved to the crowd of Congressmen, diplomats, government agency heads, wounded war veterans and bigshots in the Democratic Party, then went back into the White House while the band signaled his departure with “Hail to the Chief.”

Fifteen minutes later, the President joined more than 1,500 carefully-sifted guests for a buffet luncheon of chicken salad, small sandwiches, rolls, cake and coffee. The menu was drastically simple to stay within the $2,000 limit which Mr. Roosevelt set as his goal for the overall cost of the inauguration.

Reception held

In the late afternoon, he and Mrs. Roosevelt held a reception for members of the Electoral College and their wives and other guests who could not be invited to the luncheon.

At each social event the President spent only a short while.

The celebration continued on into the night, but not at the White House. While Mr. Roosevelt studied the latest war dispatches and visited with his family in his study, members of the One Thousand Club – a contribution of $1,000 or more to Mr. Roosevelt’s campaign fund was necessary for membership – held a large dinner party, but the President was not there. They had his best wishes and thanks, however.

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One Thousand Club tosses big inauguration party

Jessel, Sinatra and Welles among those attending ‘essentially social’ turnout

Washington (UP) – (Jan. 20)
The One Thousand Club, its thoughts already turned toward future political campaigns saw its man sworn in today, broke bread and sipped tea with him at the White House, and tonight threw itself a party with George Jessel, Frank Sinatra and Orson Welles on hand, to keep things moving.

The members, some 300 of them, were having their reward for handing over $1,000 apiece to President Roosevelt’s fourth-term campaign. They attended the inauguration, the chicken salad luncheon which followed, and the White House tea and reception for Democratic Party leaders, contributors and wheel horses.

500 guests invited

The night party at the Statler Hotel, to which the members invited 500 guests, was “essentially social in character,” according to Welburn Mayock, a club trustee. But some of the activities which preceded it were definitely political.

The club, of which Mr. Roosevelt is a member – the President having staked $1,000 of his own money on his reelection – has aspirations of permanence. For two days, club officials and members have been sitting around in smoke-filled rooms thinking about future events, among them the 1946 Congressional elections.

“They are going to be tough ones for Democrats,” a member said.

Formed in Chicago last September, the club’s original purpose was simple and direct – to help elect Roosevelt and Truman. The idea was, if possible, to get 1,000 persons to contribute $1,000 each for a total of a million dollars.

The club fell short of this goal, however, and scraped together only $252,000, of which it still had $52,000 before paying for its party.

The million-dollar goal still stands, however, as something to shoot at in the future.

Charges denied

During the presidential campaign, Mr. Roosevelt’s opposition charged, in connection with the One Thousand Club that the Democrats were “selling privilege.”

The club retorted that it had “nothing to sell.”

As though to symbolize the purity, of the club’s intentions, Member Ferd McDuff of Seminole, Oklahoma, attended the inauguration clad entirely in white – except for a red necktie on which a hand-painted donkey was kicking an elephant over the Capitol Dome.

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Pennsylvania men attend inauguration

But others fail to get tickets

Washington – (Jan. 20, special)
A score of Pennsylvanians came here for the fourth-term inauguration of President Roosevelt today, but they didn’t all get the coveted tickets that admitted chosen guests to the White House grounds for the back-porch ceremony.

Some of the visitors didn’t get hotel rooms and members of Congress had to explain, over and over again, that they couldn’t get extra tickets for the ceremony for their constituents.

Members of the Electoral College had top priority for most of the inauguration events, including last night’s inaugural dinner, and a White House reception and tea this afternoon.

Guffey among chosen

Others with high-priority invitations included Democratic organization leaders from Pennsylvania: U.S. Sen. Joseph F. Guffey, State Chairman David L. Lawrence and Philadelphia City Chairman James P. Clark. Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Clark brought their wives. Mr. Guffey was accompanied by his sister – Democratic National Committeewoman Mrs. Emma Guffey Miller – her son – Lt. Carroll Miller Jr. (USN) – and Lt. Miller’s wife.

Pittsburghers here for the inauguration included Mayor C. D. Scully, State Sens. Joseph M. Barr and B. B. McGinnis, the latter Democratic county chairman, and County Treasurer Bernard Goodwin. Mayor Frank Buchanan of McKeesport and his wife were also here.

Others included Joseph A. Donoghue of Philadelphia, state director of the CIO-sponsored Political Action Committees, which supported the President’s campaign; former State Chairman Meredith Meyers of Lewistown, and D. J. Driscoll, St. Mary’s former Congressman and former Public Utility Commission member.

Kane unable to attend

County Commissioner John J. Kane had an invitation, but didn’t attend because he was scheduled to preside at a meeting observing the 50th anniversary of the Pressmen’s Union, of which he is a member.

Members of Congress, presidential electors and others got the right to take their wives with them to the inaugural, but many others had to be content with pasteboards good only for one person.

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Roosevelt, without overcoat, takes 4th term oath in cold

Voice is clear as he delivers shortest talk
By Frederick C. Othman, United Press staff writer

Washington – (Jan. 20)
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the only man at the inaugural without an overcoat, looked across the thousands crowded into his snow-covered backyard today and swore solemnly to uphold the Constitution for a fourth term as President of the United States.

Mr. Roosevelt’s eyeglasses glistened in the spotlights. His hands may have trembled, but his voice was strong and clear as he repeated the oath after Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone and then delivered the shortest inaugural address he ever gave – 540 words.

On his left was the blue presidential pennant, on his right the American flag. Behind him were the members of his personal and official family. Below him on the ground were the others who were lucky enough to get invitations and hardy enough to brave the wet and the cold.

Wallace swears in Truman

The entire ceremony lasted only 13 minutes.

Sharp at noon the Marine Band broke into strident ruffles and flourishes, then “Hall to the Chief” signaling the President’s arrival at the center of the portico.

Men in the snowy crowd bared their heads for the invocation. Mr. Roosevelt watched retiring Vice President Henry A. Wallace administer the oath to his successor, Harry S. Truman.

The band sounded more ruffles and flourishes, and the President was escorted to the speaker’s rostrum by Marine Col. James Roosevelt, only one of his four fighting sons who was able to come here.

Speaks in clear voice

The President, standing bareheaded, spoke the oath in a clear, resonant voice, his left hand on his old family Dutch Bible and his eyes focused on Chief Justice Stone.

Then after shaking hands with Justice Stone, the President turned slowly toward the crowd, opened his familiar black notebook and delivered his address.

The crowd had applauded when he swore to do his duty as President, and gloved hands clapped again when he completed his speech.

The President stood silently gazing toward the Washington Monument while the minister said the benediction, the band played the “Star-Spangled Banner” and the crowd stood hatless under the dripping trees.

Shortest ceremony in years

Mr. Roosevelt waved his hand to the crowds, which responded with men waving their hats and women shaking handkerchiefs toward the portico.

The President then turned and went back into the White House to the tune of “Hail to the Chief,” thus ending the shortest inauguration in many, many years.

The weather got progressively better after snow stopped falling about 8:00 a.m. and a few minutes before the ceremony began at noon, the skies became considerably lighter. No actual sunlight filtered through the gray overcast, however, and the temperature remained near freezing.

‘Ain’t like old times’

Beyond the iron White House fence, a good two blocks from the mansion, upwards of 6,000 non-ticket-holding spectators spilled over into the ellipse beyond East Street and stood silently in the snow as Mr. Roosevelt’s words came clearly over loudspeakers.

One man, apparently a veteran of other inaugurations, shook his head as he stamped about outside the fence.

“It ain’t like old times,” he said.

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Mrs. Roosevelt kept busy tending her grandchildren

First Lady, wearing tailored gown, stands in background during inauguration

Washington (UP) – (Jan. 20)
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt cast herself more in the role of grandmother than as First Lady at her husband’s historic fourth-term inauguration today.

Throughout the brief ceremony she stood well in the background of the circular portico and was not visible to the crowds.

But before that she busied herself seeing to it that the grandchildren were properly placed on the curving stairs descending from the portico and she went down and spoke to them.

In wartime fashion

Her tailored inaugural gown was in keeping with the fashion she has adopted for wartime.

The dress of dark blue, a shade almost blue-black, was splashed at the neckline with appliques of lighter blue.

Her three-quarter-length coat of the lighter blue was topped with a sable scarf. The sailor hat of dark blue was accented by a cluster of flowers in a shade of pink called, for the fourth inauguration, “Mayflower mauve.” Around her smartly groomed gray hair in back was a band bow of blue velvet.

The First Lady carried a large bouquet of parma violets.

Friends, maids there

At least 10 of the Roosevelt grandchildren, ranging in age from 2 to 17, were there. So were a number of their friends and maids.

Two-year-old Anne Sturgis Roosevelt, tow-headed daughter of Lt. John Roosevelt, made a splash of color in the congregation of children with her red snow suit and cap.

Mrs. John Boettiger, President and Mrs. Roosevelt’s only daughter, was visible to the audience only when she descended the steps to speak to her three children – Anna Eleanor, 17; Curtis, 15, and Johnny, 5.

Daughter with Mrs. Truman

She took a nosegay of violets to Anna, who saw her grandfather take the oath of President for the first time when she was five and who long ago outgrew her nickname of “Sistie.”

Mrs. Harry S. Truman, wife of the new Vice President, and their daughter, Margaret, took places at the railing of the portico 15 minutes before the ceremony. Mrs. Truman observed the crowd quietly most of the time, but Margaret engaged in intimated conversation with Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, widow of President Wilson.

A black Persian lamb coat concealed Mrs. Truman’s black inauguration gown. A cluster of purple orchids was pinned to her handbag, and a green feather topped her small black hat.

11

Truman becomes Vice President

Wallace temporarily off U.S. pay

Washington (UP) – (Jan. 20)
Harry S. Truman of Independence, Missouri, got a $5,000 raise today without having to clear it with the War Labor Board or the Treasury.

At the same time that Mr. Truman’s senatorial salary of $10,000 was increased to the Vice President’s rate of $15,000 per annum, Henry A. Wallace went off the federal payroll.

Everybody seemed to believe, however, that the 56-year-old Wallace, a New Dealer of the 1933 school, would be back on the payroll in a matter of days, probably as Secretary of Commerce.

Mr. Wallace ceased as of 12:02 p.m. ET today to be Vice President, having at that moment administered the oath of office to his friend and successor, the former Senator from Missouri.

Mr. Truman intends to be his own kind of Vice President. He won’t “make a habit of making speeches,” the way Mr. Wallace did, and he does not have his eye on any outside jobs in the administration.

The 60-year-old, slow-speaking, hard-working Missourian, who as chairman for three years of the Senate War Investigation Committee became the “watchdog of the war effort,” recently formulated this conception of his new role.

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Editorial: The President

To Franklin Delano Roosevelt, yesterday inaugurated for the fourth time as President of the United States, his fellow citizens extend their earnest best wishes.

May God preserve his health. May he have strength to bear the heavy burdens of his office. May the four years now beginning bring early victory in war and the dawn of an enduring peace. May our President lead wisely and justly; and may he see his hopes, and ours, realized in a country busy, happy, united and free.