And thanks for joining us on cspans American History tv. Now, it is our special series on the speeches that find a presidency. Harry truman took up fdrs mantle as one of the nations longest serving president s died suddenly in april of 1945. Truman was elected in his own right in 1948 and during his tenure he oversaw the end of world war ii, but now he presided over the beginning of the cold war. Here is president truman on his january 20th 1949 inauguration, a time he said, of grave possibilities. And i duration day. Welcome to 1949. The biggest and maduro in United States history is ready to begin. Line pennsylvania avenue, soon to be the main avenue of the triumphant parade. Railroad jams and more than half 1 million visitors from every state of the union on this festive Inauguration Day. Early morning, spectators have been along the parade route. People try their wares, and that is harry truman, elected president of the United States. Mr. Truman, the daughter, the Vice President and the chief executive fought for the inaugural ceremony. Mr. Truman escorted by congressional representative these the procession to the capital. Hes known to take his oath of office, formally recording the greatest political upset in United States history. In capital plaza, more than 1000 people are on hand to witness the event. Millions more see the event on television and hear it over worldwide radio. Along with distinguished guests star admiral nimitz, marine corps general vandergriff, and admiral United Nations secretary general lee has other areas. And the inaugural platform was mostly followed by the official headed by the chief executive. A battery of Motion Picture and Television Cameras recorded the arrival. After turkey, a member of congress for 36 years has taken his Vice President ial oath of honor. Lord help me god. And then hairiest trumans broaden as the president by the chief justice. Mister president , raise your right hand. You, harry s tremendous wrongly swear. I hairiest room in this wall emiliee swear. They do a faithfully execute the office of president of the United States. Faithfully execute the office of president of United States and wilted about this reviewability. To the best of my ability. Encourage, protect, and defend the constitution of United States. Preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of United States. Or so help you god. So help me god. applause applause round the world, the resolute president declares mr. Or senator. I accept with humility the honor of which the American People confer upon me. I accept it with the resolve to do all that i can for the welfare of this nation and for the piece of the world. In performing the duties which has inspired this nation from the beginning. Leave to me that all men have a right to equal justice under law and equal opportunity to share in the common good. We believe that all men have a right to freedom of of thought and expression. We believe that all men are created equal because they are created in the image of god. From this faith, we will not be moved. The American People desire, and are determined to work for, a world in which all nations and all peoples are free to govern themselves as they see fit, and to achieve a decent and satisfying life. Above all else, our people desire, and are determined to work for, peace on eartha just and lasting peacebased on genuine agreement freely arrived at by equals. In the pursuit of these aims, the United States and other likeminded nations find themselves directly opposed by a regime with contrary aims and a totally different concept of life. That regime adheres to a false philosophy which purports to offer freedom, security, and greater opportunity to mankind. Misled by that philosophy, many peoples have sacrificed their liberties only to learn to their sorrow that deceit and mockery, poverty and tyranny, are their reward. That false philosophy is communism. Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate that he is unable to govern himself, and therefore punishment without trial, and forced labor as the chattel of the state. It decrees what information he shall receive, what art he shall produce, what leaders he shall follow, and what thoughts he shall think. Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity of certain unalienable rights to govern himself with reason and justice. applause he maintains the government is for the benefit of the individual and is charged with the responsibility of protecting the rights of the individual and his freedom in the exercise of those abilities of his. applause the difference between communism and democracy do not concern the United States alone. People everywhere are coming to realize that what is involved is material wellbeing, human dignity, and the right to believe in and worship god. I in the aims of hostilities, the United States has invested its substance and its energy in a great constructive effort to restore peace, stability, and freedom to the world. We have sought no territory. We have imposed our will on none. We have asked for no privileges we would not extend to others. We have made every effort to secure agreements on Effective International control of our most powerful weapon, and we have worked steadily for the limitation and control of all armaments. We have encouraged, are moving on with other nations the sovereign structure of International Order and justice. We shall have asked no longer solely concerned the problem of national survival, are now working to improve the standards of living of all their people. We are ready to undertake new projects to strengthen a free world. In the coming years, our program for peace and freedom will emphasize four major courses of action. First, we will continue to give unfaltering support to the United Nations and related agencies, and we will continue to search for ways to strengthen their authority and increase their effectiveness. Second, we will continue our programs for World Economic recovery. This means, first of all, that we must keep our full weight behind the european recovery program. We are confident of third, we will strengthen freedomloving nations against the dangers of aggression. We for, we will embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas. I believe that we can make available to peace loving people, the benefits of our store of Technical Knowledge in order to help them realize their aspirations for a better life. Our aim should be to help the free peoples of the world, through their own efforts, to produce more food, more clothing, more materials for housing, and more mechanical power to lighten they are bergen. The arc of finalizing fourth, a third of people of the world rely on thats only against their human a pressures, but also, against their ancient enemies. Hunger, misery, and despair. In these times, as our becomes manifest and more and more nations come to know the benefits of democracy and participate in going up on them, i believe that those countries that now oppose us will abandon their delusions and join with the free nations of the world in a just settlement of international differences. applause we will advance towards a world where mans freedom is secure. To that end we will devote our strength, our resources, and our firmness of resolve. With gods help, the future of mankind will be assured in a world of justice, harmony, and peace. applause on this chill winter day, the president leaves capitol hill to take his place in the parade of the white house reviewing. With more than 1 Million People lining the route, 17,000 marchers join at the seven mile long procession down pennsylvania avenue. A line of marchers is the army chief of staff or more broadly, and a long history in the possession of the national capital. Then come the president and Vice President , but chief executive this is guard of honor, a 129 field artillery, with whom he served as captain in the first world war. Cabinet members include the secretary of state, jean atkinson, and the attorney general of the United States, general dwight d. Eisenhower arrives in the car of army secretary, kenneth royal. Behind him marks the future general, battalion at west point. The brigade of the United States naval account academy under review. Next, look at thats the United States coast guard academy. Then, of the marine corps, marched on the broad afaneh, which today is the Parade Ground for every branch of the army services. The 82 as the flying leave one of the greatest air monitors to fly over the capital. More than 700 planes and all. The imd 36 flies overhead. The parade includes not only the military, but in the panorama of american life. President trumps state of missouri has several displace. One of them, a wagon drawn by mystery bowl. Other floats depicted scenery of the various states. This is kentuckys. The Vice President s home state. The state of texas looked moves down the avenue. inaudible but the streets of columbia this place reproductions of the capital and the washington monument. The massachusetts special float, honoring the early american settlers, who landed on the shores of that stage. The figure of uncle sam drives down the avenue. inaudible labor and fraternal organizations representing millions of their members from all over the country, participate in the inaugural festivities. The fine music of more than 40 pants, and many drum and bugle corps. Near the white house, the excitement looms as the chief executive approach or. Decker as he prepares to leave his car and take his place on the reviewing stand. applause for nearly three hours, the president and Vice President stand together, acknowledging the of their countrymen. A group of california cowboys salute president truman and those of the pretzel dough mission, much to the president s amusement. Another group since the chief executive with a gift. A brandnew cowboy hat. The president is cheered by the citizens of of which he was inaudible . Group by group, people from each of the 48 state of the union on our Harry S Truman in his 40th and aguirre shun since george washingtons, because the nations first president. Nearly 150 years ago. Honorable pageant Inauguration Day in 1949, declares the boot of the nation and we are a more peaceful world, yet mindful of the military needs to make and keep that peace. And Harry Trumans own words, it is not the beginning, not only of a new administration, but of a period that would be eventful, perhaps decisive, for the United States and for the world. And youre watching the American History tv series speeches. That defined the presidency. We now turn our attention to dwight eisenhower, who was president of 1953 to 1961. Here are two of his speeches. In 1957 that americans listening on radio and tv heard ike confront segregation, and the mob blocking African American students from entering little central high. Then, well see him in 1961, three days before relinquishing his office to a younger john kennedy. He left his countryman with a warning about the growing military industrial complex. From the president s office in the white house, washington d. C. We percentage better the dress by the president United States dwight d. Eisenhower. Mr. Eisenhower discusses the integration problem in little rock, arkansas. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States. Good evening, my fellow citizens for a few minutes this evening i should like to speak to you about the serious situation that has arisen in little rock. To make this talk, i have come to the president s office in the white house. I could have spoken from rhode island, where i have been staying recently. But i felt that, in speaking from the house of lincoln, of jackson, and of wilson, my words would better convey both the sadness i feel in the action i was compelled today to make and the firmness with which i intend to pursue this course until the orders of the federal court at little rock can be executed without unlawful interference. In that city, under the leadership of demagogic extremists, disorderly mobs have deliberately prevented the local authorities have not eliminated that violent opposition and, under the law, i yesterday issued a proclamation calling upon the mob to disperse. This morning the mob again gathered in front of the Central High School of little rock, obviously for the purpose of again preventing the carrying out of the courts order relating to the admission of negro children to that school. Whenever normal agencies prove inadequate to the task and it becomes necessary for the executive branch of the federal government to use its powers and authority to uphold federal courts, the president s responsibility is inescapable. In accordance with that responsibility, i have today issued an executive order directing the use of troops under federal authority to aid in the execution of federal law at little rock, arkansas. This became necessary when my proclamation of yesterday was not observed, and the obstruction of justice still continues. It is important that the reasons for my action be understood by all our citizens. As you know, the Supreme Court of the United States has decided that separate public educational facilities for the races are inherently unequal; and therefore, Compulsory School segregation laws are unconstitutional. Our personal opinions about the decision have no bearing on the matter of enforcement; the responsibility and authority of the Supreme Court to interpret the constitution are very clear. Local federal courts were instructed by the Supreme Court to issue such orders and decrees as might be necessary to achieve admission to Public Schools without regard to race and with all deliberate speed. During the past several years, many communities in our Southern States have instituted Public School plans for gradual progress in the enrollment and attendance of School Children of all races in order to bring themselves into compliance with the law of the land. Thus, they demonstrated to the world that we are a nation in which laws, not men, are supreme. I regret to say that this truth, the cornerstone of our liberties, was not observed in this instance. It was my hope that this localized situation would be brought under control by city and state authorities. If the use of local Police Powers had been sufficient, our traditional method of leaving the problem in those hands would have been pursued. But when large gatherings of obstructionists made it impossible for the decrees of the court to be carried out, both the law and the National Interest demanded that the president take action. Here is the sequence of events in the development of the Little Rock School case. In may of 1955, the Little Rock School board approved a moderate plan for the gradual desegregation of the Public Schools in that city. It provided that a start toward integration would be made at the present term in the high school, and that the plan would be in full operation by 1963. Here, i might say that in a number of communities in arkansas integration in the schools has already started and without violence of any kind. Now this little rock plan was challenged in the courts by some who believed that the period of time as proposed in the plan was too long. The United States court at little rock, which has supervisory responsibility under the law for the plan of desegregation in the Public Schools, dismissed the challenge, thus approving a gradual rather than an abrupt change from the existing system. The court found that the school board had acted in good faith in planning for a Public School system free from racial discrimination. Since that time, the court has on three separate occasions issued orders directing that the plan be carried out. All persons were instructed to refrain from interfering with the efforts of the school board to comply with the law. Proper and sensible observance of the law then demanded the respectful obedience which the nation has a right to expect from all its people. This, unfortunately, has not been the case at little rock. Certain misguided persons, many of them imported into little rock by agitators, have insisted upon defying the law and have sought to bring it into disrepute. The orders of the court have thus been frustrated. The very basis of our individual rights and freedoms rests upon the certainty that