Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes 32nd president, March 4, 1933

On this day in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the nation’s 32nd president. Charles Evans Hughes, the chief justice, administered the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol.

It was the first of what were to be four such swearing-in ceremonies for FDR and the last to occur on the constitutionally prescribed date of March 4. Under the 20th Amendment, ratified in 1933, all subsequent inaugurations have occurred on Jan. 20. FDR took the oath on his family Bible, published in Dutch in 1686. It remains the oldest Bible ever used in an inaugural ceremony, as well as the only one not in English.


In his 20-minute inaugural address, delivered in the depths of the Great Depression, Roosevelt said in his patrician cadence: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

“In every dark hour of our national life,” he continued, “a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.”

FDR also launched an attack on Wall Street crafted by Raymond Moley, his strategic speechwriter. He declared that “the money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.”

The day after his Inauguration, Roosevelt convened a special session of Congress to impose a four-day bank holiday as the first act of his New Deal.

SOURCE: U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS