assistance of the executive and subordinate departments, to the
friendly cooperation of the respective State governments, to the candid
and liberal support of the people so far as it may be deserved by
honest industry and zeal, I shall look for whatever success may attend
my public service; and knowing that "except the Lord keep the city the
watchman waketh but in vain," with fervent supplications for His favor,
to His overruling providence I commit with humble but fearless
confidence my own fate and the future destinies of my country.


***

Andrew Jackson
First Inaugural Address
Wednesday, March 4, 1829

Fellow-Citizens:

ABOUT to undertake the arduous duties that I have been appointed to
perform by the choice of a free people, I avail myself of this
customary and solemn occasion to express the gratitude which their
confidence inspires and to acknowledge the accountability which my
situation enjoins. While the magnitude of their interests convinces me
that no thanks can be adequate to the honor they have conferred, it
admonishes me that the best return I can make is the zealous dedication
of my humble abilities to their service and their good.

As the instrument of the Federal Constitution it will devolve on me for
a stated period to execute the laws of the United States, to
superintend their foreign and their confederate relations, to manage