This Day in History: “From this faith we will not be moved”

On this day in history, Harry S Truman becomes the second President to be inaugurated on January 20, a date specified in the 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

“Each period of our national history has had its special challenges,” he noted. He would have been thinking of World War II and America’s place in the world following the defeat of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan.

Indeed, the United States had become a leader in a way that it historically had not been before.

“It is fitting,” Truman concluded, “therefore, that we take this occasion to proclaim to the world the essential principles of the faith by which we live, and to declare our aims to all peoples.”

What did he choose to emphasize in that moment?

“The American people stand firm in the faith which has inspired this Nation from the beginning,” he declared. “We believe 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 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.”

What do you think of his description and what he chose to emphasize in that moment?

Food for thought for your day.

Dear regular readers: Full-fledged history stories return tomorrow morning. Truman's full speech can be found here.