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"Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy.
"In the field of world policy I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor.
"If we are to go forward we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline. I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army.
"It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But in the event that the Congress shall fail I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad executive power to wage a war against the emergency as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.
"In this dedication of a nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us! May He guide me in the days to come!"
Exit Hoover. Citizen Hoover, on whose forehead dark little knots of disagreement came and went during the address, was afterwards among the first to shove forward, shake President Roosevelt's hand. Slithering sidewise out of the platform pack with Mrs. Hoover, he was driven to Union Station, entrained for New York amid a hearty little demonstration of admirers.
Downhill. The lines melted quickly from President Roosevelt's face as he was helped down another ramp and into an open car. The steady cheering of the crowd he answered by strenuously shaking his hands over his head in prize-ring fashion. As the machine rolled back down Pennsylvania Avenue, the President flourished his topper right & left until his wife advised him to keep it on.
18,000 Marchers. After a White House snack (Senator Walsh's death caused cancellation of the luncheon for 500) President Roosevelt, with family & friends, took his place in the glass-fronted stand on Pennsylvania Avenue to review the inaugural parade, 18.000 strong. Ill in Arizona, General Pershing had to turn its command over to Chief of Staff MacArthur. For three hours, propped up on a high stool, the President watched column after stiff column swing by. The only Republican in sight was a make-believe Lincoln who bowed before the reviewing stand. No ovation along the line compared in volume and spontaneity with the one given to a solid, florid man who, wearing the insignia of a Sachem around his neck, strode along in the forefront of the Tammany delegation. He waved his silk hat at the man in the stand and President Roosevelt wigwagged back to Alfred Emanuel Smith.