of the whole country, and
not to the support of any particular section or merely local interest,
I this day renew the declarations I have heretofore made and proclaim
my fixed determination to maintain to the extent of my ability the
Government in its original purity and to adopt as the basis of my public
policy those great republican doctrines which constitute the strength of
our national existence.

In reference to the Army and Navy, lately employed with so much
distinction on active service, care shall be taken to insure the highest
condition of efficiency, and in furtherance of that object the military
and naval schools, sustained by the liberality of Congress, shall
receive the special attention of the Executive.

As American freemen we can not but sympathize in all efforts to extend
the blessings of civil and political liberty, but at the same time
we are warned by the admonitions of history and the voice of our own
beloved Washington to abstain from entangling alliances with foreign
nations. In all disputes between conflicting governments it is our
interest not less than our duty to remain strictly neutral, while our
geographical position, the genius of our institutions and our people,
the advancing spirit of civilization, and, above all, the dictates of
religion direct us to the cultivation of peaceful and friendly relations
with all other powers. It is to be hoped that no international question
can now arise which a government confident in its own strength
and resolved to protect its own just rights may not settle by wise
negotiation; and it eminently becomes a government like our own, founded
on the morality and intelligence of its citizens and upheld by their
affections, to exhaust every resort of honorable diplomacy before
appealing to arms. In the conduct of our foreign relations I shall
conform to these views, as I believe them essential to the best
interests and the true honor of the country.

The appointing power vested in the President imposes delicate and
onerous duties. So far as it is possible to be informed, I shall make
honesty, capacity, and fidelity indispensable prerequisites to the
bestowal of office, and the absence of either of these qualities shall
be deemed sufficient cause for removal.

It shall be my study to recommend such constitutional measures to
Congress as may be necessary and proper to secure encouragement
and protection to the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and
man