All presidents have uttered the same oath of office, but after that, their remarks on Inauguration Day have been as different as the eras in which they lived. Sadness permeated Abraham Lincoln’s second address near the close of the Civil War; Franklin Roosevelt rallied Americans, in the depths of the Great Depression, by telling them that they had nothing to fear but fear itself; and John Kennedy famously exhorted his fellow Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
Some might say it’s too soon to think about our nation’s next inaugural address. After all, we don’t yet know who will deliver it. But that’s just the point — no matter who delivers that address, there are some things that must be said, and some commitments that must be made to the American people.
When the next president approaches the podium in January, he inevitably will have ideas about how to address the nation’s problems and how to move this country forward. But while an inaugural address is a moment to look ahead, whoever is elected in November will have to acknowledge what has come before. That’s because the next president won’t be following on the heels of just any administration; he will arrive in the wake of a series of historic abuses of executive power.
Again and again, the current administration has grabbed for power by ignoring or misinterpreting the law. When the president claimed that he could wiretap innocent Americans without a warrant, he asserted one of the most intrusive government powers imaginable. Just as jarring was the administration’s contempt for the fundamental principle of habeas corpus, which the Supreme Court rebuked in its recent decision supporting Guantanamo detainees’ right to challenge their detention in U.S. courts. The administration also has found other ways around the law, including its improper use of signing statements.
Many Americans rightly expect that the new president will abide by the law. But we can’t take that for granted. Americans deserve a guarantee from the next president that the abuses we’ve witnessed over the past eight years won’t happen again. The 44th president of the United States, whoever he is, must renounce the Bush administration’s abuses of executive power and make clear that his administration will uphold the rule of law.
This isn’t the only subject where the new president should give us concrete answers about what he would do in office, to be sure, but it is among the most urgent. Where he stands on executive power goes beyond policy and politics and speaks to his respect for the Constitution itself.
The oath presidents take on Inauguration Day, moments before they address the nation, is a simple one. It is only 35 words long, but it delivers its message loud and clear. “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States; and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend, the Constitution of the United States.” This oath was so important to the founders that they included it in the Constitution. More than ever, we need a president who will uphold that oath and respect the rule of law and the checks and balances that are a basic part of our constitutional system.
Each inaugural address is rooted in its own time, and the next president’s will be too. Some reflect the nation’s mood and some seek to change it, with words that seem to put our dreams — for our nation and ourselves — within reach. The speech we hear in January, I hope, will be many things: honest, hopeful, inspirational. But above all, I hope it will be candid about the need to reverse the Bush administration’s abuse of executive power and to uphold the presidential oath of office that our framers crafted so simply and so well.
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Russ Feingold is a Democratic U.S. senator from Wisconsin.
