We conclude the second installment of Our American Values with the Second Inaugural Address from President Abraham Lincoln. Delivered on March 4, 1865, this speech is filled with profound sadness, firm determination, but ultimate hopefulness.

For our second-to-last week of the current Our American Values series featuring Presidential Farewell and Inaugural Addresses, we go to 1961 and John F. Kennedy for the single most famous Inaugural Address.

As we kickstart the new year, our focus for this week’s “Our American Values” centers around the words shared by Franklin D. Roosevelt at his inaugural address in March 1933.

With January 20th less than a month away, this week we feature President Reagan’s first inaugural address, which launched what many refer to as the “Reagan Revolution".”

As we rapidly approach January 20, 2021, we turn to the words from President Gerald R. Ford, made during his swearing-in ceremony in the summer of 1974. In a time of uncertainty, President Ford provided the American people with what they needed most: reassurance.

In our third week, we look to the guidance offered by President George H.W. Bush to the cadets at West Point in January 1993, just mere weeks before the end of his presidency.

This week, we go to the mid-20th century and the televised farewell address of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

As we begin our second installment of the Our American Values series, it only seems appropriate that we begin our consideration of what Americans might need to hear between now and January 20th with Washington’s Farewell Message.