American presidential inaugurations, with all their pomp and splendour, are a rite of passage but not necessarily memorable. A handful stick out for the first words of the new national chief executive — Franklin D. Roosevelt’s, in 1933 in the depths of the great recession, for “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and John F. Kennedy’s, in1961, for “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”. Some have grace notes that remain in the mind — as when, in 1977, Jimmy Carter thanked Gerald Ford for all he had done “to heal our country” in the wake of Watergate.
盛大而隆重的美国总统就职典礼是一项权力交接仪式，但不一定令人难忘。少数就职典礼之所以令人印象深刻，是因为新国家元首的首次讲话——1933年美国深陷大萧条时富兰克林•D•罗斯福(Franklin D. Roosevelt)在就职典礼上所说的“我们唯一要恐惧的，就是恐惧本身”，以及1961年约翰•F•肯尼迪(John F Kennedy)所说的“不要问你的国家能为你做什么，而要问你能为你的国家做什么”。一些人的优雅言辞仍然留在人们的脑海里——比如1977年吉米•卡特(Jimmy Carter)感谢杰拉尔德•福特(Gerald Ford)在“水门事件”(Watergate)后为“治愈我们的国家”所做的一切。