This, I propose to offer, we are going to larger purposes, bind upon us, bind upon us all, as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty, hitherto evoked only in times of armed strife.

With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly, the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems. Action in this image, action to this end, is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from my ancestors. Our constitution is so simple, so practical, that it is possible always, to meet extraordinary needs, by changes in emphasis and arrangements without loss of a central form, that is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has ever seen. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.

And it is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority will be fully equal, fully adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us.