“No country has been so much favored, or should acknowledge with deeper reverence the manifestations of the divine protection.  An all wise Creator directed and guarded us in our infant struggle for freedom and has constantly watched over our surprising progress until be have become the greatest nation on earth!’ James Polk, third Annual Message [...]

“Time and again the American people have demonstrated a spiritual quality, a capacity for unity for action, of generosity, a certainty of results in time of emergency that have made them great in the annals of history of all nations. This is the time and the occasion when we must arouse that idealism, that spirit…..” [...]

“The God who gave us life also gave us liberty. And, can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated, but with His [...]

“It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplication to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the [...]