I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations, and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules.


first inaugural address, 4 March 1861, in R. P. Basler (ed.) Collected Works… (1953) vol. 4

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations, and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules.

I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations, and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules.

I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations, and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules.

I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations, and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules.