从乔治·华盛顿1789年就任美国第一任总统，到2001年1月20日乔治·沃克·布什担任美国第43任总统，在美利坚合众国二百余年的历史中共产生了43位总统。由于每届总统都要发表就职演说，已成为美国政治中的一个惯例，因而才有本书的形成。

通览这部演说集就会发现，一部演说集，就是一部美利坚合众国发展史的缩影。与一般发展史的不同之处在于，演说集为我们提供了一个站在权力顶端来考察美国的过去、现在和未来的新视角，使我们不仅能看到过去的历史，还能了解这段历史的发展过程。换句话说，如果把美国的现实比作一座大厦，那么每篇演说辞都曾是建设这座大厦的一份蓝图。对于了解和研究美国发展史，这个新视角显然是具有重要价值的。

1789 George Washington First Inaugural Address

1793 George Washington Second Inaugural Address

1797 John Adams Inaugural Address

1801 Thomas Jefferson First Inaugural Address

1805 Thomas Jefferson Second Inaugural Address

1809 James Madison First Inaugural Address

1813 James Madison Second Inaugural Address

1817 James Madison First Inaugural Address

1821 James Monroe Second Inaugural Address

1825 JOhn Quincy Adams First Inaugural Address

1829 Andrew Jackson First Inaugural Address

1833 Andrew Jackson Second Inaugural Address

1837 Martin Van Buren Inaugural Address

1841 William Henry Harrsion Inaugural Address

1845 James Konx Polk Inaugural Address

1849 Zachary Taylor Inaugural Address

1853 Franklin Pierce Inaugural Address

1857 James Buchanan Inaugural Address

1861 Abraham Lincoln First Inaugural Address

1865 Abraham Lincoln Second Inaugural Address

1869 Ulysses S.Grant First Inaugural Address

1873 Ulysses S.Grant Second Inaugural Address

1877 Rutherford B.Hayes Inaugural Address

1881 James A.Garfield Inaugural Address

1885 Grover Cleveland First Inaugural Address

1893 Grover Cleveland Second Inaugural Address

1889 Benjamin Harrison Inaugural Address

1897 William McKinley First Inaugural Address

1901 William McKinley Inaugural Address

1905 Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Addres

1909 Willian Howard Inaugural Address

1913 Woodrow Wilson First Inaugural Address

1917 Woodrow Wilson Second Inaugural Address

1921 Warren G.Harding Inaugural Address

1925 Calvin Coolidge Inaugrual Address

1929 Herbert Hoover Inaugural Address

1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt First Inaugural Address

1937 Franklin D. Roosevelt Second Inaugural Address

1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt Third Inaugural Address

1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt Fourth Inaugural Address

1949 Harry S.Truman Inaugural Address

1953 Dwight D.Eisenhower First Inaugural Address

1957 Dwight D.Eisenhower Second Inaugural Address

1961 John F.Kennedy Inaugural Address

1965 Lyndon Baines Johnson Inaugural Address

1969 Richard Milhous Nixon First Inaugural Address

1973 Richard Milhous Nixon Second Inaugural Address

1977 Jimmy Carter Inaugural Address

1981 Ronald Reagan First Inaugural Address

1985 Ronald Reagan Second Inaugural Address

1989 George H.Bush Inaugural Address

1993 William J.Clinton First Inaugural Address

1997 William J.Clinton Second Inaugural Address

2001 George W.Bush First Inaugural Address

2005 George W.Bush Second Inaugural Address