Check out this New York Times interactive graphic. It displays the most-used words in every inaugural address in American. Take a look at Obama’s, then pick another president’s address. Any notable similarities or differences? Does anything strike you as significant?
A reply with responses to these questions will earn you an extra point on Friday’s quiz. Deadline is 10 p.m. Thursday.
13 comments ↓
I compared Obama’s speech to George W. Bush. I found that Bush used words a lot more than Obama did. Bush used “freedom” 27 times, America 20 times, and liberty 15 times. Obama’s most frequently used word, freedom, was only used 15 times. It’s interesting to see how Obama’s frequently used words are very relevant to the conflicts of today such as “job,” “crisis,” and “Earth.” Obama also brought family into his speech with words including “women,” “father,” and “children.” George Bush included the word “fire,” which I assume is about 9/11. It’s really interesting to try to match the words used in their inaugural addresses to the events and mindsets of their time of election.
I compared Barack Obama’s inaugural address to that of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I felt that this was a good comparison because Roosevelt also took office in the midst of an economic crisis. FDR used very proactive words in his address such as action, work, and discipline. Obama also used strong words like work and power. But Obama’s other words seem to have a different tone than FDR’s. One of his lesser used words is prosperity and another was hope. This shows that Obama wants to look to the future and reassure the American people that he is confident that we can get out of the economic crisis.
Because Obama chose to be sworn in using the same Bible as Abraham Lincoln, I chose to compare these two presidents. In Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address in 1861, he faced looming war caused by extreme polarization in the country. Some of his most frequently used words reflect the problem he would soon face as Commander in Chief: “union”, “minority”, “slave”, “section” and “secede.” Similarly, some frequently used words in his second Inaugural Address in 1985 were “war”, “cease”, “judge”, “altogether” and “slave.” Just like Lincoln, Obama now faces another critical problem: an economic recession. It is not a surprise that some of Obama’s most frequently used words in his Inaugural Address are “crisis”, “hard”, “job”, “endure”, “hope” and “prosperity”.
I compared Obama’s inaugural address to George Washington’s speech in 1789. Washington’s most used word was “government” and Obama’s was “nation.” I found this really interesting because it shows how far our country has come. The focus is no longer on the government but on the nation, America, and the people (Obama’s three most used words). Obama used a large number of words many times. On the other hand, Washington repeated few words. Perhaps Obama felt more pressure to emphasize his beliefs as he is entering his term of presidency in a time of crisis.
I compared Obama’s speech to John F. Kennedy’s speech. I felt this would be an interesting comparison as many already compare the two men themselves. Kennedy won by a narrow victory and faced great skepticism much like Obama faced in this election. Both were/are young, Democrats, and held the hope of moving America forward. Both men call on their fellow Americans to help create change and ask Americans to contribute to this movement. Kennedy used “ask” “dare” and “power” in his speech. Obama used “people” and “work.” Both men used “world” “nation” “generation,” and “peace” which reflects their desire to build a stong nation, with peace and support from the generations, and positivly establish America in the world.
I chose to compare President Obama with John F. Kennedy because of the similarities in the men and the public fascination of their families. JFK’s top 3 words used were “side”, “world” and “nation.” Obama used “nation”, “America” and “people” as his top 3. Both presidents stressed the need for continuous hard work and determination in the United States. They reminded the public in their inaugural addresses that we are “heirs” and “keepers of legacy” from Revolutionary times; we need to sustain this reputation started by our Founding Fathers. Lastly, both presidents stressed the importance of starting over again, with spirit and patriotism for our nation. The inaugural addresses seemed to tie the past and present by stating how far we have come along, but also reminding the citizens of the hard work that is in the future.
I have chosen to compare the inaugural addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941) and Barack Obama (2009). The word most commonly used by each of these presidents was “nation”; each man used it approximately fifteen times. As I continued to look at the list of words used in each of their speeches, I found that they, along with other presidents, used many of the same words. For example, several other presidents used “government”, “America”, and “future”. While Obama spoke about current events and issues that concern our country today, Roosevelt spoke about subjects that were related to the country during his time. Obama referred to the “economy” and the crisis that our country is presently working to rebuild. Additionally, he mentioned “work” and “generation” when speaking of what we, as a nation, can look forward to in our future. During Roosevelt’s speech, he often referred to the United States as a “democracy” numerous times and spoke of how our nation’s “spirit” needed to be conserved. Contrasting Obama, he chose to remember certain important events throughout history first, and then focus on the future. Their speeches are truly unique and inspiring!
I compared Barack Obama’s inaugural address to Bill Clinton’s address in 1993 and I found them to be similar. Both Obama and Clinton became president after many years of Republican office. Clinton’s speech shows that he was focused on “change” (used 11 times). An important change that he was focused on was health care. Both Obama and Clinton needed to show America that they were going to put in place new social programs. “Challenge” and “renew” were also used a lot in Clinton’s speech which demonstrate the difficulty of the tasks ahead of him that needed change. In Obama’s speech, “work” “crisis” “job” and “hard” were not only used frequently, but were highlighted which means they were unusual for many president’s inaugural addresses. These words indicate that Obama is concerned about the country’s economic crisis. Bill Clinton also had to address a bad economy.
I compared Obama’s Inaugural Address to that of Thomas Jefferson in 1801. Jefferson’s most used words were “government” “principle” and “citizen” while Obama’s were “nation” “America” and “people.” This shows the more analytical mind of Thomas Jefferson, he is more specific about the government over the nation as a whole. Jefferson’s stress of the word “principle” reflects his honest intentions within the government. Overall, Obama’s word choices express a more passionate tone to his speech. His three most frequented words are often used to address the people and engage them. He reaches out to everyone, not specific groups of people, but the nation as a whole. Jefferson’s speech contains very few words that indicate hard times. Obama’s speech on the other hand, addresses the many issues in our country with words like “crisis” “hard” and “endure.” It is also interesting that Jefferson does not use the word “women” often. He uses the words “citizen” “man” and “men” very often, but says little about women specifically. “Women” is one of Obama’s most repeated words. It is also highlighted which means that Obama’s address put more focus on women than most previous addresses.
I compared Obama’s word usage to James Buchanan’s, and my overrall opinion was that Obama’s goals are more oriented towards the benefit of everyone. Some of Buchanan’s most used words were territorial and invasion, which were both controversial plans. I thought it might be interesting to compare our new president with one of our worst, and it was a relief to see that there are very few notable similarities. It seems that all of the inaugural addresses mention America, unity, nation, prosperity, justice, and many other cliche but necessary words. I think it’s a really good sign that Obama’s speech didn’t mention the Constitution excessively because there is no reason to believe that his actions will need to justified like Buchanan’s.
I decided to compare Barack Obama’s inaugural address to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s in 1933. I choose FDR because he too became president during a time of economic unrest, and I figured that he and Obama would have similar messages to give the country. Both of the presidents used the words “nation” and “people” numerously in their addresses. This shows that America needs to unite and bond together as a nation in order to recover from our economic crisis. FDR uses words like “progress,” “purpose,” and “solve” to show that positive work should to be done in order resolve the country’s economic issues. Obama uses “work” 8 times, stressing a similar and necessary aspect of recovery. The words “generation” and “world” stick out to me from Obama’s address because they give his set of words a more global tone than FDR’s. Obama realizes that we are not the only country suffering from this economic crisis. We will need to be more aware and connected with the world as time and technology progress in order to restore our economy.
I thought it would be interesting to compare Obama’s speech to that of Andrew Jackson, because in a way both appealed to common man. Jackson himself was introducing the vote to the public, calling for democracy and equal opportunity. I think some of Obama’s principals overlap with his policies that reach out to the middle class and the “average” American. These values came through in his inaugural address, using words like “common” and “work”. Similarly, Jackson’s top used word is “public”, showing his emphasis on a level playing field and a people’s voice in the government. Although, Jackson dealt with different times and issues in America, there can be a parallel drawn between his democratic principal and those of President Obama.
I chose to compare the First Inaugural Addresses of Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan because both Presidents were adored by the public. I found the speeches to be similar in that they both laid out the issues of the time period and assured that the issues would be met, but not in a short time span. They both were sworn in during times of economic struggle and promised solutions to the problems. I noticed that Obama and Reagan used many words that connected his speech to the average American. Obama used words such as “nation,” “government,” and “common.” Reagan uses the words “government,” “freedom,” and “individual.” And they both used the expression “we the people.” Finally, Obama and Reagan both end their Inaugural Addresses by addressing America as a strong country and that together and with God’s help, we can get through times of struggle.
Leave a Comment