In Part Two, I will examine Obama's Inaugural Address as a piece of rhetoric. And finally, in Part Three, I'll actually share what it means to me, and where I think we go from here.
In an attempt to formulate my thoughts about Barack Obama's Inaugural Address, I started looking at other significant speeches made by Americans. I was curious what words he used the most, and how that compared with these other speeches. Fortunately, I rediscovered wordle, a wonderful little Java applet that converts blocks of text into beautiful images, where the size of the word corresponds to its frequency. It also edits out very common words, which helps avoid a dramatic and useless "the" surrounded by other, lesser words.
Here is Obama's Inaugural Address in word cloud format:
Note that in addition to emphasizing themes of commonality and unity (common, people, nation, America, world), he emphasizes words referring to time and frequency (new, now today, every, day, time, generation). Particularly interesting to me is that "less" and "work" figure significantly in the speech. While not clearly tied to a theme of austerity in the text, it's an interesting coincidence that we will likely have to work very hard, and be content with less, than we might have expected.
It's worth comparing this speech to other famous Inaugural Addresses.
JFK's Inaugural Address:
JFK's address is a product of his time (sides, arms), of course, but he also addresses the themes of unity - at least among the free nations of the world - while reaching out to the Communist countries. Both Obama and JFK address a broader audience than the US citizenry (e.g. word, nations), and offers aid (pledge, help).
Interestingly, "let" is the most common word here. It was common in Obama's speech, but not dominant as it is here. Perhaps this reflects a change in the style of speeches from 1960 to 2008. But an intriguing possibility is that Obama's theme of individual and collective responsibility means less invocation of third-person action and more direct appeals for individual contribution.
To be fair to Kennedy, this is the speech that appeals to Americans to "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.". Furthermore, his final words emphasize that it will take work:
"With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own."
FDR took office less than a year after the US Army had attacked the Bonus Army of World War I veterans that had gathered in Washington to protest for assistance. The country was in dire straits, in part because FDR refused to cooperate with Hoover on an orderly and cooperative transition. (As difficult as it seemed this cycle to have 11 weeks between election day and inauguration, FDR did not take office until March 4, 1933 - a full four months after the general election. The 20th Amendment, which moved up the date when Congress was seated and the Presidential inauguration, was proposed in 1932, and ratified in January 1933, but did not take effect until October 15, 1933.)
FDR's First Inaugural Address:
His speech also emphasizes the unity themes discussed before (national, people, world) but also has language underlining both the crisis (helped, must, emergency, money) and his view of what is needed (leadership, action). No doubt this, and his more frequent reference to his individual role, revealed that he would centralize federal power, and take a more activist role than his predecessor (and perhaps more than was constitutionally or legally mandated).
Both of Lincoln's Inaugural Addresses are stylistically more of a series of logical arguments than the more recent presidential speeches, though he naturally has a poetry that speaks today (especially in the Second Inaugural Address).
Lincoln's First Inaugural:
In 1860 Lincoln, too, faced a looming crisis. As one would expect, the words "Constitution", "government", and "Union" dominate the argument. His argument heavily discusses the legality of secession (law/laws, right, case).
Note that "slave" appears very rarely - the issue at hand was not the legality or morality of slavery, but whether Southern states, fearing a Republican in the White House, could legitimately secede. Lincoln would not make the war's focus emancipation until 1863, with a primary goal of keeping Britain from allying with the South.
Lincoln's Second Inaugural:
The Second Inaugural word cloud shows there was no doubt where the president's focus was: the Civil War had raged on for four bloody years, and "God" figures in more heavily here than in the first speech. But at this point the tide had clearly turned in the favor of the Union. Lincoln's words (offences, right, cease) indicate his desire to address the post-war system, and work toward reconciliation.
What about non-Inaugural Addresses?
Well, we can start with another of Obama's speeches - the one that propelled him into the national limelight.
Obama's Keynote Address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention:
Obama's 2004 DNC speech is marked by its prominent emphasis on John Kerry. Also noteworthy are themes of "hope" - used very effectively during Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. ("Thank" also makes an appearance, though a reading of the speech indicates it's due to eight thank-yous at the beginning of the speech. )
Another interesting point is that "father" appears several times - in a couple of contexts - but "mother" appears only once. It reminds me of a magazine piece done about Obama's mother during the Democratic primaries. One of his mother's friends pointed out that Obama had devoted almost no space in his most recent book to discussing his relationship with his mother, but a great deal of space to his father. To her credit, his mother replied something to the effect of, "Oh, he's just working something out."
It makes sense to compare it with another outstanding DNC keynote address.
It's likely that of all the speeches mentioned here, this one is the least familiar to most Americans. At the 1976 Democratic National Convention, Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas gave an impassioned speech about the need to offer the American people much more than the platform and principles of the Democratic party. The country was in turmoil after Watergate - Jordan herself came to prominence by making a televised speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting impeachment of Nixon.
Jordan's biography is fascinating and impressive, but I refer readers to her Wikipedia entry for more details.
Barbara Jordan's Keynote Address at the 1976 Democratic National Convention:
What's interesting (especially vis a vis Obama's 2004 DNC Keynote Address) is that Carter's name doesn't appear a single time. Instead, Jordan emphasizes themes of unity. A few words pop out here that don't appear prominently in other speeches: "problems", "mistakes", "believe", and "future". Jordan drew a red line under the failings of the Nixon administration and emphasized that the Democratic Party was the party that could restore the faith of the American people in the Republic. This was no mean feat - McGovern was demolished in 1972, and the 1968 convention was marked by high emotion and conflict.
The following speeches are in the top 5 American political speeches, as selected by americanrhetoric.com. In addition, I have found the RFK and MacArthur speeches particularly powerful and instructive.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech:
This speech is different from the inaugural addresses , since MLK is addressing both the specific goal of equal rights and the general ideal of freedom for a domestic audience. Here "let" figures as proportionately as it does in Obama's speech, suggesting that the difference between Obama's Inaugural and JFK's may be due to the former striking a style intermediate between MLK's and JFK's and/or the emphasis on a more activist appeal for individual effort.
Also distinctive is that "Negro" appears far more prominently than "America" or "American" - King is addressing a domestic audience, and highlighting the plight of a specific minority, even if he speaks for the ideals of all.
King also uses the same metaphors throughout his speech to great effect, in a way that might not be possible in an Inaugural Address. "ring", "dream" and "day" are so prominent. Also important is the prominence of "satisfied" - an emphasis on enough, as opposed to restitution.
It's also worth noting that King's finest moments come when he puts aside his notes and preaches from the heart - something no recent President has dared attempted. Therefore, we'd expect the style to be different, and have to judge Obama's speech against similar excellent examples from that particular genre.
FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech:
FDR's Day of Infamy speech is most striking because the most memorable parts are NOT repeated - infamy appears precisely once in the entire speech. FDR does use "yesterday" as the beginning of a series of sentences to highlight the extent of the Japanese attack and the breadth of the theater of war.
Note that "peace" appears fairly small - this is not a speech requesting an appeal for peace or negotiation. Also interesting is that "war" appears small as well - FDR makes it clear through the frequency of his words that there is no question who is to blame for the present crisis ("Japanese"). Though he is formally seeking a declaration of war, the emphasis is on the Japanese attack - highlighting the one-sidedness of the aggression.
MacArthur's Thayer Award Acceptance Speech ("Duty, Honor, Country"):
MacArthur's speech in 1962, two years before his death, is a beautiful speech, marred only by a very eccentric passage about space travel. (You need to read it to believe it.) His theme of "Duty, Honor, Country" figures prominently - he uses the repetition of that phrase to excellent effect. Other words associated with the martial profession (war, courage, victory) also appear. Perhaps less obviously, "grown" seems to indicate MacArthur's attention to the youthfulness of his audience as well as a desire to encourage them to develop themselves as well as their subordinates into better men.
Finally, Robert Kennedy's speech on the Day of Affirmation to South African students:
Robert F. Kennedy delivered this speech in 1966 to South African students. South Africa was then under Apartheid, and his themes of equal rights and justice for all addressed the great tensions present in both America and South Africa. Singularly of all speeches presented, the word "human" is heavily used. Perhaps it is a sign of how bad things were 40 years ago that the humanity of "African" and "Colored" women and men had to be emphasized. Like Obama, RFK emphasizes the role of "young" people in effecting change.
An interesting note: RFK appears to have lifted an entire line from MacArthur's address.
MacArthur:
They [Duty, Honor, Country] give you a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of an appetite for adventure over love of ease.
RFK:
This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease....
Conclusion
Just from looking at the specific words and their frequency, it's clear that Obama's Inaugural address is at once a product of our unique circumstances and a broader trend in American rhetoric to reconcile at once our diversity and our refinement of shared values. He keeps with the themes and style of his more modern predecessors in the White House, addressing an international audience as well as the US citizenry.
At the same time, differences in word frequency may indicate a difference in emphasis, stemming from either an incorporation of stylistic elements from other prominent orators or a philosophical departure from some his predecessors on the role and place for individual responsibility in American government and society.
Compared with speeches of earlier times, it is remarkable that words about race do not figure prominently in his speech. America is not by any means post-racial, nor is Obama. But the problems faced today may be large enough that, as in 1861, 1933, and 1961, America may be prepared to break from the past - however haltingly or imperfectly - and embrace promise of youth.
Hope, by its nature, presupposes a tomorrow, and by extension, another generation. And so, as RFK said so long ago, the answer lies in youth - not a time of life, but a state of mind, a set of principles gently passed from generation to generation.
Part Two: Obama's Inaugural Address as speechcraft (TBA)
Part Three: My Inauguration experiences and personal thoughts (TBA)
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