The New York Times found an interesting way to look at the language of inaugural addresses through history. In Inaugural Words: 1789 to Present, you can click on a president and see which words he chose to use the most – the frequency of the words matches their importance at the time. Click through the years to see that George Washington spoke often of government, John F. Kennedy repeated pledge and ask, and Bill Clinton chose to use America and promise a lot. What stands out to me in President Obama’s speech yesterday are the words work, crisis and hard. The happy dancing of last night is over and the president begins the immense job of putting those words into action today. Obama also repeated endure more than most presidents – and I think he can.
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