how to write a presidential inaugural speech

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How To Write A Presidential Speech

Katie Clower

The Importance of a Presidential Speech

Presidential speeches have been a prevalent and important part of our country’s society and culture since Washington’s inauguration in April of 1789 in which the first inaugural address, and presidential speech in general, was delivered. Since then, we as a country have beared witness to countless presidential and political speeches. Some have been moving, some inspirational and motivating, some heartbreaking and tear-jerking. Others have made us cringe out of anger, fear, or disappointment. Some have simply fallen flat, having been described as boring or awkward or unsettling.

Many presidential speeches are remembered and regarded to this day, despite how many decades or centuries ago they were delivered. Often, we remember and reflect on those which were the most special and important. But, in some cases the horribly written or delivered ones stick out in our minds, too. This writing guide is designed, in part, for those presidential or politician candidates and hopefuls to use as a tool to ensure their own speeches will be remembered and reflected on for years to come, for their positive messages and audience responses, not the opposite.

If you are not or do not plan to be a politician or president, do not stop reading! This guide is also written with the average person, even one with little to no political ties or aspirations, in mind. Public speech is a large aspect and topic of discussion in our society, one that has become critical to the presidential process. As such, many of us may be fascinated by and curious about the process of constructing and delivering a successful presidential speech. This guide will convey all of this information via data and analyses of previous both renowned and failed presidential speeches, deductions of what it was that made them so great or so catastrophic, syntheses of expert research and findings on the topic, and more. It does so in a casual, easy-to-follow tone, further making it a read for all.

Another reason this guide is applicable to everyone is because the speech-making tips and techniques shared throughout the text are true for not just political speech, but any form. Everyone has to deliver pitches, speeches, or presentations at some point in their lives or careers. The conclusion section emphasizes how the information and advice shared in this guide can apply to and help with all other forms of speech writing and delivering. With all of this in mind, this guide is meant for truly anyone who wants to take the time to read and be informed.

Goals of the Speech

Presidential speeches have become increasingly important over time as a means to connect with and appeal to the people in order to articulate and drive forward presidential goals, deliver or reflect on tragic or positive news, and more. As Teten put it in his study, “speeches are the core of the modern presidency” (334). He finds that while “in the past, speechmaking, as well as public appeal in the content of speeches, was not only infrequent but discouraged due to precedent and technology,” today it is one of the most important and most frequently utilized presidential tools (Teten, 334). Allison Mcnearney states that “even in an age of Twitter, the formal, spoken word from the White House carries great weight and can move, anger or inspire at home and around the world.” These findings make perfecting this method of communication with the people even more crucial to master. One part of doing so requires keeping in mind what the main, general goals of these speeches are.

Connection to Audience

While presidents and politicians deliver many different types of speeches which often have contrasting tones and messages depending on the occasion, there is always an exigence for politicians to make efforts to connect with their audience. This in turn results in a more positive audience perception and reaction to both the president and his speech. Later in the guide, specific rhetorical and linguistic strategies and moves will be discussed which have proven effective in fostering a connection with audience members through speech.

This overall notion of establishing connection works to break down barriers and make the audience feel more comfortable with and trusting of the speech giver. McNearney points to FDR as a president who successfully connected with the people, largely, she claims, through his fireside chats. The fireside chats exemplified a president making use of the media for the first time “to present a very carefully crafted message that was unfiltered and unchallenged by the press” (McNearney). Today, we often see our presidents use Twitter as a media avenue to connect and present their “unfiltered” version of a policy or goal.

Lasting Message

Another central and overarching goal presidents and politicians should keep in mind when writing and delivering a speech is to make it lasting and memorable. It is challenging to predict what exactly will resonate with people in a way that makes a speech long remembered. Many of the various rhetorical and linguistic techniques outlined in section III have helped former presidents deliver speeches that have become known as some of “the greats.”

Sometimes it is a matter of taking risks with a speech. Martin Luther King and Barack Obama are among some of the most powerful speech-givers our country has seen. Both men took risks in many of their speeches. Mcnearney points to Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech as being “risky” in its focus and discussion on racial tensions in the country, an often avoided or untouched conversation. But, the speech was well-received and well-remembered, proving this risk was worth it.

What to Do: Rhetorical and Linguistic Moves

A conjunction of previous findings from various scholars and my own research make up this section to portray the effective rhetorical and linguistic strategies that have been employed in successful presidential speech.

Emotive Language

In section II one of the central goals discussed in a presidential speech is to appeal to one’s audience . An effective way to do so is through emotive language and general emotional appeal. In their study, Erisen et al. note the value of “strik[ing] an emotional chord with the public” as a means to gain public support, increase public awareness, and overall aid presidents in pursuing their political agendas (469). They work to prove the effectiveness of this strategy through an analysis of an Obama speech, delivered during a time of growing economic crisis in the country.

Erisen et al. identify Obama’s implementation of both emotional and optimistic tones as rhetorical moves to connect with and appeal to his audience of constituents. The success of his use of emotionally-related rhetorical strategies are evident findings that came out of a survey that “reported that 68% of speech-watchers had a ‘positive reaction’ and that 85% felt ‘more optimistic’ about the direction the country was heading” (Erisen et al., 470). Stewart et al. also find that “more emotionally evocative messages… lead to higher levels of affective response by viewers” (125). This clear data indicates the power connecting with an audience through emotion can have on their response and future outlook.

Optimistic Tone

Along with Obama’s “optimistic tone” described above, others have employed what has been described as both hopeful and reassuring tones as rhetorical moves to appeal to an audience. Two of the ten “most important modern presidential speeches,” as selected by the nonpartisan affiliated scholars of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, are JFK’s address on the space effort and FDR’s first inaugural address (McNearney). JFK’s address was successful and well-received because of the hopeful tone he employs when discussing the goal to land a man on the moon. He gave the people an optimistic perspective on this lofty goal, making “Americans feel like there was nothing we couldn’t do” (McNearney). In his inaugural address, Roosevelt too pairs bold claims with optimism and reassurance to his audience.

Inclusive Language

Another found strategy utilized by presidents to appeal to their audience through speech is the use of inclusive language. In Teten’s study, he looks at the use of the words “we” and “our”, specifically, in presidential State of the Union Addressesses over time. His findings revealed a steady increase in these words within the speeches over time. The usage of these “public address and inclusion words” create an appeal with presidents’ audiences because they help presidents in creating “an imagined community in which the president and his listeners coexist on a level plane (Teten, 339-342). These findings illustrate the importance of not presenting oneself as an omnipotent power and leader, but rather a normal citizen of the country like all of those watching. Identifying oneself with the audience this way breaks down any barriers present.

Persuasive Language

Persuasion is another often-used rhetorical strategy, especially during presidential campaigns. In their study about “language intensity,” Clementson et al. look at the use of “persuasive language” as a strategy presidential candidates employ during their campaigns. They assert that “candidates seem to vary their language as they try to persuade audiences to perceive them favorably” (Clementson et al., 592). In referring to this persuasive rhetorical strategy, they utilize the term “problem-solution structure” as one which is often well-received by an audience. People appreciate hearing exactly how a president or presidential candidate plans to fix a problem at hand.

What Not to Do

  As stated earlier, while there are many speeches that are excellently written and delivered, there, too, are many speeches that flop. Alexander Meddings wrote an article which spotlights a number of political speeches which he deems some of the “worst” in modern history. In comparing what makes a good versus a bad speech he asserts that “a bad speech must, by definition, be flat, garbled and publicly damaging either for the speaker or for the cause they’re seeking to promote” (Meddings). In looking at some of the characteristics that make up some of the “worst” speeches, this section will highlight what not to do in the process of working to compose and deliver a successful speech.

The research demonstrates that length of speech actually proves very important. In Teten’s study, in addition to looking at inclusive language over time in presidential State of the Union Addresses, he also graphically measured the length, specifically number of words, of the addresses across time. His results proved interesting. There was a rise in length of these speeches from the first one delivered to those delivered in the early 1900s and then there was a sudden and far drop. There was a movement around the time of the drop to make speeches more concise, and it is clear, since they have remained much shorter as time has gone on, this choice was well-received.

Meddings alludes to this in his piece, describing both William Henry Harrison’s presidential inaugural address and Andrew Johnson’s vice-presidential inaugural address as some of the worst speeches, largely because of how dragged out they were. A very important aspect of speech-giving is capturing the audience’s attention, and this cannot be accomplished through a lengthy, uninteresting oration.

Lying And/or Contradiction

Though it should be fairly obvious that one should not lie in a speech, for the consequences will be great, there have been a number of presidents and politicians who have done so. Regan, Clinton, and Trump are all among the presidents and politicians who have made false statements or promises within speeches. Though it is understandable that a politician would want to speak towards what he or she knows will resonate and appeal to the audience, doing so in a false or manipulative way is not commendable and will lead to much greater backlash than just being honest.

Word Choice

Some politicians have been caught lying in speeches when trying to cover up a controversy or scandal. Though one should try to avoid any sort of controversy, a president or person in power has to expect to have to talk on some difficult or delicate topics. This is where careful word choice becomes vital. Often the way to ensure a speech is written eloquently, carefully, and inoffensively is through various rounds of editing from a number of different eyes.

Applications to All Forms of Speech-Giving

This guide should prove helpful for not only those looking to run for office, but for everyone. The various strategies and techniques given within this guide are, for the most part, broad enough that they can be applied to any form of speech-giving or presenting. We will all have to give a speech, a toast, a presentation, and countless other forms of written or oral works in our lives. Refer to this guide when doing so.

In terms of political or presidential speech specifically, though, in a sense there is not a clear formula for how to write and deliver them. In studies looking at various different successful presidential speeches, orators, and speechwriters, it is clear they all have their own unique style and form that works for them. But, the tips provided in this guide will certainly work to help to create a proficient and successful political speech writer and orator.

Works Cited

Clementson, David E., Paola Pascual-Ferr, and Michael J. Beatty. “When does a Presidential Candidate seem Presidential and Trustworthy? Campaign Messages through the Lens of Language Expectancy Theory.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 46.3 (2016): 592-617.  ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2019.

Erisen, Cengiz, and José D. Villalotbos. “Exploring the Invocation of Emotion in Presidential Speeches.” Contemporary Politics , vol. 20, no. 4, 2014, pp. 469–488., doi:10.1080/13569775.2014.968472.

McNearney, Allison. “10 Modern Presidential Speeches Every American Should Know.”

History.com , A&E Television Networks, 16 Feb. 2018, www.history.com/news/10-modern-presidential-speeches-every-american-should-know.

Meddings, Alexander. “The 8 Worst Speeches in Modern Political History.”

HistoryCollection.co , 9 Nov. 2018, historycollection.co/8-worst-speeches-modern-political-history/7/.

Stewart, Patrick A., Bridget M. Waller, and James N. Schubert. “Presidential Speechmaking

Style: Emotional Response to Micro-Expressions of Facial Affect.” Motivation and Emotion 33.2 (2009): 125-35. ProQuest. Web. 1 Oct. 2019.

Teten, Ryan. “Evolution of the Modern Rhetorical Presidency: Presidential Presentation and

Development of the State of the Union Address.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 33.2 (2003): 333-46. ProQuest. Web. 30 Sep. 2019.

Writing Guides for (Almost) Every Occasion Copyright © 2020 by Katie Clower is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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What is an inaugural address.

Presidents of the United States deliver a plethora of speeches during their time in office. One of the most important of them all is the inaugural address. What is an inaugural address? What is the intention of the speech, why is it so significant, and how can the President be sure to get it right? 

What is an inaugural address?

The inaugural address is the speech delivered by the President following their Oath of Office. It is a chance to speak directly to the nation and provide a clear message about the four years ahead. When well-crafted and delivered effectively, it can give the President a positive start to their first term .

Delivering an Address During an Inauguration

The inaugural address is a massive moment in the long inauguration process. There is a grand ceremony on the western front of the United States Capitol where the President and Vice President are sworn into office to begin the new term. After the oath at noon, the new President delivers their speech to the nation. 

The position of the ceremony allows the President to speak to hundreds of guests in attendance, but also thousands lining the National Mall and the millions watching on TV worldwide. It is no surprise that there is a lot of pressure to get the speech just right. 

Everything from the structure and length of the speech to the tone and eloquence of the delivery falls under a microscope. People will judge the new President based on these words, especially those that voted for the other guy. So, each speech must be bipartisan, inspiring, perfectly composed, and just the right length. 

The Length of an Inaugural Address

There is no specific length for an inaugural address. Presidents can make theirs as long or as short as they want. Some choose the former to make the most of their time and say all they need to say, while others keep it short and sweet. 

President George Washington’s second inaugural address was a good example of keeping things short. As the only person to hold office, there was no precedent in place or any expectation for a long speech and drawn-out speech. So, he said just 135 words, repeated the oath, and returned to work. 

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Over the decades, the speech has become a more symbolic moment in the ceremony, with greater expectations over the message and length. When Washington’s Vice President , John Adams, won his election, he delivered a speech of 2308 words – including one 737-word sentence. The longest ever came from William Henry Harrison , with an 8,445-word address in the pouring rain. 

Quality Over Quantity Helps With a Good Inaugural Address

The length of a speech is nowhere near as important as the message within. We will probably forget how long we spent waiting for a speech to end but will share quotes and videos from a good speech for a long time. So, each new President has to ensure that they set out their goals and principles in an appropriately presidential manner without going too far. 

Franklin D Roosevelt was a good example of one who knew when to keep things short and to the point. His fourth address did not overstay its welcome at just 559 words. By this point, the nation knew the man and his ideals as he had been elected to a historic fourth term. On top of that, Roosevelt was keen to keep things simple with a basic ceremony at the White House due to America’s involvement in World War II. 

Creating a Strong Bipartisan Address

An inauguration marks a new chapter in the nation’s history, so it makes sense for the President to highlight this after taking the oath. Some will reflect on the chance to make improvements for the nation or to lead them out of times of trouble. Others will reaffirm their desire to continue their hard work and dedication for a second term. 

Ideally, these speeches should be bipartisan. This isn’t a time to talk down to the opposition in victory or to talk about all the ways a previous administration failed the nation. Doing so runs the risk of causing a divide in the crowds of people watching – either at the National Mall or on TV. 

President Joe Biden’s 2021 address is a good example of this with its opening lines. “This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day. A day of history and hope. Of renewal and resolve.” This speech set a strong positive tone, whereas his predecessor, Donald Trump’s speech, was criticized for its bleak and dystopian outlook. 

Who Writes the Presidential Inaugural Address?

You might assume that the President is the one to write the speech if it is such an important moment for them to articulate their vision and goals. However, the scale of the occasion and scrutiny of the speech means that this isn’t always the case. In the past, the first presidents undoubtedly did spend hours penning their own speeches, but not today.

The idea of the political speech writer is not such a big deal these days. We know that the White House has a communications team to create important speeches – often with multiple versions depending on a desired tone or outcome. They have been in use since the days of Calvin Coolidge . 

Therefore, it makes sense that this grand public address is another writer’s work. They are typically skilled and trusted members of the President’s team who can take the ideas and references given by the President and spin them into gold. 

The Inaugural Address Will Always Be an Important Moment in the Presidency

There will always be debate over who created the best or worst inaugural addresses in history. Often, the oratory skills of the man elevate the words into something even more profound. What is clear is that these speeches have great power, and each President must get it just right. Otherwise, the inauguration day address will go into the history books for all the wrong reasons. 

Alicia Reynolds

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Words Matter: What an Inaugural Address Means Now

Jan 15, 2021, 6:35 AM

UNIFYING THEME:  Polarization: Its Past, Present and Future

Presidents' words create national identity. For better or worse, presidential rhetoric tells the American people who they are.  Ultimately, a president's voice must provide the American people with a concrete vision of how-and more importantly, why-to move forward together.

RELATED NEWS  featuring Vanessa Beasley:

• U.S. News & World Report:   "Limited Power for the World's Most Powerful Man"  (July 16, 2021)

By Vanessa B. Beasley , Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Presidents' words matter.  Such a statement may seem especially relevant right now, but it has been true throughout the course of U.S. history. Richard Neustadt wrote in 1960 that "presidential power is the power to persuade," and much of his focus was on how chief executives must bargain with members from other branches of government. Yet consider how much of presidents' executive action can be done through their words alone as well as how far those words can now reach due to the rise of mass and social media. They can veto, nominate, declare war, agree to peace, issue executive orders, define the state of the union, and pardon.  Today, as Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall Jamieson have argued, "[P]residential rhetoric is the source of executive power, enhanced in the modern presidency by the ability to speak where, when, and on whatever topic they choose and to reach a national audience through coverage by the electronic media."

In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, many are thinking about the difference between what a president's words can do and what they should do.  Recent images of the Capitol steps captured this contrast clearly when insurrectionists, determined to break into the building and terrorize its occupants, transformed the scaffolding installed for the ceremony of a peaceful transfer of power on Inauguration Day into scaling ladders.  In the days since, amidst heightened fears for public safety, there have been recurring questions about what kinds of security will be required on Inauguration Day 2021.  But what kinds of words could possibly be deployed as well?

When we consider the history of what most presidents have said when inaugurated, it is worth remembering this is an invented tradition; there is no Constitutional requirement for a new president to give an inaugural address. The actual requirement is only for the new president to be sworn in and take an oath per Article II, Section 1.  Yet ever since George Washington chose to give an inaugural address in April 1789, in New York City, his successors have given such a speech.  In addition to becoming a traditional part of a larger civic ritual, over time this speech has come to occupy a unique space in the public performance of the presidency.

Listening to-and later, watching-an inaugural address can inform both U.S. citizens and the broader world alike what kind of leader a new president will be.  Think of a young John F. Kennedy, inexperienced in foreign policy, giving his inaugural address at the height of the Cold War, with outgoing president (and architect of D-Day) Dwight Eisenhower nearby in camera shot from almost every angle.  Today Kennedy's inaugural address may be remembered for its elegant, moving chiasmus-"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"-focused on domestic service. On the day it was given, though, the visual message designed for a global television audience in general and the Soviet Union in particular was meant to be just as noticeable: The United States might have a new president, but it was no less prepared to protect democracy around the world.

As this example indicates, a presidential inaugural address is arguably less about an individual president and more about how well and fully he (and one day soon, she) comprehends this new role and its symbolic import.  This speech offers the first public test.  Does the new office holder truly know how to act on the oath just taken, acknowledging the necessity to transcend the views of one person or one party?  In other words, this speech signals how much the new president understands what the presidency means-or can mean-to the American people, whose communal shared interests the U.S. president, as opposed to members of Congress shivering behind him, has vowed to safeguard. For this reason, the inaugural address needs to be grounded in historical tradition but also responsive to the emergent needs of its own time.

Arguably, few presidents have understood this need better than Washington did.  In his inaugural address, he referred to the speech itself as his "first official act" as president, a role many of his contemporaries were dubious about due to fears the position would simply replicate the British monarchy or otherwise steer too much power into a nascent federal system.  Within this context, Washington crafted the very first presidential words ever uttered for the purpose of reassuring his audience, those in attendance in the Senate Chamber as well as those who would read about the speech in the following days.  His intentions were clear. He would remain humble and serve despite his own "anxieties," a word he used in the first sentence; remain reverent to the "Almighty Being who rules over the universe" and who might presumably favor the new nation; and, more than anything else, remain obliged to the new Congress (acknowledging he understood the Constitutional limitations imposed on the executive) and therefore the "public good."

To define this wholly new concept of an American public good, Washington did not spell out a policy agenda but identified what his role as its guardian would require: "no local prejudices, or attachments; no separate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests…." With Federalists and Anti-Federalists having been at odds about the structure and scope of the new government, Washington was not only carving out clear ground for the presidency, but he was also providing ideological rivals with an alternative way to view themselves.  They might remain political adversaries, but they should always remember that they were the custodians of an "experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people," who must surely remain focused on "a regard for the public harmony."

It would be up to Washington's successors to similarly define and eventually expand American national identity in such transcendent terms.  As I have argued elsewhere, the great majority of presidents have done so with remarkable similarity, using themes related to civil religion to define American identity as overriding other partisan or sectional allegiances.  Historically, civil religious themes have been associated with American national identity not only because of their pseudo-religious aspects (e.g.,  a promise of providential favor on the United States, as in Washington's inaugural, or the subsequent political appropriation of John Winthrop's scriptural framing of the land as "a shining city on a hill") but also because of the idea that the nation offered its citizens opportunities to become someone new, a recurring theme of American identity also famously captured by early foreign observers such as Crevecoeur and de Tocqueville.

This idea of the inaugural address as an invitation to collective renewal--of convening a new beginning, together--is also one of the patterns identified by Campbell and Jamieson in their study of the characteristic rhetorical elements consistent in all presidential inaugurals over time. Especially after contentious elections, they write, this first speech must respond to an urgent need to "unif[y] the audience by reconstituting its members as 'the people,' who can witness and ratify the ceremony." Viewed through this lens, the address is therefore not only an opportunity for presidents to demonstrate an understanding of their role, but it is also an opportunity for "the people" to do the same.

An example is Thomas Jefferson's first inaugural after the fiercely divisive election of 1800, which was also the first time an incumbent president had not been reelected.  To reunite a divided people, Jefferson did not ignore the reality of the divisions still among them or the unprecedented nastiness of the campaign.  "During the contest of opinion through which we have passed, the animation of discussion and of exertion has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think," he noted, reminding citizens that it was their unique democratic privilege to be able to disagree so openly about politics.  "But this now being decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good." Jefferson was defining American identity by setting a clear boundary:  Americans follow the rules, even when they do not like the outcome.

And yet of course any discussion of Jefferson's definition of American character must state the obvious: Like Washington, he was never really speaking to or about all of the inhabitants of the United States. There was no acknowledgement of enslaved people or indigenous people as part of this common good. There was no sense that these people were part of what was being reunited after an election or at any other time either.  Following the rules of the day, in fact, demanded otherwise, including the violent separation of kin and tribe in order to build a new nation. Likewise, while white women were considered invaluable to a virtuous republic, there was no understanding that their interests might be in any way different from the white men who voted presumably, if not always accurately, for them.

In 2021, an awareness of how many of "the people" have been ignored in prior inaugural addresses raises questions about what an inaugural address means now.  If it is to be rooted in rhetorical traditions, which ones?  Like other genres of presidential speech, inaugural addresses are constructed around pillars of baked-in impulses and assumptions held by previous generations about who deserved to be called an American and whose interests should be included in a non-partisan, unifying sense of the common good. Even one of the most beautiful phrases in any inaugural, Lincoln's appeal to the "better angels of our nature" in his first, gives pause when you realize that the "us" implied in Lincoln's sense of "our nature," was necessarily almost exclusively white and male because of who his intended audience in 1861 was as well as his stated intent in the same speech not to interfere with "the institution of slavery" during his presidency.

Does this fact mean that Lincoln's first words as president, like the traditions they were written to follow, are irrelevant to what presidents should do today when they invite the American people to renew their faith in a democratic republic? To the contrary, they are instructive exactly because they reveal where to begin the rhetorical work that remains to be done:  the revision of a tradition of presidential speech with the explicit goal of expanding the common good into something larger than partisan interest or individual gain, as the previous examples indicate, but also making it clear in unequivocal terms that everyone has a stake in this good.  Everyone.

At this moment, it may be difficult to imagine what that would sound like. Barack Obama's notion of the nation as an imperfect but evolving union comes to mind as one possible foundational trope, even though it originally came from one of his campaign speeches and not the bully pulpit.  It may also be true that, over time, the televised spectacle of the inauguration itself-coverage of the formal breakfast, the fancy dress balls, and even the breathiness of the news announcers pointing out who is and is not attending this time-has increasingly turned our collective attention to the ceremony as primarily a visual event rather an oratorical one.  If this is true, it could explain why Donald Trump clung so tightly to his claims about how many attendees packed onto the Capitol lawn and parade route in January, 2017. Perhaps his belief was that such imagery alone was sufficient to represent a nation united in its hopes for a new president.

Images are rhetorical, to be sure.  I began this essay by referencing the horrific images of the U.S. Capitol on the afternoon of January 6, 2021.  As haunting as those photographs and videos are, and as much as even a rhetorician like myself must concede that words cannot repair everything, words are almost always the place to start looking for both cause and effect.  Now is the moment to take seriously what presidents' words can do.

A president's words on Inauguration Day reveal not only what kind of president he or she will be, but they also should offer an idiom of identity the American people might imagine they can share.  In 2021, as it was in another speech given by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, it may be time to think carefully about how words may have the potential to remake America. At minimum, we must consider more expansively and honestly than ever before who "we" are, who "we" have been, and how "we" can move forward if the nation is to be renewed. Does the peaceful transition of power from one U.S. president to another require that a new chief executive give an inaugural address as part of a civic ritual of renewal? No.  Does the prospect of authentic unity among the American people depend on the invocation of an expansive "us" able to imagine a common good not yet realized? Yes.

• Vanessa Beasley

Vanessa Beasley , a Vanderbilt University alumna and expert on the history of U.S. political rhetoric, is vice provost for academic affairs, dean of residential faculty and an associate professor of communication studies. As Vice Provost and Dean of Residential Faculty, she oversees Vanderbilt's growing Residential College System as well as the campus units that offer experiential learning inside and outside of the classroom.

Following stints on the faculty of Texas A&M University, Southern Methodist University and the University of Georgia, she returned to Vanderbilt in 2007 as a faculty member in the Department of Communication Studies . Active in the Vanderbilt community, she has served as chair of the Provost's Task Force on Sexual Assault, director of the Program for Career Development for faculty in the College of Arts and Science, and as a Jacque Voegeli Fellow of the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.

Beasley's areas of academic expertise include the rhetoric of American presidents, political rhetoric on immigration, and media and politics. She is the author of numerous scholarly articles, book chapters and other publications, and is the author of two books, Who Belongs in America? Presidents, Rhetoric , and Immigration and You, the People: American National Identity in Presidential Rhetoric, 1885-2000.  She was recently named president-elect of the Rhetoric Society of America , set to begin her term in July 2022.

Beasley attended Vanderbilt as an undergraduate and earned a bachelor of arts in speech communication and theatre arts. She also holds a Ph.D. in speech communication from the University of Texas at Austin.

[1] Richard Neustadt, Presidential Power and the Politics of Leadership (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1960), 11.

[2] Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Presidents Creating the Presidency: Deeds Done in Words , 2 nd ed (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008), 6.

[3] Authenticated text available at https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/inaugural-address-2.

[4] Authenticated text available at https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/people/president/george-washington

[5] Authenticated text available at https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/people/president/george-washington

[6] Authenticated text available at https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/people/president/george-washington

[7] Vanessa B. Beasley, You, The People: American National Identity in Presidential Rhetoric (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004).

[8] Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Presidents Creating the Presidency: Deeds Done in Words , 2 nd ed (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008).

[9] Campbell and Jamieson, Presidents Creating the Presidency , 31.

[10] Authenticated text available at https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/inaugural-address-19

[11] Beasley, You, the People.

[12] Authenticated text available at https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/inaugural-address-34

[13] Authenticated text and audio available at https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88478467

[14] Gary Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992).

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How to write an inaugural address

The inaugural address is the center stage of american public life. it is a place where rhetorical ambition is expected. it symbolizes the peaceful transfer of power -- something relatively rare in human history..

By William McKenzie|Contributor

4:03 PM on Jan 10, 2017 CST

There are speeches, and then there are speeches. An inaugural address seems to be in a class of its own. In Lincoln's case, his words ended up chiseled in stone at the Lincoln Monument. How does a president, or president-elect, even start tackling an address that could shape history?

The inaugural address is the center stage of American public life. It is a place where rhetorical ambition is expected. It symbolizes the peaceful transfer of power -- something relatively rare in human history. It provides the public, Congress and members of a new president's own administration an indication of his tone and vision. It is intended to express the best, most inspiring, most unifying version of president's core beliefs. And that requires knowing your core beliefs.

I read that you went back and studied all prior inaugural addresses before starting to work on President Bush's 2001 inaugural address. What did you learn from that experience? Would you recommend it for others who go through this process?

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It is a pretty tough slog in the early 19 th century, before getting to Abraham Lincoln and the best speech of American history, his Second Inaugural Address. That speech is remarkable for telling a nation on the verge of a military victory that had cost hundreds of thousands of lives that it was partially responsible for the slaughter; that its massive suffering represented divine justice.

Strictly speaking, it is only necessary to read the greatest hits among inaugurals to get a general feel. But it would be a mistake to miss some less celebrated but worthy efforts such as Richard Nixon in 1968: "America has suffered from a fever of words... we cannot learn from each other until we stop shouting at one another." This theme of national unity is a consistent thread throughout inaugural history.

Having worked on two inaugural addresses, and read so many, do they by and large set the stage for the next four years? Or, are they mostly forgotten?

Some of the speeches are undeniably forgettable. But even those are never really forgotten. They are some of the most revealing documents of presidential history, when a chief executive tries to put his ideals and agenda into words. Students of the presidency will read those speeches to help understand a president's self-conception and the political atmosphere of his time.

What was the writing and editing process like with President Bush on these addresses? And what did you all learn from the first address that shaped the second one in 2005?

President Bush's first inaugural address was intended to be a speech of national unity and healing. He had just won a difficult election in which he lost the popular vote (which certainly sounds familiar). It was a moment of some drama, with his opponent, Vice President Gore, seated on the podium near the President-Elect.

President Bush would often edit speeches by reading them aloud to a small group of advisers, which he did several times at Blair House during the transition. "Our unity, our Union," he said in his first inaugural, "is a serious work of leaders and citizens and every generation. And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity."

The second inaugural was quite different, not so much a speech of national unity as a speech of national purpose. President Bush had a strong vision of what he wanted his second inaugural to accomplish. "I want it to be the freedom speech," he told me in the Cabinet room after the first Cabinet meeting following his reelection had broken up. It was intended to be a tight summary of Bush's foreign policy approach, setting high goals while recognizing great difficulties in the post-9/11 world.

"We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion," he said. "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world."

Globalization figured prominently as a theme in Donald Trump's victorious presidential campaign. I would assume we are likely to hear more in his address about America's place in the globalized economy. But what do you think? What themes are we likely to hear?

We are seeing a reaction to globalization across the western world, and this set of issues certainly motivated a portion of President-elect Trump's coalition. It is essential for political leaders to help a generation of workers prepare for an increasingly skills-based economy. It is a fantasy, however, for a political leader to promise the reversal of globalization, any more than he or she could promise the reversal of industrialization. Trump should address the struggles of middle and working class Americans. But it is deceptive and self-destructive to blame those struggles on trade and migrants.

What happens after these big speeches are given? Do presidents and the team that helped prepare them go back to the White House and high-five each other? I guess it would be a little indecorous to throw Gatorade buckets on each other, like victorious football teams do after winning the Super Bowl.

As I remember it, the new president attends a lunch hosted by congressional leaders. Then he goes to the reviewing stand in front of the White House for the inaugural parade. (Jimmy Carter actually walked in the parade a bit.)

I remember entering the White House that afternoon, walking into the Roosevelt Room (where senior staff and other meetings take place) and watching a workman take down the picture of Franklin Roosevelt from above the fireplace and put up the picture of Teddy Roosevelt. I felt fortunate to be present at a great tradition. In fact, every day at the White House was an honor.

This Q&A was conducted by William McKenzie, editor of The Catalyst: A Journal of Ideas from the Bush Institute. Email:  [email protected] . 

William McKenzie|Contributor

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Build your own inaugural address, 1. how will you draw on america's past.

Presidents frequently reflect on the nation's history.

March 5, 1849 Zachary Taylor, like many before him, cited George Washington.

To defend your policies

“We are warned by the admonitions of history and the voice of our own beloved Washington to abstain from entangling alliances with foreign nations.”

January 20, 1973 Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.

To win public support

“Let us pledge together to make these next four years the best four years in America's history, so that on its 200th birthday America will be as young and as vital as when it began, and as bright a beacon of hope for all the world.”

January 20, 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower's first Inaugural Address.

To measure national progress

“We have passed through the anxieties of depression and of war to a summit unmatched in man's history.”

January 20, 1993 Bill Clinton took office in 1993.

To show a changing world

“When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slowly across the land by horseback and across the ocean by boat. Now, the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world.”

2. How will you acknowledge the moment?

Absent a crisis, Inaugural Addresses often emphasize continuity of government.

January 20, 1981 Ronald Reagan succeeded Jimmy Carter.

Celebrate how routine it is

“The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are.”

March 4, 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt urged action to fight the Great Depression

Push for immediate action

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

March 4, 1845 James Polk, like many early presidents, celebrated the Constitution.

Honor the Constitution

“The Constitution itself, plainly written as it is, the safeguard of our federative compact, the offspring of concession and compromise, binding together in the bonds of peace and union this great and increasing family of free and independent States, will be the chart by which I shall be directed.”

March 4, 1873 Ulysses S. Grant won re-election overwhelmingly in 1872.

Proclaim victory over your enemies

“I have been the subject of abuse and slander scarcely ever equaled in political history, which to-day I feel that I can afford to disregard in view of your verdict, which I gratefully accept as my vindication.”

3. What is America's biggest challenge?

Economic problems are among the most cited threats.

March 4, 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 started a large-scale program of public works.

End mass unemployment

“Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously.”

January 20, 2005 George W. Bush's second Inaugural Address focused on expanding freedom.

Spreading freedom

“From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few: Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?”

March 4, 1897 William McKinley entered office amid a depression and arguments over a gold standard.

Protecting our credit

“The credit of the Government, the integrity of its currency, and the inviolability of its obligations must be preserved. This was the commanding verdict of the people, and it will not be unheeded.”

January 20, 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson helped establish Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps.

Reducing inequality

“In a land of great wealth, families must not live in hopeless poverty. In a land rich in harvest, children just must not go hungry.”

4. What is the role of government?

Views of govenrment have evolved, from frequent praise after the Revolutionary War to increased skepticism today.

January 20, 1937 Franklin D. Roosevelt said that government must act during the Great Depression.

To solve our biggest problems

“Democratic government has innate capacity to protect its people against disasters once considered inevitable, to solve problems once considered unsolvable.”

January 20, 1981 Ronald Reagan won his first term in the face of a weak economy.

To get out of the way

“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

January 20, 2009 Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012.

To be practical

“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.”

March 4, 1817 James Monroe and other early presidents frequently praised government.

To continue being awesome

“The heart of every citizen must expand with joy when he reflects how near our Government has approached to perfection; that in respect to it we have no essential improvement to make.”

5. How will you unite Americans?

As early as Thomas Jefferson, presidents have urged Americans to unite after close elections.

March 4, 1801 Thomas Jefferson won office after the bitter, partisan election of 1800.

Cite shared values

“But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.”

January 20, 1961 John F. Kennedy spoke of "defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger."

Appeal to sense of duty

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

March 4, 1881 James A. Garfield said Americans should accept emancipation.

Show how we have moved past old problems

“My countrymen, we do not now differ in our judgment concerning the controversies of past generations, and fifty years hence our children will not be divided in their opinions concerning our controversies.”

March 4, 1861 Abraham Lincoln appealed for states to rejoin the Union.

Warn of disunion

“I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. ”

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An inaugural speech captures the triumphs and hopes for the future in the winner of a political campaign. After a long and tiresome journey to the top of the political heap, you now can rejoice and let others in on your victory. But before you put that pen to paper or those fingers to the keyboard, you may want to learn a few important tips on what makes an inaugural speech great and how to inspire the citizens you preside over to create change.

Reflect on the moments that led to your victory. Think of the setbacks and the struggles you endured to finally reach this office. You will want to jot down a few distinct memories that touched you in terms of your fight to gain the position you now have. Try to add to your notes as much detailed information of such memories so that you will write more easily when you begin.

Recognize a theme that symbolizes your platform, as well as your fight to gain office. A recurrent theme of President Obama’s campaign was “hope,” and in his inaugural speech, he presented that theme by discussing the trials American people have faced through the years and how they always overcame them through determination and hope (see Ref 1, 3).

Craft an outline that has at least three parts; an introduction, a body and a conclusion. In your outline, use the notes and theme to create an organized list of what you want to say in your speech (see Ref 2).

Start the speech by writing a powerful opening that draws your audience in, making them want to hear more. You can begin with a line that sums up what your supporters feel; in Obama’s speech, he stated that “I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.” Yet you can also begin with a story that mirrors the trials and tribulations you faced and will soon take on as a newly elected leader. Whatever you decide, just make sure it captures your audience’s attention.

Write the following paragraphs addressing your citizens’ desires and fears. You can use figurative language to describe your positions on subjects, but it is best to be direct and simplistic when discussing more serious events or situations. You, as a leader, have received the office because people believed that you represented the future so you should keep them believing that, while also remaining honest and somewhat stoic. Becoming too emotional will not give you an air of leadership, so keep that in mind when writing the speech.

End the speech with a call to arms for your fellow citizens. Let them know that you will do your best but that you can only achieve great things with their help. Bring the speech full circle by addressing your theme in a subtle way, and leave your audience with an inspirational last sentence.

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Gerri Blanc began her professional writing career in 2007 and has collaborated in the research and writing of the book "The Fairy Shrimp Chronicles," published in 2009. Blanc holds a Bachelor of Arts in literature and culture from the University of California, Merced.

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Presidential Speeches

January 20, 2021: inaugural address, about this speech.

January 20, 2021

Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on January 20, 2021. In his Inaugural Address, he stressed the need for the country to come together in unity. Speaking to those who voted for him and to those who did not, Biden made the strong case that together the country could move forward to contain the coronavirus pandemic and improve the economy. His address was in stark contrast to President Donald Trump's Inaugural Address four years earlier. 

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Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans.

This is America’s day.

This is democracy’s day.

A day of history and hope.

Of renewal and resolve.

Through a crucible for the ages America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.

Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy.

The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded.

We have learned again that democracy is precious.

Democracy is fragile.

And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.

So now, on this hallowed ground where just days ago violence sought to shake this Capitol’s very foundation, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries.

We look ahead in our uniquely American way – restless, bold, optimistic – and set our sights on the nation we know we can be and we must be.

I thank my predecessors of both parties for their presence here.

I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

You know the resilience of our Constitution and the strength of our nation.

As does President Carter, who I spoke to last night but who cannot be with us today, but whom we salute for his lifetime of service.

I have just taken the sacred oath each of these patriots took — an oath first sworn by George Washington.

But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us.

On “We the People” who seek a more perfect Union.

This is a great nation and we are a good people.

Over the centuries through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we have come so far. But we still have far to go.

We will press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and possibility.

Much to repair.

Much to restore.

Much to heal.

Much to build.

And much to gain.

Few periods in our nation’s history have been more challenging or difficult than the one we’re in now.

A once-in-a-century virus silently stalks the country.

It’s taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II.

Millions of jobs have been lost.

Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed.

A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.

A cry for survival comes from the planet itself. A cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear.

And now, a rise in political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.

To overcome these challenges – to restore the soul and to secure the future of America – requires more than words.

It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy:

In another January in Washington, on New Year’s Day 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

When he put pen to paper, the President said, “If my name ever goes down into history it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it.”

My whole soul is in it.

Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this:

Bringing America together.

Uniting our people.

And uniting our nation.

I ask every American to join me in this cause.

Uniting to fight the common foes we face:

Anger, resentment, hatred.

Extremism, lawlessness, violence.

Disease, joblessness, hopelessness.

With unity we can do great things. Important things.

We can right wrongs.

We can put people to work in good jobs.

We can teach our children in safe schools.

We can overcome this deadly virus.

We can reward work, rebuild the middle class, and make health care secure for all.

We can deliver racial justice.

We can make America, once again, the leading force for good in the world.

I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy.

I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real.

But I also know they are not new.

Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, and demonization have long torn us apart.

The battle is perennial.

Victory is never assured.

Through the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice, and setbacks, our “better angels” have always prevailed.

In each of these moments, enough of us came together to carry all of us forward.

And, we can do so now.

History, faith, and reason show the way, the way of unity.

We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors.

We can treat each other with dignity and respect.

We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.

For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.

No progress, only exhausting outrage.

No nation, only a state of chaos.

This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.

And, we must meet this moment as the United States of America.

If we do that, I guarantee you, we will not fail.

We have never, ever, ever failed in America when we have acted together.

And so today, at this time and in this place, let us start afresh.

Let us listen to one another.

Hear one another. See one another.

Show respect to one another.

Politics need not be a raging fire destroying everything in its path.

Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war.

And, we must reject a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.

My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this.

America has to be better than this.

And, I believe America is better than this.

Just look around.

Here we stand, in the shadow of a Capitol dome that was completed amid the Civil War, when the Union itself hung in the balance.

Yet we endured and we prevailed.

Here we stand looking out to the great Mall where Dr. King spoke of his dream.

Here we stand, where 108 years ago at another inaugural, thousands of protestors tried to block brave women from marching for the right to vote.

Today, we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office – Vice President Kamala Harris.

Don’t tell me things can’t change.

Here we stand across the Potomac from Arlington National Cemetery, where heroes who gave the last full measure of devotion rest in eternal peace.

And here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, and to drive us from this sacred ground.

That did not happen.

It will never happen.

Not tomorrow.

To all those who supported our campaign I am humbled by the faith you have placed in us.

To all those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart.

And if you still disagree, so be it.

That’s democracy. That’s America. The right to dissent peaceably, within the guardrails of our Republic, is perhaps our nation’s greatest strength.

Yet hear me clearly: Disagreement must not lead to disunion.

And I pledge this to you: I will be a President for all Americans.

I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.

Many centuries ago, Saint Augustine, a saint of my church, wrote that a people was a multitude defined by the common objects of their love.

What are the common objects we love that define us as Americans?

I think I know.

Opportunity.

And, yes, the truth.

Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson.

There is truth and there are lies.

Lies told for power and for profit.

And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders – leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation — to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.

I understand that many Americans view the future with some fear and trepidation.

I understand they worry about their jobs, about taking care of their families, about what comes next.

But the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don’t look like you do, or worship the way you do, or don’t get their news from the same sources you do.

We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.

We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.

If we show a little tolerance and humility.

If we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes just for a moment. Because here is the thing about life: There is no accounting for what fate will deal you.

There are some days when we need a hand.

There are other days when we’re called on to lend one.

That is how we must be with one another.

And, if we are this way, our country will be stronger, more prosperous, more ready for the future.

My fellow Americans, in the work ahead of us, we will need each other.

We will need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter.

We are entering what may well be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus.

We must set aside the politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation.

I promise you this: as the Bible says weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.

We will get through this, together

The world is watching today.

So here is my message to those beyond our borders: America has been tested and we have come out stronger for it.

We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.

Not to meet yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s.

We will lead not merely by the example of our power but by the power of our example.

We will be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress, and security.

We have been through so much in this nation.

And, in my first act as President, I would like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer to remember all those we lost this past year to the pandemic.

To those 400,000 fellow Americans – mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

We will honor them by becoming the people and nation we know we can and should be.

Let us say a silent prayer for those who lost their lives, for those they left behind, and for our country.

This is a time of testing.

We face an attack on democracy and on truth.

A raging virus.

Growing inequity.

The sting of systemic racism.

A climate in crisis.

America’s role in the world.

Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways.

But the fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with the gravest of responsibilities.

Now we must step up.

It is a time for boldness, for there is so much to do.

And, this is certain.

We will be judged, you and I, for how we resolve the cascading crises of our era.

Will we rise to the occasion?

Will we master this rare and difficult hour?

Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world for our children?

I believe we must and I believe we will.

And when we do, we will write the next chapter in the American story.

It’s a story that might sound something like a song that means a lot to me.

It’s called “American Anthem” and there is one verse stands out for me:

“The work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day What shall be our legacy? What will our children say?… Let me know in my heart When my days are through America America I gave my best to you.”

Let us add our own work and prayers to the unfolding story of our nation.

If we do this then when our days are through our children and our children’s children will say of us they gave their best.

They did their duty.

They healed a broken land. My fellow Americans, I close today where I began, with a sacred oath.

Before God and all of you I give you my word.

I will always level with you.

I will defend the Constitution.

I will defend our democracy.

I will defend America.

I will give my all in your service thinking not of power, but of possibilities.

Not of personal interest, but of the public good.

And together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear.

Of unity, not division.

Of light, not darkness.

An American story of decency and dignity.

Of love and of healing.

Of greatness and of goodness.

May this be the story that guides us.

The story that inspires us.

The story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history.

We met the moment.

That democracy and hope, truth and justice, did not die on our watch but thrived.

That our America secured liberty at home and stood once again as a beacon to the world.

That is what we owe our forebearers, one another, and generations to follow.

So, with purpose and resolve we turn to the tasks of our time.

Sustained by faith.

Driven by conviction.

And, devoted to one another and to this country we love with all our hearts.

May God bless America and may God protect our troops.

Thank you, America.

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Presidential Inaugurations: The Inaugural Address

Copyright © White House Historical Association. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this article may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Requests for reprint permissions should be addressed to [email protected]

President Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address, March 4, 1865, near the end of the Civil War.

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George Washington delivered the first inaugural address, invoking God’s guidance, demurring about his qualifications for presidential tasks, and declaring his intention to accept no salary -- save expenses -- while serving. It was Washington who in 1793 gave the shortest inaugural address of 135 words, while William Henry Harrison ’s 1841 speech, lasting almost two hours, was the longest at 8,455 words.

Inaugural speeches set the tone for the incoming administration. Sometimes they are intended to persuade, as when Abraham Lincoln in 1861 urged the seceding southern states to avoid war, or to heal and reconcile, as when he stated his policy toward the defeated Confederacy in 1865, promising "malice toward none" and "charity for all."

Some presidents have spoken directly to the nation’s concerns. Franklin D. Roosevelt ’s 1933 inaugural assertion, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," allayed the panic of a people gripped by the Great Depression. John F. Kennedy ’s 1961 challenge — "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" — sent an idealistic message, calling for change and sacrifice.

Usually bipartisan and unifying, the inaugural address gives the president a first "center stage" opportunity to introduce his vision to the nation and the world.

This photograph is of President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivering his First Inaugural Address in Washington, D.C. on March 4, 1933.

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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Inaugural Address by President Joseph R. Biden,   Jr.

The United States Capitol

11:52 AM EST

THE PRESIDENT: Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans.

This is America’s day.

This is democracy’s day.

A day of history and hope.

Of renewal and resolve.

Through a crucible for the ages America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge.

Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy.

The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded.

We have learned again that democracy is precious.

Democracy is fragile.

And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.

So now, on this hallowed ground where just days ago violence sought to shake this Capitol’s very foundation, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries.

We look ahead in our uniquely American way – restless, bold, optimistic – and set our sights on the nation we know we can be and we must be.

I thank my predecessors of both parties for their presence here.

I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

You know the resilience of our Constitution and the strength of our nation.

As does President Carter, who I spoke to last night but who cannot be with us today, but whom we salute for his lifetime of service.

I have just taken the sacred oath each of these patriots took — an oath first sworn by George Washington.

But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us.

On “We the People” who seek a more perfect Union.

This is a great nation and we are a good people.

Over the centuries through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we have come so far. But we still have far to go.

We will press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and possibility.

Much to repair.

Much to restore.

Much to heal.

Much to build.

And much to gain.

Few periods in our nation’s history have been more challenging or difficult than the one we’re in now.

A once-in-a-century virus silently stalks the country.

It’s taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II.

Millions of jobs have been lost.

Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed.

A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.

A cry for survival comes from the planet itself. A cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear.

And now, a rise in political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.

To overcome these challenges – to restore the soul and to secure the future of America – requires more than words.

It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy:

In another January in Washington, on New Year’s Day 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

When he put pen to paper, the President said, “If my name ever goes down into history it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it.”

My whole soul is in it.

Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this:

Bringing America together.

Uniting our people.

And uniting our nation.

I ask every American to join me in this cause.

Uniting to fight the common foes we face:

Anger, resentment, hatred.

Extremism, lawlessness, violence.

Disease, joblessness, hopelessness.

With unity we can do great things. Important things.

We can right wrongs.

We can put people to work in good jobs.

We can teach our children in safe schools.

We can overcome this deadly virus.

We can reward work, rebuild the middle class, and make health care secure for all.

We can deliver racial justice.

We can make America, once again, the leading force for good in the world.

I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy.

I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real.

But I also know they are not new.

Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, and demonization have long torn us apart.

The battle is perennial.

Victory is never assured.

Through the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice, and setbacks, our “better angels” have always prevailed.

In each of these moments, enough of us came together to carry all of us forward.

And, we can do so now.

History, faith, and reason show the way, the way of unity.

We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors.

We can treat each other with dignity and respect.

We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.

For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.

No progress, only exhausting outrage.

No nation, only a state of chaos.

This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.

And, we must meet this moment as the United States of America.

If we do that, I guarantee you, we will not fail.

We have never, ever, ever failed in America when we have acted together.

And so today, at this time and in this place, let us start afresh.

Let us listen to one another.

Hear one another. See one another.

Show respect to one another.

Politics need not be a raging fire destroying everything in its path.

Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war.

And, we must reject a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.

My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this.

America has to be better than this.

And, I believe America is better than this.

Just look around.

Here we stand, in the shadow of a Capitol dome that was completed amid the Civil War, when the Union itself hung in the balance.

Yet we endured and we prevailed.

Here we stand looking out to the great Mall where Dr. King spoke of his dream.

Here we stand, where 108 years ago at another inaugural, thousands of protestors tried to block brave women from marching for the right to vote.

Today, we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office – Vice President Kamala Harris.

Don’t tell me things can’t change.

Here we stand across the Potomac from Arlington National Cemetery, where heroes who gave the last full measure of devotion rest in eternal peace.

And here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, and to drive us from this sacred ground.

That did not happen.

It will never happen.

Not tomorrow.

To all those who supported our campaign I am humbled by the faith you have placed in us.

To all those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart.

And if you still disagree, so be it.

That’s democracy. That’s America. The right to dissent peaceably, within the guardrails of our Republic, is perhaps our nation’s greatest strength.

Yet hear me clearly: Disagreement must not lead to disunion.

And I pledge this to you: I will be a President for all Americans.

I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.

Many centuries ago, Saint Augustine, a saint of my church, wrote that a people was a multitude defined by the common objects of their love.

What are the common objects we love that define us as Americans?

I think I know.

Opportunity.

And, yes, the truth.

Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson.

There is truth and there are lies.

Lies told for power and for profit.

And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders – leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation — to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.

I understand that many Americans view the future with some fear and trepidation.

I understand they worry about their jobs, about taking care of their families, about what comes next.

But the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don’t look like you do, or worship the way you do, or don’t get their news from the same sources you do.

We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.

We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.

If we show a little tolerance and humility.

If we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes just for a moment. Because here is the thing about life: There is no accounting for what fate will deal you.

There are some days when we need a hand.

There are other days when we’re called on to lend one.

That is how we must be with one another.

And, if we are this way, our country will be stronger, more prosperous, more ready for the future.

My fellow Americans, in the work ahead of us, we will need each other.

We will need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter.

We are entering what may well be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus.

We must set aside the politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation.

I promise you this: as the Bible says weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.

We will get through this, together

The world is watching today.

So here is my message to those beyond our borders: America has been tested and we have come out stronger for it.

We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.

Not to meet yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s.

We will lead not merely by the example of our power but by the power of our example.

We will be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress, and security.

We have been through so much in this nation.

And, in my first act as President, I would like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer to remember all those we lost this past year to the pandemic.

To those 400,000 fellow Americans – mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

We will honor them by becoming the people and nation we know we can and should be.

Let us say a silent prayer for those who lost their lives, for those they left behind, and for our country.

This is a time of testing.

We face an attack on democracy and on truth.

A raging virus.

Growing inequity.

The sting of systemic racism.

A climate in crisis.

America’s role in the world.

Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways.

But the fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with the gravest of responsibilities.

Now we must step up.

It is a time for boldness, for there is so much to do.

And, this is certain.

We will be judged, you and I, for how we resolve the cascading crises of our era.

Will we rise to the occasion?

Will we master this rare and difficult hour?

Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world for our children?

I believe we must and I believe we will.

And when we do, we will write the next chapter in the American story.

It’s a story that might sound something like a song that means a lot to me.

It’s called “American Anthem” and there is one verse stands out for me:

“The work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day What shall be our legacy? What will our children say?… Let me know in my heart When my days are through America America I gave my best to you.”

Let us add our own work and prayers to the unfolding story of our nation.

If we do this then when our days are through our children and our children’s children will say of us they gave their best.

They did their duty.

They healed a broken land. My fellow Americans, I close today where I began, with a sacred oath.

Before God and all of you I give you my word.

I will always level with you.

I will defend the Constitution.

I will defend our democracy.

I will defend America.

I will give my all in your service thinking not of power, but of possibilities.

Not of personal interest, but of the public good.

And together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear.

Of unity, not division.

Of light, not darkness.

An American story of decency and dignity.

Of love and of healing.

Of greatness and of goodness.

May this be the story that guides us.

The story that inspires us.

The story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history.

We met the moment.

That democracy and hope, truth and justice, did not die on our watch but thrived.

That our America secured liberty at home and stood once again as a beacon to the world.

That is what we owe our forebearers, one another, and generations to follow.

So, with purpose and resolve we turn to the tasks of our time.

Sustained by faith.

Driven by conviction.

And, devoted to one another and to this country we love with all our hearts.

May God bless America and may God protect our troops.

Thank you, America.

12:13 pm EST

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Recipe for an Inaugural Address

About this resource, overview  .

In this lesson for middle grades, students consider what “ingredients” might go into the speech that will launch a president’s term in office as they examine some of the most memorable inaugural addresses of the past.

Procedure  

1. Ask students to imagine being an advisor to the newly-elected president who has asked for ideas about what to put into his or her upcoming inaugural address. “Give me your recipe,” the president-elect says, “because we need to start cookin’!” You begin by writing down some notes and questions.

Go over this list of “ingredients” and related questions with the whole class, either writing on the board or presenting as a handout.

Inaugural Address Ingredients

One nation, indivisible What words will help bring people together following a hard-fought election? What to say to those who voted for a different candidate? What are the basic beliefs and principles that unite us as Americans? Historical moment Where have we come from as a nation? What are the great challenges and opportunities of this time in history? What kind of future are we looking at? Goals What will the priorities of this administration be? What new course is the president charting for the country? Audiences/messages Who else is the speech aimed at? Along with the American people, which groups at home and around the world should the president be addressing? And what are the messages? Inspiration How can the president best convey a sense of hope? What can this speech do to help get citizens energized and involved? Emotional content What other feelings or attitudes should be expressed given the current circumstances and mood of the country? Language and form How should the speech be structured? In what ways can the president use language that will lift the address to a level above that of other speeches given while still keeping it in his or her own voice?

2. Continue with students in their role as advisors: Using these categories and the related questions, examine some outstanding inaugural addresses from the past, beginning with John F. Kennedy’s.

Hand out copies of JFK’s inaugural address. Divide the class into seven small groups, and assign a category to each team. Ask them to read Kennedy’s speech, and to search for evidence of whether he incorporated the particular ingredient and in what ways. The whole class reassembles and each group reports its findings.

3. As a homework assignment, ask students to go through a similar process on their own with one of the following speeches:

Abraham Lincoln – March 4, 1865 Franklin D. Roosevelt – March 4, 1933 Ronald Reagan – January 20, 1981

Read these speeches online.

4. Students should now be prepared to write a “Memo to the President-Elect” with their suggested ingredients for his or her upcoming speech.

5. Finally, have the class read and listen to the most recent inaugural address, analyzing and comparing it with the “recipes” contained in their memoranda.

Connections to Curricula (Standards)  

National History Standards - US History, Era 9: Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)

• Standard 2: How the Cold War and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam influenced domestic and international politics
• Standard 3: Domestic policies after World War II
• Standard 4: The struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties

National History Standards - Historical Thinking Standards 

• B. Reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage.
• A. Consider multiple perspectives.
• B. Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas.

Common Core State Standards

• ELA College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language
• ELA – Reading Informational Texts, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language, and Literacy in History/Social Studies for grades 6-8.

C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards

• Discipline 1 - Developing questions and planning inquiries;
• Discipline 2 - Applying disciplinary concepts and tools (History and Civics)
• Discipline 3 - Evaluating sources and using evidence; and
• Discipline 4 - Communicating conclusions and taking informed action

National Council of Teachers of English : Standards 1,3,5,6,7,8,9, and 12

Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework

• 8.T4: Rights and responsibilities of citizens

Massachusetts English Language Arts Framework

• Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language

President Kennedy's inaugural address (video plus transcript)

The American Presidency Project at UC Santa Barbara, an online source for all presidential inaugural addresses

Presidential Inaugural Addresses

Published: January 22, 2021

"Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." The Constitution of the United States, Article II, Section I

In addition to the Constitutionally-mandated Oath of Office, Presidents since George Washington have customarily given inaugural addresses upon assuming office. On GovInfo, these addresses are included within the daily and bound versions of the Congressional Record. Until 1937, Presidential Inaugurations were held on March 4th. The date was changed to January 20th as part of the 20th Amendment .

For Presidents prior to Ulysses S. Grant, see the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies' Inaugurations site .

Inaugural Addresses

Joseph r. biden jr. (2021-2025).

• Inaugural Address - Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Donald J. Trump (2017-2021)

• Inaugural Address - Friday, January 20, 2017

Barack Obama (2009-2017)

• First Inaugural Address - Tuesday, January 20, 2009
• Second Inaugural Address - Monday, January 21, 2013

George W. Bush (2001-2009)

• First Inaugural Address - Saturday, January 20, 2001
• Second Inaugural Address - Thursday, January 20, 2005

William J. Clinton (1993-2001)

• First Inaugural Address - Wednesday, January 20, 1993
• Second Inaugural Address - Monday, January 20, 1997

George Bush (1989-1993)

• Inaugural Address - Friday, January 20, 1989

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

• First Inaugural Address - Tuesday, January 20, 1981
• Second Inaugural Address - Monday, January 21, 1985

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

• Inaugural Address - Thursday, January 20, 1977

Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977)

• Swearing-In following the Resignation of President Nixon - Friday, August 09, 1974

Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974)

• First Inaugural Address - Monday, January 20, 1969
• Second Inaugural Address - Saturday, January 20, 1973

Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)

• Swearing-In following the Death of President Kennedy - Friday, November 22, 1963
• Inaugural Address - Wednesday, January 20, 1965

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)

• Inaugural Address - Friday, January 20, 1961

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)

• First Inaugural Address - Tuesday, January 20, 1953
• Second Inaugural Address - Monday, January 21, 1957

Harry S. Truman (1949-1953)

• Swearing-In following the Death of President Roosevelt - Thursday, April 12, 1945
• Inaugural Address - Thursday, January 20, 1949

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)

• First Inaugural Address - Saturday, March 04, 1933
• Second Inaugural Address - Wednesday, January 20, 1937
• Third Inaugural Address - Monday, January 20, 1941
• Fourth Inaugural Address - Saturday, January 20, 1945

Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

• Inaugural Address - Monday, March 04, 1929

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

• Swearing-In following the Death of President Harding - Friday, August 03, 1923
• Inaugural Address - Wednesday, March 04, 1925

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)

• Inaugural Address - Friday, March 04, 1921

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

• First Inaugural Address - Tuesday, March 04, 1913
• Second Inaugural Address - Monday, March 05, 1917

William Howard Taft (1909-1913)

• Inaugural Address - Thursday, March 04, 1909

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)

• Swearing-In following the Assassination of President McKinley - Saturday, September 14, 1901
• Inaugural Address - Saturday, March 04, 1905

William McKinley (1897-1901)

• First Inaugural Address - Thursday, March 04, 1897
• Second Inaugural Address - Monday, March 04, 1901

Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)

• Second Inaugural Address - Saturday, March 04, 1893

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)

• Inaugural Address - Monday, March 04, 1889

Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)

• First Inaugural Address - Wednesday, March 04, 1885

Chester Arthur (1881-1885)

• Swearing-In following the Assassination of President Garfield - Tuesday, September 20, 1881

James A. Garfield (1881)

• Inaugural Address - Friday, March 04, 1881

Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)

• Inaugural Address - Monday, March 05, 1877

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

• First Inaugural Address - Thursday, March 04, 1869
• Second Inaugural Address - Tuesday, March 04, 1873

About  Search

Inaugural Addresses

January 20, 2021.

Inaugural Address

Joseph R. Biden

January 20, 2017

Donald J. Trump

January 21, 2013

Barack Obama

January 20, 2009

January 20, 2005.

George W. Bush

January 20, 2001

January 20, 1997.

William J. Clinton

January 20, 1993

January 20, 1989.

George Bush

January 21, 1985

Ronald Reagan

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How to Write a Presidential Speech

Last Updated: May 19, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 117,028 times.

Are you running for president? There are some tried and true ways to write an effective campaign speech. Maybe you're running for school president or another office. You want your speech to be memorable and persuasive!

Presidential Speech Template

Opening the Presidential Speech

• You should make this theme simple enough that you can express it in one sentence.
• Make sure that you repeat your theme several times throughout your speech, especially in the beginning, middle, and end.

• You could start the speech with an anecdote, a quip or a strong quote. Don’t be afraid to offer a little humor, but it immediately clears what you would bring to the table. [3] X Research source
• When ending a speech, you could say: “If I am elected school president, I will focus on lengthening lunch hours, adding more student clubs, and reducing student fees.”

• If you’re running for a student position, review sample student campaign speeches. There are many of these templates online.

• For example, if your audience is concerned about the economy, and you have training in economics, mention it--especially if your opponents do not.
• Tell the audience an anecdote relating to what sets you apart. It will make it more memorable.

Developing the Presidential Speech

• The middle of your speech should be the longest because that's where most of your content lies.
• Don't slack off on the beginning and end of your speech. Even though they are shorter, they can make your speech memorable--or forgettable.

• You could open by saying something like: "Here are the three things we need to change."
• Be specific. Use statistics and human anecdotes to highlight the problem. However, be brief. You want to focus on solutions more than problems.

• Boil the speech down to 2 to 3 key issues that you plan to change. Be very specific when you outline your solutions.
• Expand on each of your key promises by detailing the problem and how you plan to address it specifically.
• Don’t make the middle of the speech too dry. Constantly reinforce your personality and theme throughout the details of your promises.

• Go with the flow. If you notice your audience getting ants, liven up your speech or end it early.
• Stick by the event's rules. Some events may require that your speech is only 5 minutes, while others want it to be at least 30 minutes.

• If you are talking about the Vietnam war, you can make yourself more relatable to younger generations by mentioning the soldiers who were no older than themselves.
• If you are running for high school president, say that you will ensure the administration listens to student wishes for a longer lunch break.

• If you are running for school president, mention things you’ve done that helped the school to make you seem more qualified.
• If you come from a coal mining family, and you are giving your speech in a blue-collar area, mention it! This will make you more relatable.

• For example, if you want people to join your campaign, ask them to vote for you. Be sure to thank them for their consideration as well.

Delivering the Presidential Speech

• Some speeches play to people’s fears and anger, but the best ones remain positive and play toward people’s optimism. People want to know how you will improve things.

• This is why broadcast writing is less dense than print writing, generally. When writing a speech, keep the sentences concise.
• Try to use one direct point per sentence. People can understand complex topics better when they are reading.

• You don’t need to fixate on proper grammar, punctuation, and so forth in a speech that will be given verbally (and presidential speeches are designed to be spoken).
• It’s more important to capture the cadences and colloquialisms of regular speech, while staying true to yourself.

• Ancient philosophers who perfected the art of rhetoric called this “pathos.” An appeal to the emotions.
• The philosophers believed that the core of any persuasive speech should be logos (an appeal to reason). However, they believed that speeches without pathos failed to move.

• Have a clear idea of what you want to say. Keep the finest details confined to notes so that you can refer to them if you need to.
• Remember that giving a speech is theater. You need to be dramatic and show passion, but you don’t want to stumble over words or look down like you’re reading it.

• They say that when people get in trouble, it’s usually because they went negative.

• The best place to include a joke is in the opening of your speech. Create a rapport with the audience and use a joke that is specific to the location.
• Stay away from any offensive jokes and make sure a joke is appropriate to the occasion.

• Show, don't tell. Show your telling points with vivid human stories or a relatable anecdote.

Expert Q&A

• Remember to have good posture while you're giving your speech. Thanks Helpful 13 Not Helpful 1
• If you don't win the election, just remember to be a good sport to everybody. Your opportunities in the future are more likely to become greater. Thanks Helpful 11 Not Helpful 1
• Make eye contact. It's important not to spend the entire speech looking down! Thanks Helpful 10 Not Helpful 1

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• ↑ https://blog.prepscholar.com/good-persuasive-speech-topics
• ↑ Patrick Muñoz. Voice & Speech Coach. Expert Interview. 12 November 2019.
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6sm47j-Am4
• ↑ http://presidentialrhetoric.com/campaign2012/index.html
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaking/chapter/17-3-organizing-persuasive-speeches/
• ↑ http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/writing-a-school-election-speech.html

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Lesson Plan: 2021 Joe Biden Inauguration Viewing Guides

What Makes a Good Inaugural Address

Historian and author Michael Beschloss used examples of five historic inaugural addresses to discuss what makes an effective inaugural address. He cited the inaugural address of Lincoln (1865), Roosevelt (1933), Kennedy(1961), Reagan 1981, Bush (2001), and Obama (2009).

Description

This lesson provides several activities for students to help them understand events occurring on inauguration day and interpret the inaugural address that will be given by Joe Biden on January 20, 2021. Teachers can choose to have students view the inaugural address and use one of several viewing guides to analyze the speech. Activities and handouts include a note-taking chart, guiding questions, topical analysis, an evaluative rubric, and a BINGO game.

Teachers have the option of assigning one of the following viewing guides to students as they watch the January 20, 2021 inauguration of Joseph Biden. Each of these Google Docs include the links to the introductory video clip, a link to the inauguration and the individual assignment/activities. These assignments can be completed in steps as a class or students can complete these assignments on their own. To access and complete these assignments, students can make a copy of the following Google resources. Students can submit these assignments digitally by linking their completed copy of the Google Doc handout.

Handout: Inauguration General Note-Taking Chart (Google Doc)

Handout: Inaugural Address Guiding Questions (Google Doc)

Handout: Inauguration BINGO (Google Doc)

Handout: Analyzing the Inaugural Address by Topic (Google Doc)

• Handout: Inaugural Address Rubric Evaluation (Google Doc)

Before beginning class, have students brainstorm answers to the following questions. This can be adapted to synchronous remote learning by having students answer in the chat or on the discussion board.

What challenges are currently facing the country?

• What issues should President Biden include in his inaugural address?

INTRODUCTION:

Introduce the idea of an inaugural address by having them view the following video clip featuring author and historian Michael Bechloss. Students should answer each of the questions associated with the video clip.

Video Clip: What Makes a Good Inaugural Address (8:51)

What challenges faced Franklin Roosevelt in 1933? How did he use his inaugural speech to address these challenges?

According to Michael Bechloss, what makes a good speech?

How did Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address in 1865 meet the challenges of the time?

Why was the date of inauguration changed after the 1933 inauguration?

What was the focus of John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address? Why did he do this?

What similarities exist between the inaugural addresses discussed by Michael Bechloss?

Why is an understanding of history important to writing an effective inaugural address?

• Based on this information, what advice would you give to an incoming president as they write their inaugural address?

INAUGURATION DAY:

Using the video clip in the introduction as foundation, the following activities can be used to help students understand and analyze President Biden’s inaugural address on January 20, 2021. Choose one of the following activities for students to complete when viewing election night coverage.

Students can view coverage of the 2021 inauguration using the link below:

Video Clip: Video Clip: President Biden Inaugural Address (21:37)

INAUGURAL ADDRESS ACTIVITIES AND VIEWING GUIDES:

NOTE-TAKING CHART:

Students will use this handout as they view the inaugural address to take notes and focus on specific elements of the speech such as:

Specific Issues/Topics Discussed

Tone and Images Used

Words and Ideas Repeated Throughout

Notable Quotes/Historic Events/Important Documents Referenced

Principles of Government/American Ideals Referenced

The Role of Government in Addressing the Nation’s Problems

• Priorities for His Presidency

To demonstrate understanding, students will address the following question:

• What was the overall message of this inaugural address? Use examples from above to support your response.

GUIDING QUESTIONS:

This handout uses questions to focus student’s attention on aspects of the speech such as:

Goal/Audience/ Primary Messages

Structure of the Speech

• Effectiveness of the Speech
• In your opinion, did the president accomplish the goal of this speech? Why or why not?

INAUGURATION BINGO:

With this activity, students will use the handout linked below to play a BINGO game while watching inauguration coverage on C-SPAN. They should complete the BINGO board by writing words, topics or phrases that might be discussed during the coverage. As they watch the coverage, they will mark their board when a word or topic is mentioned. They should also take notes on what this term means and how it was used.

After viewing the debate, use the BINGO chart and the notes to answer the following prompt:

Based on what you watched, what were your overall impressions of the inauguration?

• What questions do you have after watching it?

ANALYZING THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY TOPIC:

Using this handout, students will view the inaugural address and identify three topics discuss in the speech. For each topic, they should take notes on the following ways President Biden discussing this topic.

Description of the Topic

Examples Used

Importance of this Topic

• Proposals to Address This Topic

To demonstrate understanding, students will address the following questions:

What topics were emphasized throughout the speech? What topics or issues are not discussed in his speech? Why do you think this is?

• Summarize the overall message of this inaugural address. How does the president use individual issues and topics above to give this message?

INAUGURAL ADDRESS RUBRIC:

Handout: Inaugural Address Rubric Evaluation (Google Doc) Students will use the rubric on the handout to evaluate President Biden’s speech. Student will consider the following factors as they view the inaugural address:

Organization/Clarity

Facts/Examples

Relevance of Supporting Points

• Visual/Non-Verbal Performance
• Using the information above, how would you rate the performance of the president during his inaugural address?

ALTERNATIVE/EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Historical Analysis: Using one of the following options, have students view one or more of the previous presidential inaugural address starting in the 1981.

Inaugural Address General Note-Taking Chart (Google Doc)

Inaugural Address Guiding Questions (Google Doc)

Presidential Inaugural Address Rubric (Google Doc)

Inaugural Address Analysis by Topic (Google Doc)

Historical Analysis (Google Doc)

• Comparing Historical Inaugural Addresses (Google Doc)

ALTERNATIVE/EXTENSION ACTIVITY:

Write a Letter to the New President- Write a letter to President Biden explaining an issue or topic that you would like him to discuss in his inaugural address. In this letter, explain the issue and why it is important to the nation.

ADDITIONAL PROMPTS:

• How does the inauguration represent all three branches of government?

How does the inauguration represent a peaceful transfer of power?

Why are inaugural addresses significant to a president’s legacy?

How can inaugural address be used to unite the country?

• What is the overall purpose of an inaugural address?

Related Article

• INAUGURAL ADDRESS - The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies

Additional Resources

• Lesson Plan: Analyzing Historical Presidential Inaugural Addresses
• Bell Ringer: What Makes a Good Inaugural Address
• Chief Justice
• Inaugural Address
• Inaugural Committee
• Oath Of Office
• Transfer Of Power

Read the Full Text: Joe Biden's Inaugural Address

President biden's inaugural address called for unity to overcome challenges, published january 20, 2021 • updated on january 20, 2021 at 10:27 am.

Read the full text of Joseph R. Biden's Inaugural Address, as delivered on Jan. 20, 2021:

Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, and my distinguished guests, my fellow Americans.

This is America's day. This is democracy's day. A day of history and hope, of renewal and resolve.

Through a crucible for the ages. America's been tested anew, and America has risen to the challenge. Today, we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause. The cause of democracy.

The people, the will of the people, has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded. We've learned, again, that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.

President Biden Calls for Unity in Inaugural Address

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So now on this hallowed ground, where just a few days ago, violence sought to shake the capitol's very foundation, we come together as one nation under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries.

As we look ahead in our uniquely American way, restless, bold, optimistic, and set our sights on a nation we know we can be and we must be. I thank my predecessors of both parties for their presence here today. I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I know the resilience of our constitution and the strength, the strength of our nation as does President Carter, who I spoke with last night who cannot be with us today, but whom we salute for his lifetime of service.

I have just taken the sacred oath each of those patriots have taken, the oath first sworn by George Washington.

The American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us. On we the people, who seek a more perfect union. This is a great nation. We are good people. Over the centuries, through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we come so far. But we still have far to go.

We will press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and significant possibilities -- much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build, and much to gain.

Few people in our nation's history have been more challenged or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we are in now: A once in a century virus that silently stalks the country. It has taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II. Millions of jobs have been lost. Hundreds of thousands of businesses closed.

A cry for racial justice, some 400 years in the making, moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.

A cry for survival comes from the planet itself, a cry that can't be any more desperate or any more clear.

And now a rise at political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.

To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul, and to secure the future of America, requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: Unity. Unity.

In another January on New Year's Day in 1893, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The president put pen to paper and said, and I quote, "If my name ever goes down in history, it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it." My whole soul was in it. Today on this January day, my whole soul is in this, bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation and I ask every American to join me in this cause.

Uniting to fight the foes we face: Anger, resentment, and hatred. Extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness, and hopelessness. With unity, we can do great things, important things. We can write wrongs, we can put people to work and good jobs, we can teach our children in safe schools. We can overcome the deadly virus. We can reward work and rebuild the middle class and make health care secure for all.

We can deliver racial justice and make America once again the leading force for good in the world. I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy these days. I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart.

The battle is perennial and victory is never assured. Through civil war, the great depression, World War, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice, and setbacks, our better angels have always prevailed. In each of these moments, enough of us have come together to carry all of us forward. We can do that now. History, faith, and reason show the way. The way of unity.

We can see each other not as adversaries, but as neighbors. We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature. Without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of this is our historic moment of crisis and challenge. Unity is the path forward. We must meet this moment as the United States of America.

If we do that, I guarantee you we will not fail. We have never ever failed in America. We have acted together.

Today at this time and this place, let's start afresh. All of us. Let's begin to listen to one another again. Hear one another, see one another, show respect to one another.

Politics does not have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement does not have to be a cause for total war. We must reject the culture to which facts themselves are manipulated and manufactured.

My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this. America has to be better than this. I believe America is so much better than this.

Look around. Here we stand in the shadow of the capitol dome, completed amid the civil war when the union itself was hanging in the balance. Yet we endured, we prevailed.

Here we stand across the Potomac from Arlington Cemetery, where heroes who gave the last full measure of devotion rest in eternal peace.

And here we stand just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground.

It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Not ever.

For all those who have supported our campaign, I'm humbled by the faith you've placed in us. To all those who did not support us, let me say this, hear me out as we move forward, take a measure of me and my heart, and if you still disagree, so be it.

That's democracy. That's America. The right to dissent peaceably within the guardrails of our republic is perhaps this nation's greatest strength. Hear me clearly, disagreement must not lead to disunion. And I pledge this to you. I will be a president for all Americans. All Americans.

And I promise you, I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.

Many centuries ago, St. Augustine, the saint of my church, wrote that a people was a multitude defined by the common objects of their love, defined by the common objects of their love.

What are the common objects we as Americans love that define us as Americans? I think we know. Opportunity. Security. Liberty. Dignity. Respect. Honor. And, yes, the truth.

Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. There is truth and there are lies. Lies told for power and for profit. And each of us has a duty and a responsibility as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders, leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation, to defend the truth and defeat the lies.

Look, I understand that many of my fellow Americans view the future with fear and trepidation. I understand they worry about their jobs. I understand like my dad they lay in bed at night staring at the ceiling wondering can I keep my health care? Can I pay my mortgage? Thinking about their families. About what comes next. I promise you, I get it.

But the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don't look like you or worship the way you do or don't get their news from the same sources you do.

We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.

We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts, if we show a little tolerance and humility. And if we're willing to stand in the other person's shoes as my mom would say, just for a moment, stand in their shoes. Because here's the thing about life. There's no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand, there are other days when we're called to lend a hand. That's how it has to be. That's what we do for one another. And if we are of this way, our country will be stronger, more prosperous, more ready for the future. And we can still disagree.

My fellow Americans, in the work ahead of us, we're going to need each other. We need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter.

We're entering what may be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus. We must set aside politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation. One nation.

And I promise you this -- as the Bible says, woe may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. We will get through this together. Together.

Look folks, all my colleagues I serve with in the House and the Senate up here, we all understand the world is watching, watching all of us today. So here's my message to those beyond our borders.

America has been tested, and we've come out stronger for it. We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again. Not to meet yesterday's challenges but today's and tomorrow's challenges.

And we'll lead not merely by the example of our power but by the power of our example.

We will be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress, and security. Look, you all know, we've been through so much in this nation. And my first act as president, I'd like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer to remember all those who we lost this past year to the pandemic, those 400,000 fellow Americans. Moms, dads, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

We'll honor them by becoming the people and the nation we know we can and should be. So I ask you, let's say a silent prayer for those who have lost their lives and those left behind and for our country.

Folks, this is a time of testing. We face an attack on our democracy and untruth, a raging virus, growing inequity, the sting of systemic racism, a climate in crisis, America's role in the world. Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways, but the fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with one of the gravest responsibilities we've had.

Now we're going to be tested. Are we going to step up, all of us? It's time for boldness, for there's so much to do. And this is certain -- I promise you, we will be judged, you and I, by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era. Will we rise to the occasion is the question. Will we master this rare and difficult hour?

Will we meet our obligations and pass along a new and better world to our children? I believe we must. I'm sure you do as well. I believe we will. And when we do, we'll write the next great chapter in the history of the United States of America, the American story. A story that might sound something like a song that means a lot to me. It's called "American anthem."

There's one verse that stands out, at least for me. And it goes like this: "The work and prayers of the century have brought us to this day. What shall be our legacy, what will our children say? Let me know in my heart when my days are through. America, America, I gave my best to you."

Let's add, let us add our own work and prayers to the unfolding story of our great nation. If we do this, then when our days are through, our children and our children's children will say of us they gave their best, they did their duty, they healed a broken land.

My fellow Americans, I close today where I began, with a sacred oath. Before God and all of you, I give you my word, I will always level with you. I will defend the Constitution. I'll defend our democracy. I'll defend America. And I'll give all, all of you, keep everything I do in your service, thinking not of power but of possibilities, not of personal interest but the public good.

And together we shall write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity, not division. Of light, not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing, greatness and goodness. May this be the story that guides us, the story that inspires us, and the story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history, we met the moment.

Democracy and hope, truth and justice did not die on our watch but thrived, that America secured liberty at home and stood once again as a beacon to the world. That is what we owe our forebearers, one another, and generation to follow.

So with purpose and resolve, we turn to those tasks of our time, sustained by faith, driven by conviction, and devoted to one another and the country we love with all our hearts.

May God bless America, and may God protect our troops. Thank you, America.

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Inauguration Speech

Elections are a very stressful and overwhelming time for most people. It is the time when the right to suffrage is practiced by the people in order to vote for the candidates they think are worthy of the positions they run for. Not only that, the results of the elections will help determine the future of state, town, and most especially the whole country. It is a very significant and one of the most important days when people have to decide on what and who will be good for the whole state and country.

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During the elections period, you need to choose the candidate that best stands for what you believe is just and right. After a certain period intended for the candidates’ campaigns, the election day immediately follows. During the exact date for the election, you go to your poll, fill out your ballot, and put it the ballot box; you have officially cast your vote. Then what happens? After all the votes are counted, and the winning candidates are announced, an inauguration then follows. You often hear the word  inauguration  on election period. But what does that really mean and what does this entail?

What Happens on Inauguration Day?

By definition, inauguration means the beginning or introduction of a system, policy, or period; the formal admission of someone to office, or a ceremony to mark the beginning of something. During election period, inauguration is a formal ceremony wherein an elected public official begins his/her term of office. Although the word is commonly used and associated with elections, it can also mean the opening or first public use of a new civic area, organization, or project such as new library, museum, hospital, etc. Simply put, inauguration pertains to a new beginning, be it about people in office or newly opened buildings or infrastructures.

Since the inauguration day during the election period is the most common example, you should know what happens during the said event in the USA. On the exact date of the scheduled inauguration day, it starts with a morning worship service. The morning worship service is a tradition during such a monumental day that started in 1993 with Franklin D. Roosevelt and his first lady Eleanor; they attended church at St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House. It has then set a precedent that has been diligently followed by all the other newly elected high officials of the country.

After the morning worship service, the procession to the Capitol follows. Although there have been changes with the vehicles used during the procession, this has been a tradition since the inauguration of George Washington in 1789 to have the president-elect, the vice president-elect and their spouses proceed to the swearing-in ceremony in the White House. They are escorted by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC). It is an iconic procession that leads to the grounds where the newly elected president and vice president of the country will take their oath.

The vice president’s swearing-in  ceremony is immediately conducted once the procession arrives at the White House. This is when the vice president takes his/her oath of office. According to the U.S. constitution, the vice president doesn’t have a specific oath unlike that of the president. There has been quite a few officials who have administered the vice president’s oath. After this follows the president’s swearing-in ceremony where the chief justice of the Supreme Court administers the president’s oath. Some past inaugurations were held in front of New York’s Federal Hall and in Philadelphia like that of George Washington’s swearing-in ceremony, It wasn’t until 1801 when the swearing-in ceremony move to its current location in Washington, DC.

After all the swearing-in of the highest ranking elected official, the inaugural address follows. The tradition of giving an inauguration address began with George Washington with the shortest inauguration speech on record with only 135 words for his entire speech. However, the tradition many early presidents delivered their address before taking oath, the proceeding has been changed and the speech follows the oath. After the speech, the outgoing president and his spouse departs from the White House to proceed on their post-presidential lives. In the past, previous presidents leave the Capitol a day or two before the oath of the incoming president. But on the current days, incoming presidents and vice presidents have escorted the previous officials following the swearing-in ceremony.

After all the public appearances portion of the inauguration day, it has also been a tradition to hold an inauguration luncheon hosted by the JCCIC for the president, vice president, their spouses and other dignitaries. Following the luncheon, the newly elected president and vice president proceeds to Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House as a procession of ceremonial military regiments, citizens’ groups, marching bands, and floats follow. After the inaugural parade, a tradition inaugural ball follows. The tradition for the inaugural ball began in 1809 with James Madison’s inauguration.

As you may have noticed, there is a strict procedure that needs to be followed when it comes to the inauguration day. Although there have been changes, the same steps however in different order are still followed up to this day.

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How to Craft an Inaugural Speech

An inauguration speech can either leave the audience inspired and in awe or leave them bored and uninspired. As you may now know based on the discussion above, the highest ranking elected official delivers the inauguration speech where he/she can set the tone of the presidency. However, making these speeches is not an easy feat. To help you with crafting your own inspirational inauguration speech, an easy guide is provided below:

1. Choose an appropriate greeting for your audience

The greeting of your speech should set the tone for your entire speech. You should be able to open the speech warmly and let your audience feel as if they are a part of the momentous celebration. There are a couple of ways you can open the speech. It can be done through saying a quote, using a “what if” or “imagine” scenario, ask a question, use statistics, use statement or phrase, and so on. You should make the audience feel that you are as excited and as happy as they are with the celebration.

Here are some examples of inaugural speech greetings by previous US presidents:

• “I ask you to share with me today the majesty of this moment. In the orderly transfer of power, we celebrate the unity that keeps us free.” — Richard M. Nixon , 1969
• “For myself and for our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land.” — Jimmy Carter , 1977
• “Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal. This ceremony is held in the depth of winter, but by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring, a spring reborn in the world’s oldest democracy that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America.” — Bill Clinton , 1993

2. Describe the state of the nation

In this part of the speech you should remind the people of the current state of the nation. However, that does not mean you only include all the negative, also give emphasis on the positive things that have happened in the nation. This will help you set the tone for your term; if you feel like the negative outweighs the positive, then bring focus to that. Let the audience get in touch of the actual happenings of the present. Let them understand that the nation has still so much to improve on that way you can invoke them to do something about it together with you.

3. Pick a relevant issue and lay out your presidential plan

Although there will always be a lot of issues going on at the same time, as they say, you have to pick your battles. You have to know what your people want you to prioritize. Pick the issue you know the people have been wanting change for quite a while. Once you know what you have to work on, you set your plans on how to resolve the issue. And in your speech, express your presidential plans or the platforms you have ever since the campaign periods. Make the people know you are serious and determined to solve the issue be it about poverty, war, foreign policy, equality, and so on.

4. Inspire your audience

After you remind the people of the difficulties your nation is battling with, you need to give them hope that everything will be all right, that you will give your all in order to solve the current issues you country is facing. Aside from that, you need to inspire them to do their part, inspire them to give you a hand to resolve such matters. Inspire them to be better and responsible citizens of the country. You can use a quote, a strong phrase, or post a challenge to effectively get your point across.

5. Close your speech

If you think you have discussed or mentioned all the important points, you have to formally end you speech. And although it’s the end of the speech, let them know that you are still with them and you will fight their battles with them.

• “I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot gave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of of the Union, when again touched, as surely as they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” — Abraham Lincoln , 1861
• “Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end; that we did not turn back, nor did we falter. And with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.” — Barack Obama , 2009     

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Inaugural Address

Thank you, Madam Chair.

• President Hockfield. President Reif. For everything you’ve done to foster the strength, spirit and potential of MIT – thank you!  I aspire to build on what you achieved for the Institute. 
• President Sheares Ashby – Valerie, my old friend! I’m a little overcome by the kindness of your remarks. And I can’t believe you even managed to be here, with your own inauguration barely in the rearview mirror! 
• To our dear, distinguished guests from across higher education – the warmest welcome and hello!
• To all those who may be watching remotely, near and far ­– from our neighbors in Cambridge and Boston, to the great global family of MIT, including our alumni, 145,000 strong;
• To our entire campus community – this small city of intrepid problem-solvers;
• And to my family and friends, and all of you gathered here in Killian Court, under the world’s largest umbrella (Just in case!)…                                                                                

I’m so grateful you chose to be part of this solemn,  ancient  ceremony. And this afternoon, I hope to inspire you to join us in something important and  new .

*          *

So, ideally, I’ve piqued your curiosity! Now: Please hold on to that sensation – that  wanting to know  – while I offer a few observations.

• I’ll venture my opinion on what university leaders are good for
• I’ll talk about why I came to MIT – and what I’ve found
• I’ll sketch out how we can fulfill our potential: our opportunities and our obligations
• And I’ll ask you to join me in meeting the moment ­– together.

*          *          *

(To my fellow university leaders: I’m starting with a question that may feel a little bit…close to home. But I don’t worry! I’ve got you!)

“What are university leaders good for?”

I got my first inkling about 30 years ago. Before I was a vice dean or a provost or a president, I was a cancer biologist. A hands-on, pipette-and-centrifuge, buckets-and-buckets-of-frog-eggs biologist. My lab had maybe 12 people – and we did the most fundamental, curiosity-driven research you can imagine, tinkering and tinkering with biological systems to understand the deep cell biology and biochemistry that go wrong when cells turn cancerous.

It was fascinating. And I  loved  it.

There’s nothing like the pleasure of being part of a team when an experiment shows you something new – something no one else has ever seen before.

On the days when you’re in the flow, you never want to leave the lab.

But there were also other kinds of days!

On those days, I was frustrated – because I needed things I could not get on my own. I needed the institution to transform the way it recruited young researchers, so we could get the best graduate students. And I needed it to invest in sophisticated core facilities, so I could sequence all those proteins we’d purified.

In other words, selfishly, to do the science I loved, I needed the  collective  to  work .

So I took my first job in academic administration. And over a number of years – with help from lots and lots of people – I helped to make those changes happen.

For my lab, the new talent and core facilities were terrific! And it turned out that they were  also  terrific for many other labs in the medical school, and across the whole campus. 

And  that  was when I began to understand what university leaders are good for. I started to see that leadership makes a difference: that I could lead the way to changes that accelerated progress way   beyond the narrow band of my research.

So I took on new leadership roles. And each time, by listening to voices from across the community, I found new ways that I could help the whole:

• Things like improving the quality of life for all our students
• Developing staff leaders at every level
• Building a more diverse faculty – and more.

So – 30 years on – what are university leaders good for?

Picture a place like MIT.

In effect, every day we send out 1,000 expeditions to explore the mountain range of New Knowledge and Innovation. Curiosity unbounded!

For the faculty, researchers and students involved, it’s exhilarating and exhausting; fascinating and frustrating; unpredictable and very, very hard. You rarely know for sure if you’re on the right path – or heading for another dead end. The people who succeed are guilty of an outrageous persistence against all odds.

So, in that high-risk, high-reward picture, what are university leaders good for?

Three things – that add up to something big.

• First, we can help provision the trip – the right resources and the right talent.
• Second, we can clear away bureaucratic boulders that block the trail.
• And finally: We can scout out the best routes for scaling the toughest peaks – and build and inspire the right teams to get there. This capacity to link vision and action –  that  may be the greatest accelerant of all.

If we do those three things right, we create an environment in which every individual has the freedom and support to flourish and grow, and in which we all have a sense of community, connection and shared purpose – those human bonds that allow us to go farther and faster together than any of us could go alone.

Striving for that ideal of university leadership – that’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.

(OK, technically, the dogs get me out of bed. But it  is  what gets me to my desk!)

And I love this work! So last fall, when MIT’s presidential search committee came knocking, I was happily settled at a school I loved, in a role that still held interesting challenges. I was not in a mood to leave.

But frankly, when the MIT offer came, I could not possibly say no.

Not because I dreamt of living where winter is five months and spring is five days. Not because of some alluring new title.

But because there is simply no place quite like MIT.

Dozens of great research universities are represented here today. Yet even in this distinguished company, MIT has a distinctive recipe for impact: this community’s signature ability to foster the very best in fundamental research and harness it to confront society’s hardest problems.

As humanity struggles with so many interlocking global crises, it has never needed the people of MIT more than it does now.

For those of us who are called to the challenge of leadership, the world always offers lots of opportunities. But very few could be more compelling than the chance, in this moment, to lead MIT.

Since I arrived in January, I’ve spent nearly all my time on a “listening tour.” I’ve met with many dozens of people across the Institute, in every role.

And I have to say – as a longtime fan of novels that leap between past, present and future – getting to know MIT has felt like a kind of time travel.

In four months, I’ve flown over the whole course of MIT’s 162-year history – including momentous achievements, times of great pride and great struggle, and many acts of delightful irreverence. I’ve been beamed into past controversies. I’ve visited the good old days. I’ve heard MIT-student-tales from 50 years ago – and talked with seniors who’ll graduate next month. I’ve seen MIT grow from a scrappy little technical school to its present scope and stature.

And – most important – in exploring MIT’s past and present, I’ve gotten tantalizing glimpses of the future.

My first week on the job included reviewing young faculty who were up for promotion – three long days, back to back. Honestly, you cannot imagine a more intoxicating introduction to the human potential of MIT: one candidate after another, each somehow more impressive than the last. And each of them a window into the future of knowledge, and the future of MIT.

Reviewing these incredible talents was a preview of one of the striking aspects of this community: That the fuel for what gets done here is the brilliant creativity of each and every individual.

It’s like a night sky, impossibly dense with stars. Each one particular and beautiful. In the darkness, when we look up, we naturally look for patterns and connections. That’s the pleasure of picking out a constellation: It doesn’t dim the stars within it. But it holds our attention, because it creates a larger meaning.

In my listening tour conversations, that image has come to me again and again. Because everywhere, in every setting, I’ve heard an intense desire to see the people of MIT come together, in meaningful ways, to meet all the great challenges of our time. Above all, and most urgently: to marshal a bold, tenacious response to the run-away crisis of climate change.

I’ve found a community of people who, to a person, treasure the best aspects of MIT’s history and culture, and take great pride in its achievements. Yet I’ve also found a place – always decentralized and further fragmented by the pandemic – that is still finding its way back to a shared center.

There’s a palpable craving for re-attachment and connection. If you’ll allow me: What I hear in all of this is a craving for new constellations.

*          *         

In coming to MIT, I’ve found something magnificent: In its history, culture, character and achievements; in its people, and their clear-eyed focus on the hardest problems.

In short, like so many of you before me, in coming here, in a wonderful new way, I found my people – and I Have Truly Found Paradise. 

Yet I’ve also learned – from MIT’s unstoppable engineers! – that  even paradise can be optimized!  So let me talk a bit about what that might look like.

Since I’m still trying to unlock minor local mysteries, like how MIT numbers its buildings and courses, for me to bring forth today some detailed strategic vision would be arrogant in the extreme.

Instead, I want to take  you  on a little “trip through time,” to the  future  – a decade or so from now.

Setting the dial for the year 2033  – we can see an MIT that is, in important ways, deeply the same – just as quirky, nerdy, unconventional and bold. An MIT that is true to its fundamental purpose. But we also see an Institute that has built up its core strengths to be ready for whatever comes next.

• The MIT of 2033 has unraveled daunting intellectual puzzles, from mathematics to materials science, urban planning to economics, neuroscience to nuclear engineering, physics to philosophy to finance.
• It has cleared away internal boulders – freeing its people to make important discoveries and innovations.
• In 2033, our undergraduates are thriving with an ambitious new take on MIT’s core curriculum, which is setting the standard for what tomorrow’s leaders need to learn.
• And MIT has truly become a place of inclusive excellence and enthusiastic diversity, where everyone feels that they matter, and they belong.
• I’m proud to tell you that the MIT of 2033 has helped humanity come to grips with the tectonic forces of artificial intelligence, containing its risks and harnessing its power for good.
• The music building isn’t new anymore – but it’s central to a new flowering of the humanities and the arts at MIT, the fields that tell us what it means, and why it matters, that we are human beings – fields that  must  be equal partners in inventing a just, humane and equitable future.
• By forging new synaptic links between engineering and life science, including synthetic biology, the MIT of 2033 has helped invent the future of making, the future of healing, the future of biomedicine itself. And it’s made Greater Boston the hub of the  next  biotech revolution too.
• In 2033, the Met Warehouse is a bustling hub of making and design, sparking new ways of seeing and solving old problems.
• The people of MIT have used the power of entrepreneurship to propel profound solutions out to communities around the world, from preventing pandemics to cleaning up plastic waste.
• And ­the MIT of 2033 is proud that – a decade earlier ­– it helped lead a powerful cross-sector coalition and placed big bets on big solutions, to dramatically accelerate progress against climate change.

I hope you can see yourself in that future – because it will call on all of us, together, to explore and commit to new ways of concentrating our strength and quickening the pace of progress. To be clear: We want every one of our thousand bold expeditions to succeed! And there are many deeply significant areas where we can do more, together, from the bioeconomy to AI.

In fields like these, the world is crying out for courageous thought leadership and practical solutions. For a mind-and-hand place like MIT, answering that call is an opportunity – and frankly an obligation.

But, as so many of you have told me, one subject above all demands our shared attention.

Today, at least 20 percent of MIT faculty work on questions related to climate change: the greatest scientific and societal challenge of this or any age.

The people of MIT are pioneering crucial fields – from nuclear fusion to grid-scale batteries to climate policy. They’re decarbonizing everything from steel production to supply chains to computing, from architecture to agriculture.

That’s fantastic!

But I believe that, with all that talent and imagination, we can and, honestly, we must find new ways to work together, and to work with other sectors and institutions, to achieve even more – much more.

We need to ask ourselves: What is MIT’s contribution going to be? Would we feel satisfied if the answer was, “Well, MIT contributed to the knowledge base”? Would we? Is that enough?

What could we do that would really move the needle – and break the dial? Wouldn’t it make you proud to be part of the team that went all in, on the most important question of our time?

The people of MIT have done this before – and now, in this moment, we can do it too!

So many of MIT’s signature achievements have been triumphs of concerted collaboration:

• The LIGO program, whose thousands of contributors from dozens of institutions together found a way to detect gravitational waves from outer space.
• The Human Genome Project, where MIT scientists contributed a third of all the sequencing.
• The Apollo guidance systems that put humans on the moon.
• The work of MIT’s legendary Rad Lab, whose thirty-five-hundred members developed the radar systems that helped end World War II.

At the time, MIT’s 9 th  president, Karl Taylor Compton, called the Rad Lab “the greatest cooperative research establishment in the history of the world.” And the scientific miracles it achieved, at record speed, were mostly done by very young researchers, across a wide range of fields, with an extraordinary sense of purpose.

To meet the challenge of climate, it’s time for the people of MIT to engage in Rad-Lab-level thinking and commitment again. I want you, and I need you to help me imagine what that should look like, and how it can succeed – the kind of grand creative enterprise in which the energy you release together is greater than what you each put in. A nuclear fusion of problem-solving and possibility!

I certainly would not presume to lay out all the details of this new climate endeavor. That is work we will do together, starting now. We need energy and expertise from every MIT School and the College, from every lab and every center, from every member of the faculty – and from every one of you.

• To our students and postdocs: You are among our most brilliant stars. Help us focus unflinchingly on the horizon of your future and on the urgent need for action now.
• To our faculty and researchers: Let’s do everything we can, as fast as we can. Let’s have the courage to venture the impossible – for our students; for our children and their children; for the world.
• To MIT’s incredible staff: You are critical to the Institute’s success, its unsung heroes. As we take on this great shared challenge, we will need every ounce of your expertise, institutional knowledge and principled leadership.
• To our alumni and friends, and to our steadfast partners on the Corporation: You know, without my saying it, that we cannot do this work as well, or at all, without your support, encouragement and inspiration. 
• To our neighbors in Cambridge and Boston, and to leaders across the Commonwealth: Let’s find ways to support each other in this work, so we can move as fast the moment demands!
• And to my fellow university leaders: This problem will require that we  all  enlist our galaxies of stars. Let’s do this together – and remind the world that so many of the thorniest problems are solved at universities.

But let me be clear: We’re not going to wait around for a perfect vision. We need to start trying new things! Because I am absolutely certain that this urgent project is the singular effort that needs our shared attention. We can only meet this crisis if we’re brave enough to lower our shields, reach out and work together in new ways. And we cannot be satisfied with the normal academic tempo – there simply isn’t time.

You’ll hear more from me soon about how this effort will take shape. I hope many of you will want to participate directly. Please think about how you can answer the call. How will your work help make the whole of our efforts on climate greater than the sum of the parts – a multiplication of our talent and our capacity?

And whatever your role at MIT, I want you to feel part of this. Every member of this community is an essential part of the ecosystem that makes the breakthroughs possible. I want us all to take pride in how this community comes together to meet the existential challenges of humankind. I know I will take great pride in joining you.

I started this speech with a little bit of intrigue: I asked you to hold onto the sensation of  wanting to know . Why?

Because it only takes a few hours on this campus to learn that what propels MIT is an irresistible force: the sheer motive power of curiosity, on every subject, at every scale, across disciplines and without limits:  Curiosity Unbounded . 

It’s the passion to understand how things work, and why, and how they can work better.

In this perilous moment, I believe that curiosity can give us the hope and courage to do what needs to be done.

Importantly, curiosity is  also  the one and only path to understanding one another – to empathy and appreciation and mutual respect. In effect, curiosity is the indispensable first step in both collaboration  and  community.

Today, the problems before us – the problems of human society, and of its only planet so far – require that we harness our curiosity in exceptionally productive ways. The people of MIT have always wanted to know how things work, and how we can be part of big solutions. Now, it’s imperative that we know – and that we help lead the world to action.

In some fleeting way, the world may attend to what I say here today. But I  know  the world will be watching what we  do  next.

Let’s give them something to talk about – something to cheer for, something to join! Something worthy of MIT.

Putin's Inauguration Speech Ignites Fears of a Hardened Stance Against the West

A s President Vladimir Putin stepped onto the dais for his fifth inauguration, the international community observed with a mix of apprehension and scrutiny. Inside the opulent Andreyevsky Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, where Putin took the oath of office, the grandeur of the ceremony was unmistakable, but it was the president’s speech that sparked concerns far beyond the gleaming walls of the throne room.

The event, boycotted by the United States and several European Union countries amidst the backdrop of the protracted war in Ukraine, marked the beginning of yet another term for Putin, who secured an overwhelming victory in the March presidential elections, albeit under contentious circumstances. There were allegations of tightly controlled proceedings and the disqualification of anti-war candidates.

In his speech, Putin asserted Russia’s intention to define its own fate, stating, “We will determine the fate of Russia by ourselves and only ourselves, for the sake of today’s and future generations.” This sentiment echoed his previous declarations that the security of Russian citizens ranked “above all else,” signaling a fortified commitment to their safety in uncertain times.

The tone of the president’s remarks offered a thinly veiled warning that dissent would not be tolerated. Putin’s comment on the “tragic price of internal turmoil” and the necessity for Russia to be “absolutely resistant” to it revealed an uncompromising stance on protests and opposition—a stance that aligns with the ongoing crackdown within the country.

Furthermore, Putin’s speech reiterated the theme of a multipolar world and the creation of an “equal and indivisible security system,” a priority he has highlighted in the past. This notion of a multipolar world order is often perceived as a challenge to the West’s influence and raises questions about the potential impacts on international stability.

The reaction to Putin’s inauguration and his speech has been notably varied. While France sent its ambassador to the ceremony, most Western nations opted for a boycott, with Ukraine denouncing the inauguration as an attempt to legitimize Putin’s prolonged rule. Despite the international condemnation, Sergey Chemezov, a close ally of Putin, dismissed the Western perspective, portraying the Russian president as a beacon of stability for Russia amidst external challenges.

Behind the scenes, the Kremlin has been re-engineering Russian society into a regressive, militarized state, as identified by pro-Kremlin commentators. The transformation is set against an anti-Western backdrop, with Putin’s administration fostering ultraconservative values and reshaping education to instill a new sense of patriotism among the youth.

The scope of changes at home is vast, ranging from cultural sterilization and the mobilization of pro-war activism under the brutal Z symbol to the rollback of women’s rights and the glorification of Stalinist history. Putin has made no secret of his disdain for the West, accusing it of being the true aggressor and describing it in terms as severe as “satanic.”

The inauguration speech, therefore, becomes not just a reflection of internal Russian affairs but an ominous signpost for the West of a Russia that is hardening its defenses and doubling down on its global narrative. Putin’s concluding words in the speech, “We will overcome all obstacles and bring all our plans to life,” seem to resonate with a confidence that is both unyielding and unsettling for international onlookers.

Relevant articles:

– Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s words might concern West as he gives inauguration speech; plot to ‘kill Zelenskyy … , Sky News, 05/08/2024

– Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin more confident than ever inauguration speech; plot to ‘kill Zelenskyy’ stopped , Sky News, 05/07/2024

– Under Putin, a militarized new Russia rises to challenge U.S. and the West , The Washington Post, 05/06/2024

– Putin sworn in as Russian president , Morning Star Online, 05/07/2024

– Russian President Putin Takes Oath for Another Six Years , Novinite.com, 05/07/2024

An update on protest activity at Case Western Reserve: A message to alumni and friends — May 10, 2024

To our alumni and friends:

I write today with information on the encampment and protest activities that have taken place at Case Western Reserve University over the past 11 days and, as of this morning, are no longer occurring on our campus. It has been a difficult time, and I hope this message assuages any concerns you may have.

I think it is important to acknowledge that the Israel-Hamas war, on which the protest centered, is a complex, often personal issue about which many in our university community feel passionately, and the devastating loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives should be a distress we all share.

I also want to unequivocally note that freedom of expression and diversity of ideas are hallmarks of higher education, and they are what make our institution in particular such a rich, rewarding place to learn, live and work—as our alumni know firsthand. I remain committed to the critical importance of the free exchange of ideas on our campus, but those rights must always be balanced with the safety of our entire community, as our freedom of expression policy clearly states.

Since the protest began on April 29—and following my initial communication , and subsequent warnings, that the protest was no longer permitted and sanctions and/or legal charges will be invoked for those who continued—we saw language and behavior escalate. This included vandalism, limiting access to university buildings, and threats to disrupt commencement. None of this behavior is acceptable, nor does it contribute to the safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for which Case Western Reserve is known.

This morning, I shared with our students, faculty and staff that protesters voluntarily left university property. The protesters leaving of their own accord is a good outcome, but I want to reiterate that any student, faculty or staff member who is found to have violated the university’s policies will be held accountable through the relevant conduct processes, which we have initiated.

Now, as we look forward to commencement, our facilities staff are working to restore the damage done to these locations, and individuals across the university are determining how we can ensure next week’s events remain centered on the incredible achievements of those students who will soon join our alumni ranks.

I want to thank everyone who has reached out to share their feedback on what has occurred on campus recently; if you would like additional information, you can review the university’s statements online .

Sincerely, Eric W. Kaler President

How to Write an Inaugural Address

Published january 10, 2017.

Michael Gerson helped craft the first and second inaugural addresses of President George W. Bush. Now a Washington Post columnist, he underscores in this interview the significance of inaugural addresses, how they came about in George W. Bush's administration, and what we might hear in President-elect Donald Trump's address. As the former chief White House speechwriter puts it, the point of an inaugural is for a president to express the best, most inspiring and unifying version of his core beliefs.There are speeches, and then there are speeches. An inaugural address seems to be in a class of its own. In Lincoln's case, his words ended up chiseled in stone at the Lincoln Monument. How does a president, or president-elect, even start tackling an address that could shape history?The inaugural address is the center stage of American public life. It is a place where rhetorical ambition is expected. It symbolizes the peaceful transfer of power -- something relatively rare in human history. It provides the public, Congress and members of a new president's own administration an indication of his tone and vision. It is intended to express the best, most inspiring, most unifying version of president's core beliefs. And that requires knowing your core beliefs. I read that you went back and studied all prior inaugural addresses before starting to work on President Bush's 2001 inaugural address. What did you learn from that experience? Would you recommend it for others who go through this process?It is a pretty tough slog in the early 19th century, before getting to Abraham Lincoln and the best speech of American history, his Second Inaugural Address. That speech is remarkable for telling a nation on the verge of a military victory that had cost hundreds of thousands of lives that it was partially responsible for the slaughter; that its massive suffering represented divine justice.Strictly speaking, it is only necessary to read the greatest hits among inaugurals to get a general feel. But it would be a mistake to miss some less celebrated but worthy efforts such as Richard Nixon in 1968: "America has suffered from a fever of words... we cannot learn from each other until we stop shouting at one another." This theme of national unity is a consistent thread throughout inaugural history. Having worked on two inaugural addresses, and read so many, do they by and large set the stage for the next four years? Or, are they mostly forgotten?Some of the speeches are undeniably forgettable. But even those are never really forgotten. They are some of the most revealing documents of presidential history, when a chief executive tries to put his ideals and agenda into words. Students of the presidency will read those speeches to help understand a president's self-conception and the political atmosphere of his time.What was the writing and editing process like with President Bush on these addresses? And what did you all learn from the first address that shaped the second one in 2005?President Bush's first inaugural address was intended to be a speech of national unity and healing. He had just won a difficult election in which he lost the popular vote (which certainly sounds familiar). It was a moment of some drama, with his opponent, Vice President Gore, seated on the podium near the President-Elect.President Bush would often edit speeches by reading them aloud to a small group of advisers, which he did several times at Blair House during the transition. "Our unity, our Union," he said in his first inaugural, "is a serious work of leaders and citizens and every generation. And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity." The second inaugural was quite different, not so much a speech of national unity as a speech of national purpose. President Bush had a strong vision of what he wanted his second inaugural to accomplish. "I want it to be the freedom speech," he told me in the Cabinet room after the first Cabinet meeting following his reelection had broken up. It was intended to be a tight summary of Bush's foreign policy approach, setting high goals while recognizing great difficulties in the post-9/11 world."We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion," he said. "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world."Globalization figured prominently as a theme in Donald Trump's victorious presidential campaign. I would assume we are likely to hear more in his address about America's place in the globalized economy. But what do you think? What themes are we likely to hear?We are seeing a reaction to globalization across the western world, and this set of issues certainly motivated a portion of President-elect Trump's coalition. It is essential for political leaders to help a generation of workers prepare for an increasingly skills-based economy. It is a fantasy, however, for a political leader to promise the reversal of globalization, any more than he or she could promise the reversal of industrialization. Trump should address the struggles of middle and working class Americans. But it is deceptive and self-destructive to blame those struggles on trade and migrants. What happens after these big speeches are given? Do presidents and the team that helped prepare them go back to the White House and high-five each other? I guess it would be a little indecorous to throw Gatorade buckets on each other, like victorious football teams do after winning the Super Bowl.As I remember it, the new president attends a lunch hosted by congressional leaders. Then he goes to the reviewing stand in front of the White House for the inaugural parade. (Jimmy Carter actually walked in the parade a bit.)I remember entering the White House that afternoon, walking into the Roosevelt Room (where senior staff and other meetings take place) and watching a workman take down the picture of Franklin Roosevelt from above the fireplace and put up the picture of Teddy Roosevelt. I felt fortunate to be present at a great tradition. In fact, every day at the White House was an honor.This Q&A was conducted by William McKenzie, editor of The Catalyst: A Journal of Ideas from the Bush Institute. Email: [email protected]. Michael Gerson was George W. Bush's speechwriter and is now a columnist for The Washington Post. Email: [email protected]  Continue reading...

Triumphal Putin is inaugurated for fifth term as Russian president

Vladimir Putin was inaugurated on Tuesday for a fifth term as president in a ceremony that highlighted his quarter-century grip on power in Russia.

In the gilded Andreyevsky Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace where Russian czars were once crowned, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday swore the oath of allegiance on Russia’s constitution at his inauguration for a fifth term as president. The traditional pomp and ceremony conveyed his might as Russia’s supreme, uncontested leader for the past quarter-century.

Bristling with optimism about his ongoing war against Ukraine, Putin, 71, declared he would place Russia’s security above all else and promised that the country would be victorious. Russia is seeking to conquer and annex four regions of southeastern Ukraine, in addition to Crimea, which Russia invaded and illegally annexed in 2014.

“We are one great nation,” Putin declared in his inauguration speech. “Together we will overcome all obstacles. We will fulfill everything we have planned. Together we will win.” A 30-gun salute followed his remarks.

As he often does in his speeches, Putin, who has accused the West of instigating Russia’s war on Ukraine, used the occasion to demand respect from Western leaders. He criticized their “aggression” against Russia, stating that talks regarding security and strategic stability could take place only if the West changes its ways.

“The choice is theirs,” he said. “Do they intend to continue trying to contain Russia, continue the policy of aggression, continuous pressure on our country for years, or look for a path to cooperation and peace?”

Putin continued: “Dialogue, including on security and strategic stability, is possible, but not from a position of strength. Without any arrogance, swagger and claims to exclusivity, but only on equal terms and with due respect for each other’s interests.”

Since 2008, when he completed a second full term as president, Putin repeatedly has circumvented constitutional term limits to remain in power. First, he swapped jobs with then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and then swapped again four years later, returning to the presidency. In 2020, he engineered constitutional amendments allowing him to run for two more six-year terms. His term that began Tuesday runs until 2030, and he is eligible to run for at least another, lasting through 2036, when he would be 83 years old.

This year, he claimed overwhelming victory in an election that was widely condemned as failing to meet basic democratic standards, with genuine opposition candidates barred from running and the Kremlin wielding nearly total control over the media.

In his inaugural address, Putin held out Russia’s stability — personified by his grip on Russia since he became acting president in 1999 — as the key goal of the Russian state, effectively equating his own political interests with those of all Russians.

“It is important for us not to forget the lessons of history, not to forget about the tragic cost of internal unrest and upheaval,” he said. “Therefore, our state, social, political system must be strong, absolutely stable, and stable to any challenges and threats, ensure the progressiveness and stability of the development of the unity and independence of the country.”

Putin, who is steadily re-engineering Russia as a conservative militarized nation implacably hostile to the West, played on his favorite theme of Russia as a unique millennium-old civilization. He vowed to proceed with his previously announced plan to create a new elite elevating those who have fought in the war on Ukraine or worked in support of Russia’s war effort.

He said he would “ensure that Russians who have proved their loyalty to their Motherland take leading positions in politics and economics.”

“Today, in fact, we are answering to our thousand-year history and our ancestors,” he said. “They took seemingly inaccessible heights, because they always put the Motherland first, knew that it is possible to achieve truly great goals only together with their country and their people, and created a world power, our Fatherland, and achieved such triumphs that inspire us today.”

Six years after Putin’s 2018 inauguration, Tuesday’s event marked just how much has changed. Putin’s main political rival, Alexei Navalny, died in February in an Arctic prison colony, not quite four years after surviving an assassination attempt with a nerve agent, and three years after being arrested and imprisoned upon returning to Russia after recovering in Germany.

In the past six years, Putin also has carried out a massive campaign of political repression, crushing the opposition, jailing activists, cultural figures, bloggers, journalists and politicians, and outlawing the LGBTQ+ “international movement.”

Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, released a video before the inauguration listing the war on Ukraine, mass repressions, corruption and official lies as marking Putin’s last term, as well as the jailing, torture and the murder of her husband, “a true patriot,” which she has blamed squarely on Putin.

“This war is bloody and senseless and nobody needs it except Putin,” Navalnaya said.

Navalnaya, somber and clad in black, said the situation in Russia had worsened with each of Putin’s presidential terms. “It’s frightening to imagine what else will happen as Putin remains in power,” she said, adding: “Now our country is being led by a liar, a thief and a murderer, but this will come to an end.”

To swear the oath, Putin placed his right hand on the constitution, a red tome that was borne with ceremony into the hall by a white-gloved, goose-stepping member of the Russian presidential regiment, offering a veneer of constitutional legitimacy in a country where the rule of law has all but vanished.

Russian state television offered breathless second-by-second coverage as Putin walked through the long corridors of his Kremlin apartments, pausing briefly to examine a painting, then continuing under a black umbrella to his newly updated Auras Senat limousine, which drove him to the palace for the ceremony.

The weather was rainy and at one point snow fell, unusual in May in Moscow.

On his way, Putin passed by mounted members of the presidential regiment, with their swords drawn and their heads tilted back, turning their faces to follow his every move — a ceremony of such grandiose pomp that it evoked a royal event.

After the ceremony, Putin attended a church service in the Cathedral of the Annunciation, where Patriarch Kirill, the hawkish leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, a fervent supporter of the war against Ukraine, appeared to urge Putin not to spare his enemies.

“The head of state must sometimes make fateful and formidable decisions,” Kirill said. “And if such a decision is not taken, the consequences can be extremely dangerous for the people and the state.”

“Alexander Nevsky did not spare his enemies, but became famous as a saint,” the patriarch said, referring to a medieval prince of Novgorod who is often evoked by Putin.

The Russian leader has extolled the prince for paying tribute to Mongol invaders from the east and routing a Swedish invasion, but Putin has twisted the historical symbolism to suggest that Western nations have always sought Russia’s defea,t while those to the east can be trusted.

Members of the government and security officials attended the ceremony, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and others. Also present was the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, amid swirling media speculation that he is in poor health.

As Putin met with members of the government Monday, preparing to begin his new term, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced it would stage tactical nuclear missile drills in the near future, accusing Western officials of escalatory rhetoric over the Ukraine war. Russia’s Foreign Ministry also summoned the British and French ambassadors for a scolding.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the drills were in response to French and British statements on the war in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron has been vocal in refusing to rule out sending ground forces to Ukraine. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said last week that Ukraine is now entitled to use British weapons to strike Russian territory.

Russia’s 1993 constitution, enacted under President Boris Yeltsin, was Russia’s first attempt to establish the rule of law and democracy. It contained lofty commitments to free speech, the right to protest, free elections and human rights, declaring that people’s “rights and freedoms shall be the supreme value.”

Putin has steadily unraveled all of these since he was first elected in 2000, after being handed the mantle when Yeltsin resigned on the last day of 1999, naming Putin, then prime minister, as acting president.

Golos, an independent Russian election monitoring group, said after Putin’s reelection in March that Russia had never seen a vote “so much out of line with constitutional standards,” adding that the basic constitutional safeguards against usurpation of power had been dismantled.

“The foundational articles of the Russian constitution, which guarantee political rights and freedoms, were essentially not in effect,” the group said.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe last month passed a resolution declaring that Putin’s reelection was illegitimate, calling on all European Union members to refuse to recognize him as Russian president after his inauguration.

The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was absent on leave during Putin’s inauguration. Some other invited Western ambassadors did not attend, including those of Britain, Canada, Poland and the E.U. Among those present were representatives of France, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovakia and Hungary.

Presidential aide Yury Ushakov strongly criticized those who snubbed the event. “I believe they simply forget where they’ve been accredited, that’s it,” Ushakov said. “They simply forget where they are posted, and most importantly, why.”

Natalia Abbakumova in Riga, Latvia, contributed to this report.

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As Putin begins another 6-year term, he is entering a new era of extraordinary power in Russia

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses members of the Defense Ministry, the National Guard, the Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service and the Federal Guard Service at the Kremlin, in Moscow on June 27, 2023. Putin will begins his fifth term as Russian president in an opulent Kremlin inauguration on Tuesday after destroying his political opposition, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and consolidating power. (Sergei Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with a soldier and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stands next to him, smiling, during a visit at a military training centre of the Western Military District in Ryazan Region, Russia on Oct. 20, 2022. Putin begins his fifth term as Russian president in an opulent Kremlin inauguration on Tuesday after destroying his political opposition, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and consolidating power. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry on March 19, 2024, a Russian tank fires at Ukrainian troops from a position near the border with Ukraine in Russia’s Belgorod region. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

FILE - Police officers detain a man laying flowers to honor Alexei Navalny at a monument to victims of Soviet repression in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Feb. 16, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Oleg Orlov, co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization Memorial, gestures from a glass cage while on trial on charges of repeated discrediting the Russian military, in Moscow on Feb. 27, 2024. Orlov was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. (AP Photo, File)

Graves of Russian servicemen killed in Ukraine in a cemetery in Russia’s Volgograd region on Saturday, March 30, 2024. Russian president Vladimir Putin’s influence is so dominant that other officials could only stand by submissively as he launched a war in Ukraine despite expectations the invasion would bring international opprobrium and harsh economic sanctions, as well as cost Russia dearly in the blood of its soldiers. (AP Photo)

FILE - In this photo taken from video released by Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry on Dec. 30, 2023, firefighters extinguish burning cars after shelling in Belgorod, Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who begins another 6-year term on Tuesday, launched a war in Ukraine despite expectations the invasion would bring international opprobrium and harsh economic sanctions, as well as cost Russia dearly in the blood of its soldiers. (Russia Emergency Situations Ministry telegram channel via AP, File)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a visit to his campaign headquarters after the presidential election in Moscow on March 18, 2024. Putin begins his fifth term as Russian president in an opulent Kremlin inauguration on Tuesday after destroying his political opposition, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and consolidating power. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin sits for an interview with the Russia-1 TV channel in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on June 3, 2022. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - President Vladimir Putin looks at a military parade after his inauguration ceremony in Moscow on May 7, 2018. Putin begins another term as Russian president in an opulent Kremlin inauguration taking place on Tuesday. (Dmitry Azarov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

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Just a few months short of a quarter-century as Russia’s leader , Vladimir Putin on Tuesday will put his hand on a copy of the constitution and begin another six-year term as president wielding extraordinary power.

Since becoming acting president on the last day of 1999, Putin has shaped Russia into a monolith — crushing political opposition, running independent-minded journalists out of the country and promoting an increasing devotion to prudish “traditional values” that pushes many in society into the margins.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sits for an interview with the Russia-1 TV channel in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on June 3, 2022. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

His influence is so dominant that other officials could only stand submissively on the sidelines as he launched a war in Ukraine despite expectations the invasion would bring international opprobrium and harsh economic sanctions, as well as cost Russia dearly in the blood of its soldiers.

With that level of power, what Putin will do with his next term is a daunting question at home and abroad.

The war in Ukraine, where Russia is making incremental though consistent battlefield gains, is the top concern, and he is showing no indication of changing course.

“The war in Ukraine is central to his current political project, and I don’t see anything to suggest that that will change. And that affects everything else,” Brian Taylor, a Syracuse University professor and author of “The Code of Putinism,” said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“It affects who’s in what positions, it affects what resources are available and it affects the economy, affects the level of repression internally,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with a soldier and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stands next to him, smiling, during a visit at a military training centre of the Western Military District in Ryazan Region, Russia on Oct. 20, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

In his state of the nation address in February, Putin vowed to fulfill Moscow’s goals in Ukraine , and do whatever it takes to “defend our sovereignty and security of our citizens.” He claimed the Russian military has “gained a huge combat experience” and is “firmly holding the initiative and waging offensives in a number of sectors.”

That will come at huge expense, which could drain money available for the extensive domestic projects and reforms in education, welfare and poverty-fighting that Putin used much of the two-hour address to detail.

Taylor suggested such projects were included in the address as much for show as for indicating real intent to put them into action.

Putin “thinks of himself in the grand historical terms of Russian lands, bringing Ukraine back to where it belongs, those sorts of ideas. And I think those trump any kind of more socioeconomic-type programs,” Taylor said.

President Vladimir Putin looks at a military parade after his inauguration ceremony in Moscow on May 7, 2018. (Dmitry Azarov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

If the war were to end in less than total defeat for either side, with Russia retaining some of the territory it has already captured, European countries fear that Putin could be encouraged toward further military adventurism in the Baltics or in Poland.

“It’s possible that Putin does have vast ambitions and will try to follow a costly success in Ukraine with a new attack somewhere else,” Harvard international relations professor Stephen Walt wrote in the journal Foreign Policy. “But it is also entirely possible that his ambitions do not extend beyond what Russia has won — at enormous cost and that he has no need or desire to gamble for more.”

But, Walt added, “Russia will be in no shape to launch new wars of aggression when the war in Ukraine is finally over.”

Such a rational concern might not prevail, others say. Maksim Samorukov, of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said that “driven by Putin’s whims and delusions, Moscow is likely to commit self-defeating blunders.”

In a commentary in Foreign Affairs, Samorukov suggested that Putin’s age could affect his judgment.

“At 71 ... his awareness of his own mortality surely impinges on his decision-making. A growing sense of his limited time undoubtedly contributed to his fateful decision to invade Ukraine.”

Overall, Putin may be heading into his new term with a weaker grip on power than he appears to have.

Russia’s “vulnerabilities are hidden in plain sight. Now more than ever, the Kremlin makes decisions in a personalized and arbitrary way that lacks even basic controls,” Samorukov wrote.

“The Russian political elite have grown more pliant in implementing Putin’s orders and more obsequious to his paranoid worldview,” he wrote. The regime “is at permanent risk of crumbling overnight, as its Soviet predecessor did three decades ago.”

Putin is sure to continue his continue animosity toward the West, which he said in his state of the nation address “would like to do to Russia the same thing they did in many other regions of the world, including Ukraine: to bring discord into our home, to weaken it from within.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a visit to his campaign headquarters after the presidential election in Moscow on March 18, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

Putin’s resistance to the West manifests not only anger at its support for Ukraine, but in what he sees as the undermining of Russia’s moral fiber.

Russia last year banned the notional LGBTQ+ “movement” by declaring it to be extremist in what officials said was a fight for traditional values like those espoused by the Russian Orthodox Church in the face of Western influence. Courts also banned gender transitioning.

“I would expect the role of the Russian Orthodox Church to continue to be quite visible,” Taylor said. He also noted the burst of social media outrage that followed a party hosted by TV presenter Anastasia Ivleeva where guests were invited to show up “almost naked.”

“Other actors in the system understand that that stuff resonates with Putin. ... There were people interested in exploiting things like that,” he said.

Although the opposition and independent media have almost vanished under Putin’s repressive measures, there’s still potential for further moves to control Russia’s information space, including moving forward with its efforts to establish a “sovereign internet.”

The inauguration comes two days before Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular holiday, commemorating the Soviet Red Army’s capture of Berlin in World War II and the immense hardships of the war, in which the USSR lost some 20 million people.

The defeat of Nazi Germany is integral to modern Russia’s identity and to Putin’s justification of the war in Ukraine as a comparable struggle.

Associated Press writer Jim Heintz, based in Tallinn, Estonia, has covered the entirety of Putin’s tenure as Russian leader.

‘Together we will win’: Putin sworn in as Russia’s president

The United States and most European Union countries boycotted the inauguration ceremony at the Grand Kremlin Palace.

Vladimir Putin swore the oath of allegiance to the Russian Constitution at his inauguration for a record fifth term as president, and as he further tightened his grip on power said the country would emerge victorious and stronger from the current “difficult” period.

The ceremony on Tuesday at the Grand Kremlin Palace was boycotted by the United States, United Kingdom and several countries from the European Union amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

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“We are a united and great nation,” Putin said in his optimistic inauguration speech, to applause from an audience of about 2,500 people.

“Together we will overcome all obstacles, achieve everything we have planned and together we will win,” was his message to the Russian people as he launched another six-year term.

The 71-year-old won the March election by clinching 87.28 percent of the vote in a poll that analysts said lacked democratic legitimacy after several candidates opposed to the war in Ukraine were barred from contesting by the electoral commission.

It came weeks after the death of his rival, Alexey Navalny , in an Arctic penal colony. Other leading critics have been either jailed or forced to flee abroad.

‘Liar, thief, murderer’

Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, on Tuesday urged supporters to keep up the fight against Putin, who she described as “a liar, a thief and a murderer”.

US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters, “We certainly did not consider that election free and fair but he is the president of Russia and he is going to continue in that capacity.”

The ceremony took place a day after Russia announced plans for a tactical nuclear weapons drill , blaming what it said were “provocative” moves by Western countries over Ukraine, which Russia invaded more than two years ago.

Ukraine said it saw no legal grounds for recognising him as the “democratically elected and legitimate president of the Russian Federation”.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the swearing-in ceremony sought to create “the illusion of legality for the nearly lifelong stay in power of a person who has turned the Russian Federation into an aggressor state and the ruling regime into a dictatorship”.

Ukraine does not recognize Vladimir Putin as a democratically elected and legitimate President of the Russian Federation. 🔗 Full MFA statement: https://t.co/HQfPCzswDy — MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) May 6, 2024

Putin thanked soldiers taking part in the war and called them “heroes” fighting for “the motherland”.

“We are looking forward confidently,” he said in his speech, which was aired on national television.

“I assure you that the interests and security of the people of Russia will continue to be above all for me,” he said.

While the Russian leader said he was not ruling out dialogue with Western countries, he insisted it must be carried out on equal terms, “respecting the interests of each other”.

“The choice is theirs: do they intend to continue trying to contain Russia, continue the policy of aggression, continuous pressure on our country for years, or look for a path to cooperation and peace.”

Russian and Ukrainian troops have been heavily hit in the war, with large numbers of casualties on both sides. But Russian forces have been gaining ground in Ukraine, which is struggling with shortages of soldiers and weaponry.

Putin has been in power as president or prime minister since 1999. Critics say his legacy over the past nearly 25 years has been one of war, slow economic growth and repression.

At the start of a new term, the Russian government is routinely dissolved so that Putin can name a new prime minister and cabinet.