Presidential Speeches

Comparing the inauguration speeches of the central author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, to that of Barack Obama’s, it’s interesting to see how ideas seem to have changed over time and how government based topics have been swiftly replaced by the topic of the people. The comparison between the two also highlights fundamental changes in a President’s way of thinking.

Thomas Jefferson was considered a founding father and was elected in the year of 1801 and then again in 1805. Because he was a founding father, I thought his count for the word government would be sky-rocket high compared to today’s world because of how government based and focused his work had been so far. And just as I had suspected, Jefferson utilized this word thirteen times throughout the duration of his speech. This speech was known to be one that would set the tone for later inaugural addresses as well as to demonstrate the principles upon which his administration would work. One of Jefferson’s outstanding quotes from the government-based speech is “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists”.

The first inaugural speech by current president Barack Obama was one that was mainly working based in 2009. A few of the most frequently used words were nation, America, people, work, generation, common, and time. At this time the economy was facing hardship and Obama discussed the idea of rebuilding together, along with the idea of restoring America’s place in the world. This speech definitely had the feel of the portrayal of things Americans would work to fix verses what the government would do to ensure this process. To put it in perspective, the word government was only used four times compared to the previous thirteen by the government-focused Jefferson.

The fundamental differences between the Presidents are easily highlighted by the speeches differing themes. As discussed on the internet site Reetzality, Jefferson was in full support of the right to bear arms so the people could protect themselves against tyranny whereas Obama’s been quoted stating “Even if I wanted to take them away, I don’t have the votes in Congress”. Another differing point is that Jefferson feared a large national debt whereas Obama has been slowly working to decrease the large amount we have now. This brings us to the final idea that Jefferson fully supported American Independence and only used the word world four times throughout his speech whereas Obama hoped for world unity, using world upwards of seven different times.

Overall these two men were inaugurated in different social settings and how often the word government was used definitely was impacted by their differing focuses and backgrounds. Jefferson was largely influenced by his writing of the Declaration of Independence, a huge moment in history. In opposition, Obama was influenced by his election during an intense decade-long war and the election into a huge economic crisis. This comparison shows that the current state of the country along with the president’s background affects the speech and what it delivers in significant ways.