Second Inaugural Address: President Obama
Giving an inaugural address is a massive endeavor, and requires an extensive amount of preparation for the speaker. Public speaking requires more structure and detail than ordinary conversation: even a short speech given by a student to the classroom requires research, audience analysis, and above all practice. As a U.S. president entering his second term, it was incumbent upon President Obama to give a speech that would address the needs of a very diverse audience on January 21, 2013 and to satisfy a wide range of often-competing audience needs and concerns.
President Obama had to tread a delicate balance in his speech in terms of the issues he covered. On one hand, he was speaking to many people who had fought long and hard to elect him. They wanted him to celebrate his past, present, and future accomplishments. But President Obama was also speaking to Republicans and other critics. He had to show that he was strong and resolute, without seeming unduly partisan and unwilling to compromise. The purpose of an inaugural address is to rally the entire...
Obama needed to set the tone for the next four years: to define what he would do and how he would do yet, yet not sound so unbending as to raise anger in the hearts of his opponents.
Because of the seriousness of the occasion, Obama could not use his characteristic humor as much as in some of his other speeches. A sense of importance and formality is required when giving an inaugural address. Not could Obama emphasize what is occasionally called his 'wonkish' temperament. An inaugural address is not a specifically policy-related speech. It must paint issues with a broad brush, and draw connections between seemingly very different topics like healthcare and deficit reform. But even though a president may touch upon some policy specifics in an inaugural address, he must emphasize vision and mission statements. That is why some of the most famous recent examples of presidential rhetoric come from inaugural addresses, like President Kennedy's call to 'ask not…
