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Modern Inaugural Addresses. A Critical Comparison of Carter’s, Reagan’s, H.W. Bush’s, Clinton’s, and W. Bush’s Inaugural Addresses. . Modern Inaugural Addresses. Carter, Reagan, Bush 41’, Clinton, and Bush 43’ Addresses tend to avoid controversy and politically charged language.
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Modern Inaugural Addresses A Critical Comparison of Carter’s, Reagan’s, H.W. Bush’s, Clinton’s, and W. Bush’s Inaugural Addresses.
Modern Inaugural Addresses • Carter, Reagan, Bush 41’, Clinton, and Bush 43’ • Addresses tend to avoid controversy and politically charged language. • Share some common themes. • Some specific types of statements are common.
Types of Phrases Common in Modern Inaugurals • Historical Reflective • Nationalistic Platitude • Then and Now • Politely Critical • Nationalistic Metaphor • Ethos Borrowing
Jimmy Carter • Casual in comparison with the others. • Quotes his high school teacher and the Bible. • Uses at least nine references to spirituality or religion. • Humble, recognizes own weaknesses.
Reagan’s First Inaugural • Spends majority of address discussing economic issues. • Discusses more political issues more directly than any of the other seven Presidents. • Makes strong statements about the economy, the size of the federal government, and military spending.
Reagan’s Second Inaugural • A directly related to previous speech • Re-visits issues and problems brought up in previous address and discusses his actions on those issues. • Is not as focused as previous speech, uses more of the standard types of phrases. • More reflective, less direct, but still more on point than others.
George H. W. Bush • Begins with a prayer. • Discusses some basic planned initiatives. • Encourages Bi-Partisanship, addressing specific Democrats. • Discusses the role of a President.
William Jefferson Clinton • Talks about ‘renewal’ and ‘rebirth.’ Encourages a new way of thinking. • Uses Historical/Reflective statements more than the others. • Encourages bi-partisanship • Focuses more on global concerns and problems.
Clinton’s Second Inaugural • Stylistically very similar to first inaugural • Discusses achievements of his first term. • Brings up more policy goals for the second term. • Reviews international concerns and issues, most are the same as previous address.
George W. Bush • Borrows introductory statement from Reagan. • Most of introduction is composed of historical/reflective statements. • Emphasizes national security, educational reform, personal responsibility.