Washington and Obama's Inaugural Addresses
When comparing George Washington's first inaugural address upon becoming President of the United States in 1789 with Barack Obama's inaugural address from 2009, a number of similarities and differences become apparent which help to inform the reader about the particular context of either speech, and to see how the country's expectations of the President and the President's expectations of his audience have changed over time. In particular, each speaker's view of the office he is about to hold as well as the explicit and implicit appeals to Christianity reveal how American politics has changed over time (seemingly for the worse).
In his inaugural address, Washington spends the entire first paragraph remarking at his inexperience and lack of confidence in his ability to perform the duties of his job. He describes himself as having inherited "inferior endowments from nature and unpractised in the duties of civil administration," and hopes that his "error will be palliated by the motives which misled" him into believing that he was competent enough to run the country as chief executive. This humility (whether feigned...
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
Not all people who own guns are criminals nor will they end up using their gun, but it does feel better to know that in a worst case scenario situation, one will be able to fight back on even grounds. Gun regulation is not about banning guns, but about controlling who has access to them. As proposed by the President, background checks are essential when it comes to being able
Living Constitutionalism As the leader of the free world, the United States remains in the limelight as the rest of the world keeps a keen eye on how they conduct their affairs. As it appertains to constitutional interpretation, the U.S. has a sound philosophy dubbed 'living constitutionalism.' In the American constitutional dispensation, as in other countries, the letter of the law is unequivocal. That notwithstanding, many agree that every society is
Interestingly, and not well-known, is the fact that as a method of "methodically" shortening the long odds against him, Lincoln arranged to have transcripts of his debates with Douglas published. The publishing of those debates greatly improved his visibility and he began to receive invitations to speak at Republican gatherings. Goodwin explains that he gave speeches in Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Iowa and Ohio in the four months between August
Second Reconstructions One of the most dramatic consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction was that the South was effectively driven from national power for roughly six decades. Southerners no longer claimed the presidency, wielded much power on the Supreme Court, or made their influence strongly felt in Congress But beginning in the 1930s, the South was able to flex more and more political muscle, and by the 1970s some
" Real Americans support the right of religious people to worship, and would never base legislation on a religious conviction rather than a conviction based on constitutional rights, constitutional law, and Enlightenment ethics. American political identity is continually changing also because of the incredible ethnic and cultural diversity within the nation's borders. When gender, sexual identity, socio-economic class, and other factors are also included in the mix, America's political philosophy is
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