Having listened to Barack Obama's inaugural address this morning, I got to thinking again about presidential rhetoric - how the speech is targeted to a specific time, the difference in diction, and previous speeches that the president is reaching to. Fortunately, The American Presidency Project from the University of California at Santa Barbara has a complete archive of inaugural addresses, not to mention State of the Union addresses, policy statements, and a complete archive of Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats. Sites like this can be an excellent way to engage students in presidential politics. They could compare and contrast the times and language of Obama's inaugural address with Lincoln's first, or look at FDR's depression-era radio addresses for similarities to the current economic crisis. Analyzing speeches delivered in troubled times versus prosperous ones helps students understand the nuances of speechcraft and presidential politics!
