Obama's inaugural speech to be most watched in history

By SF Editing Staff
January 19, 2009

It will probably be the most widely watched address ever delivered, one that will draw millions of Americans and billions around the globe together - to savor the moment and the message of one man at one memorable turning point in American history.

Presidents who delivered memorable inaugural speeches all crafted messages that resonated with the particular challenges of their political era.



John F. Kennedy's "ask not what your country can do for you" was a clarion call to a younger generation regarding service to country. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" was an assurance that Americans could - and would - emerge from the economic depths of the Depression. Thomas Jefferson's "we are all Republicans; we are all Federalists" was his appeal to end political rivalry. Even Bill Clinton strengthened a country emerging from a harsh recession when he declared, "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."


Obama must also mark another new era, as the first African American president, which for many Americans may mean Obama's inaugural speech will be viewed as a kind of passing of the torch from slain civil right leader Martin Luther King Jr., an orator whose speeches still resonate deeply in the American consciousness.


But, said USF's Taylor, "I suspect Barack Obama really needs to speak to the lack of confidence that Americans have had in the government, especially with regard to the war and the economic collapse.


"He can combine an inspirational speech, something that aims high and is full of the American destiny, to talk about navigating this new century, this new era," Taylor said.


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