0:00:00.007,0:00:04.247 An inaugural address can be a defining moment[br]for a president and certain lines become iconic. 0:00:04.247,0:00:12.012 "Ask not what your country can do for you,[br]ask what you can do for your country." 0:00:12.012,0:00:15.601 But why do some addresses echo[br]through history while others don’t? 0:00:16.049,0:00:16.053 I asked 0:00:16.053,0:00:17.329 Kathleen Hall Jamieson 0:00:17.389,0:00:20.860 I am director of the Annenberg Public Policy[br]Center at The University of Pennsylvania 0:00:20.869,0:00:22.963 And what she told me is that an inaugural[br]address should do three things: 0:00:23.809,0:00:27.180 unify the country, announce guiding principles, [br]and affirm the limits of power. 0:00:27.189,0:00:30.274 So let’s take those one by one, starting[br]with the need to unify the country. 0:00:31.039,0:00:35.370 One of the more important characteristics[br]of an inaugural is that it establishes that 0:00:35.037,0:00:37.064 this is the president of all the people. 0:00:37.064,0:00:40.130 Coming after a campaign, a president’s first[br]task to heal a divided electorate. 0:00:41.003,0:00:44.037 In 1801, Jefferson welcomed his opponents[br]when he said, 0:00:44.064,0:00:47.123 “Every difference of opinion is not a difference[br]of principle. 0:00:47.699,0:00:50.737 We have called by different names brethren[br]of the same principle. 0:00:51.079,0:00:54.123 We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.” 0:00:54.519,0:00:58.060 And in 1953, Eisenhower echoed Jefferson’s[br]plea for unity, 0:00:58.006,0:01:05.547 "May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual[br]aim of those who, under the concepts of our 0:01:05.601,0:01:09.960 Constitution, hold to differing political[br]faiths…” 0:01:09.096,0:01:14.142 Eisenhower’s inaugural explicitly suggests[br]that we are coming together in this moment 0:01:15.042,0:01:18.070 regardless of the kind of partisan divisions[br]that we have had in the past. 0:01:18.007,0:01:21.009 That’s actually a common theme across the inaugurals. 0:01:21.729,0:01:25.761 We remember it more when it is phrased more[br]memorably, as it is with Jefferson 0:01:26.049,0:01:29.053 or Eisenhower, but you’ll actually find[br]an element of it 0:01:29.089,0:01:31.420 in virtually all of the inaugural addresses. 0:01:31.043,0:01:34.372 Second, an inaugural should announce principles[br]that will guide the presidency. 0:01:34.759,0:01:37.841 “We'll restore science to its rightful place,[br]and wield technology's wonders 0:01:38.058,0:01:41.084 to raise health care's quality and lower its cost.” 0:01:41.084,0:01:46.003 But, unlike the state of the union, the inaugural[br]should focus on principles, not policy. 0:01:46.759,0:01:49.600 When you get to policy proposals, you’re[br]back in campaign mode. 0:01:49.006,0:01:55.008 “In this present crisis, government is not[br]the solution to our problem; 0:01:55.062,0:01:57.074 government is the problem.” 0:01:57.075,0:02:01.102 Notice that when Reagan said, ‘government[br]isn’t the solution, government is the problem’, 0:02:02.002,0:02:06.010 what he was essentially doing was articulating[br]a principle, not saying, 0:02:06.001,0:02:10.092 ‘and as a result, I recommend that we do x, y, and z.’ 0:02:11.002,0:02:17.006 The philosophy of the president is embodied[br]in an inaugural and if it’s maintained at 0:02:17.042,0:02:20.047 a level of principle it is not highly problematic. 0:02:20.092,0:02:24.124 Third, an inaugural affirms the limits of[br]power, stating that no one is above the law. 0:02:25.024,0:02:28.036 One concern -- when you let some president[br]-- particularly among those who didn’t vote 0:02:28.036,0:02:33.040 for the candidate -- is that person may overreach[br]and may misuse the power or use the power 0:02:33.004,0:02:36.006 in ways that will hurt the people that did[br]not vote for the president. 0:02:36.006,0:02:39.024 Look at the passage in Gerald Ford’s inaugural[br]address 0:02:39.078,0:02:42.140 -- which was, in effect his inaugural address -- that begins, 0:02:43.004,0:02:47.103 “...our long national nightmare is over. 0:02:48.039,0:02:50.111 Our Constitution works; 0:02:51.011,0:02:54.035 our great Republic is a government of laws[br]and not of men.” 0:02:54.035,0:03:00.061 That is a repudiation of the Nixon Presidency.[br]Ford is affirming it explicitly: 0:03:00.061,0:03:02.124 that no president is above the law. 0:03:03.025,0:03:07.084 That’s the speech that tells us that, in[br]language that we should always remember. 0:03:07.084,0:03:10.130 Besides indicating what the address should[br]be about, past inaugurals suggest 0:03:11.003,0:03:13.017 how a president should deliver it. 0:03:13.045,0:03:15.052 First, they should keep it short. 0:03:15.052,0:03:19.944 People who assume that you have to speak at[br]length in order to be eloquent are wrong. 0:03:20.002,0:03:22.041 A leader’s message should be clear and concise. 0:03:22.041,0:03:25.103 The three shortest speeches were delivered[br]by some of the most respected presidents, 0:03:26.003,0:03:28.055 albeit during subsequent inaugurals; 0:03:28.055,0:03:30.133 while the three longest came from some less well-known 0:03:31.035,0:03:35.090 presidents, including William Henry Harrison,[br]who aggravated a cold during his epic inaugural 0:03:35.009,0:03:37.016 and died the next month from pneumonia. 0:03:37.097,0:03:38.097 Second... 0:03:38.097,0:03:40.112 Put the campaign behind you. 0:03:41.012,0:03:47.074 Do not be Ulysses S. Grant, who whines about[br]having a scandal-ridden campaign. 0:03:47.074,0:03:52.131 “I have been the subject of abuse and slander[br]scarcely ever equaled in political history, 0:03:53.031,0:03:56.113 which today I feel that I can afford to disregard[br]in view of your verdict, 0:03:57.013,0:03:59.029 which I gratefully accept as my vindication.” 0:03:59.029,0:04:04.088 If you come out of an inaugural address feeling[br]as if the candidate is still there and the 0:04:04.088,0:04:08.142 president isn’t -- we’re still in campaign[br]mode, this isn’t a president speaking -- 0:04:09.042,0:04:10.066 it’s a failed address. 0:04:10.066,0:04:14.082 A third caution is to avoid making it about[br]yourself, which a president can do by using 0:04:14.082,0:04:16.095 “we” instead of “I”. 0:04:16.095,0:04:21.101 When you’re trying to speak to a nation[br]that has been divided by a campaign, the unifying 0:04:22.000,0:04:26.089 rhetoric requires that the audience hear itself[br]in the rhetoric. 0:04:26.089,0:04:30.097 And as a result, the collective rhetoric -- the[br]rhetoric of “we” -- is the characterizing 0:04:31.069,0:04:33.096 rhetoric of the best inaugural addresses. 0:04:33.096,0:04:40.170 “…let me assert my firm belief that the[br]only thing we have to fear is... 0:04:41.007,0:04:42.061 fear itself.” 0:04:43.024,0:04:46.029 Lastly, and most importantly, we tend to remember[br]inaugurals.. 0:04:46.075,0:04:51.154 ...because history vindicated the observation[br]and the observation was made memorably. 0:04:52.054,0:04:56.081 So, you might say that the deciding factor[br]for a successful inaugural speech 0:04:56.081,0:04:57.081 is the presidency that follows. 0:04:57.081,0:04:59.118 There’s a reason we remember FDR and Kennedy. 0:05:00.018,0:05:04.018 Both were speaking at a point of crisis and[br]their words inspired a future that would follow. 0:05:04.018,0:05:08.066 But no president did this better than Abraham[br]Lincoln, who on the eve of Civil War, 0:05:08.066,0:05:09.148 predicted a Union victory when he said: 0:05:10.048,0:05:11.080 “The mystic chords of memory, 0:05:11.088,0:05:15.132 stretching from every battlefield and patriot[br]grave to every living heart and hearthstone 0:05:16.032,0:05:17.100 all over this broad land, 0:05:18.000,0:05:20.044 will yet swell the chorus of the Union, 0:05:20.044,0:05:22.106 when again touched, as surely they will be, 0:05:23.006,0:05:24.068 by the better angels of our nature.”