From the 'commonly used words' section of the inaugural speech page, it is interesting to see how each speech varies differently depending on the needs or morals of the nation. My comparison comes from President James Polk, who was inaugurated in 1845, and our current President Barack Obama, who was inaugurated in 2009 (obviously).

When we watched Obama's second inaugural speech in class, he very rarely spoke of the problems that were going on in America. He extensively talked up how great our country was. He made many references to the Constitution, as well as the heart and soul of the American people to capitalize on the idea of America: a strongly driven, patriotic nation. He talked up the world as a whole to make us seem like we were all in this together. Peace was the option to strive for. He basically used powerful words and speech to give hope to a group of people even though he provided no solid explanation as to how he was going to get there.

On the other hand, in James Polk's speech, he pushed to hint towards the big problems that were facing America at the time. The words that stick out to me are 'territory', 'Texas', and 'war'. At the time, America was going through a hard decision: whether or not to go to war with Mexico over the territory in Texas. In his speech, he pushed to make the American people know that he intended to go to war with Mexico so that he could achieve his goals. By saying this, he was clearly making it known to everybody that he had an agenda that he was willing to chip away at. Of course he had all of the notions that Obama had on his mind, but he provided a more solid approach to his plan.

These two presidents have two different notions to their speeches. Whether they be a foolproof plan or words that strike emotion, they both made very effective speeches to the nation.