Obama Inaugural Speech Reflection

Reflections Each of the inaugural speeches Obama made had quite a different feel to them despite emphasizing similar points. The first speech emphasized the new responsibilities that Americans had concerning the changing times. I found this speech inspiring as it addressed the goal of the administration and the feasibility of achieving those goals. This latter point is more important to me as it makes the ideals addressed more than empty promises. The second inaugural address was less electric, but more impactful. At this point in time, several of the campaign promises made by Obama had begun to come to fruition: the economy was recovering and better health care was making its way through the houses of Congress. The speech focused on the central statement that while progress has been made, the journey to prosperity within these same issues was not yet complete. I found the eloquence, sincerity and dedication to the central values of the United States addressed within each of Obama’s inaugural speeches quite moving. I watched each of these speeches with my family. Given my age at the time of the housing crisis in 2007 and 2008, I was not paying acute attention to the proceeding, so I found the context that my parents provided to be helpful in constructing a view of what happened. When I learned what had taken place, I was …show more content…
In the first speech, Obama almost solely refers to the citizens of the United states as “men and women” (2009). However, in his second inaugural address, he refers to the public as “the people” or includes himself in the missions and hardship that will occur in his second presidency with the pronoun “we” (2013). I think that this change in itself is momentous as it represents the increased sense of union felt by the people of the United States toward those who do not necessarily come from the same