Jumbo Joke: Humor the Way You Like It

The Inaugural Address

Ted Widmer, a former Clinton administration speechwriter, read all of the presidential inaugural addresses. "It's not a task for the fainthearted," he says in an essay in American Scholar.

But he noticed that "the typical inaugural can be broken down into specific set pieces; the thoughts arranged in a comforting sequence." That sequence:

• "I am not worthy of this great honor."
  
• "But I congratulate the people that they elected me."
  
• "Now we must all come together, even those of us who really hate each other."
  
• "I love the Constitution, the Union, and George Washington."
  
• "I will work against bad threats."
  
• "I will work for good things."
  
• "We must avoid entangling alliances."
  
• "America's strength = democracy."
  
• "Democracy's strength = America."
  
• "Thanks, God."

You may want to have this list handy to check off each step when you watch the next one.

Posted January 20, 2005 11:48 AM