Michael Waldman's Opinion of Obama's Inauguration Speech


When Michael Waldman was working on Bill Clinton’s first inaugural address in 1993, he taped some rules above my computer screen. “No quoting dead people.” “No reversible raincoat sentences.” Every one of the rules was broken by the time we were done drafting the address. So he hesitates to give advice to a speaker who has such a clear sense of self and moment. Waldman says Barak Obama has wielded oratory as a political weapon in a way not seen since Reagan, and he’s shown impressive discipline, fitting the style to the occasion. Waldman thinks that the speech calls for more vivid writing, bigger themes and a touch of formality. Obama's Inaugural address tends to fall into two categories: those that demand “action now,” like F.D.R. or those that seek unity and summon the “better angels of our nature,” like Lincoln. Many think Obama will do a "bring us together" speech.

Response

I agree with Michael Waldman about Barak Obama making a combination speech of F.D.R and Lincoln. When I think of President Lincoln and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, I consider them to be two of the best presidents ever. President Roosevelt was a "action now" president and right now the United States needs a president similar to that and a peaceful president like Lincoln.

Today, many families are struggling to stay connected with each other when they are on different parts of the world. For example, Dr. Ghosh, an assistant professor at University of Pennsylvania, is about 9,000 miles away from the rest of his family in New Zealand. Since travelling back and forth is very expensive, Dr. Ghosh has to find other ways to communicate with his family. Emails and picture are great for the family but when people are apart for long time eventually they want to talk to each other. Dr. Ghosh uses a software called Skype to talk to his family. Skype is a software that enables users to transmit their voices and images through the Interent. "We talk in the morning and around dinner, when my wife needs my help the most," (Dr. Ghosh). In 2006, the Census Bureau reported that 3.6 million married Americans (not including separated couples) were living apart from their spouses. In March, Worldwide ERC, the association for work-force mobility, released a report revealing that three-fourths of the 174 relocation agents surveyed had dealt with at least one commuter marriage in 2007, a 53 percent increase since 2003.

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