History calls on Obama to uncork great speech

FDR railed against the moneychangers in a speech delivered in the midst of a bank panic, with one-quarter of the work force idle. His words were angry and hopeful at once.

He advanced a thought that is foreign to the ears of the modern consumer — that the crisis concerned, "thank God, only material things."

"Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment," he said. "Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts."

The fundamentals are strong, you might say.

Kennedy embodied hope, change, common purpose and of course the passing of the torch to a new generation.

Again, Obama is not waiting for Jan. 20 to draw on the magic of historic moments such as Kennedy's turn on the inaugural stage in 1961.

He has asked Americans to "insist that the first question each of us asks isn't 'What's good for me?' but 'What's good for the country my children will inherit?'"

Expect that thought to be expressed more poetically on Inauguration Day, in the spirit of Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

Oratory techniques
Presidents and their speechwriters have turned to common rhetorical devices over the centuries to make inaugural speeches effective.

A dose of humility is thought to go a long way, for one. Jefferson may have taken that to an extreme, starting and finishing his first inaugural speech by talking about his shortcomings and begging forgiveness for all the mistakes he was about to make.

Some have used repetition. FDR anchored his second inaugural address on "I see," as in "I see millions of families trying to live on incomes so meager that the pall of family disaster hangs over them day by day."

Richard Nixon repeatedly chose "Let us," as in, "Let us measure what we will do for others by what they will do for themselves."

Archival video   Kennedy delivers inaugural speech Jan. 20, 1961: In his first speech as president, President Kennedy speaks to the hopes of 'a new generation of Americans.' iCue

Teddy Roosevelt used alliteration, declaring "we shall not prove false to the memories of the men of the mighty past."

Reagan evoked sounds. He asked Americans to imagine Lincoln pacing hallways, the crunch of a patriot falling to his knees in the snow of Valley Forge, the pioneer headed west and singing. "It is the American sound," Reagan said, "this most tender music."

In times of war, peace, plenty or economic misery, it must also be stated that America can solve its problems and find a better tomorrow.

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America," Bill Clinton said.

As FDR unforgettably put it: "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

That was his way of saying, "Yes we can."

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