Don't expect humility as Trump takes office

It all started with George Washington, back in 1789, on the day he became the first president of something new called the United States of America.

The idea was that he would simply take the oath of office. That oath was set out in the new Constitution where it said and still says: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” 

There was no plan for anything else. But, reluctantly, Washington gave a speech anyway, making some remarks about the feelings he had about the role of President and the responsibilities that came with it. He stressed how unworthy he was for the job.

Those listening to him did not agree. Washington, the commander of the American forces in the Revolution, was the only candidate in the first Presidential election. He was, literally, the unanimous choice. Some suggested he should be made King. Washington thought that was a ridiculous idea. He just about consented to the office being called ‘President’.

That was 236 years ago, when everything about the occasion was very new, and the country was a lot smaller and much weaker. Every president since Washington has delivered what has come to be called an inaugural address. Donald Trump will deliver his second one this coming Monday. There will be a lot of speculation this week about what exactly he will say. Whatever it is, it will unlikely be delivered with reluctance nor will it stress how unworthy the speaker is for the job.

Nor is it likely to be short, although many of the best ones have been. For his own second term, George Washington felt he had said more than enough the first time: his second inaugural address was delivered in just 135 words. To put that in context, this article is about nine times longer. In 1961, JFK delivered his in about 12 minutes, which ever since has had the Goldilocks quality to it: not too long, not too short, just right.

In earlier days, the switch over to a new president occurred in March but in 1933 that was changed to January. January in Washington is not a great time to stand outside and listen to a long speech. The new president – if previous form informs – will be more focused on the size of the attendance. That – you may recall – was a big issue back in 2017.

What is an inaugural address for and what does it contain? It is an opening speech by the new president, marking the change from one administration to the next. It is especially important after an election where there has been a transfer of power. When that happens, a new president will use their inaugural address to outline in broad terms that the direction of travel for the country has changed – and what that is going to mean. This aspect, we can be sure, will be a major element in this particular address.

Inaugural addresses set out the vision the new president has for America and indicate how they and their team will go about doing the job. The best ones are structured around a theme that unites the points made throughout the speech. To do that, they paint a picture of how the country got to where it is, and uses that story to outline where and how the president intends to steer it. They try and define an era or approach, to, you might say, ‘meet the moment’.

The best examples in history are well known.

JFK’s 1961 address is perhaps most so. His theme was about leadership, marking the change over to a new generation of American leaders. To do that he set out to inspire his audience which he did by challenging them: “And so my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.” 

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address in 1933 is his best and most well-remembered. Coming after the Great Depression, his theme was courage and his purpose to reassure, which he did by telling his economically battered country that, “we have nothing to fear but fear itself".

Given the week ahead, I thought it would be interesting to read back the last two Presidential inaugural speeches: Joe Biden’s in 2021 and Donald Trump’s first in 2017.

Joe Biden’s theme in 2021 was the need for unity, unity to prevent the country slipping into even more dangerous division. It was laced with certainty that Americans would overcome these divisions. This was set within the context of a violent assault on the Capitol building only a short time before. It managed to be both defiant – asserting that no assault on democracy would succeed – as well as conciliatory, appealing to Americans to come together despite their differences.

Listening to it in 2021 was hopeful, even inspiring. Reading it now is poignant, demoralising. It was needed in those days of January 2021, but it in no sense predicted, let alone shaped, the future. Whatever you think about the result in November last, it was in no sense unifying.

Trump’s 2017 address was very different in tone. Its theme was that Americans had been taken for fools by their leaders for too long, and now that day was over. It argued for policies, actions and approaches that would put American interests first. It rejected a central aspect of the inaugural address of every American president since World War II – that global interdependence benefitted America and that American leadership in the world was needed to attain the benefits. In simple, punchy and even at times aggressive language, it threw out all the ideas that underpinned that – free trade, the traditional alliance system, the idea that the model of American democracy and liberty should be promoted around the world.

There was more detail on the approach to be taken on the new direction than was in Biden’s 2021 address. Like Biden’s, there was an appeal to unity in the sense that it argued that an ‘America First’ approach would benefit all Americans, but it was of lesser significance in the overall speech and the tone was different. The tone was angry.

In an era not unlike this in some ways, Abraham Lincoln’s two inaugural addresses are widely considered the best. His first addressed the deep divisions that existed in the United States at that time: ahead of what will unfold in the speech this coming Monday and from then on, one passage from it is worth reflecting on.

"We are not enemies, but friends - We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."