Kenny Holston/The New York Times
On Monday, President Donald J. Trump spoke more than 2,800 words during his second Inaugural Address. The ceremony was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda because of cold weather.
Excluding common and routine words, his most frequently spoken words were:
President Trump’s performance was relatively muted as he listed complaints against the Biden administration and reiterated many of the dozens of promises he had made on the campaign trail. He is expected to sign close to 100 executive orders on Monday afternoon.
His most spoken word was American, with 21 mentions: “The American dream will soon be back and thriving like never before.” Nation was tied for second place with 20 mentions: “Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation. And right now, our nation is more ambitious than any other. There’s no nation like our nation.”
Trump’s Inauguration Eve Victory Rally
“Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline.”
Scott Olson/Getty Images
The day before the inauguration, President-elect Trump held a victory rally at an arena in Washington. His 58-minute speech was over 8,000 words long and filled with misleading claims and greatest hits from his campaign speeches.
His most frequently spoken word was people, which he used 56 times: “People are happy. People are happy. It’s been a long time.” TikTok was mentioned 12 times, ahead of a promised executive order to postpone a federal ban of the app.
Biden, 2021
“We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile.”
Pool photo by Tasos Katopodis/EPA, via Shutterstock
Four years ago, President Joseph R. Biden delivered his Inaugural Address to a masked and socially distanced audience, two weeks after a crowd attempted to disrupt the ratification of the 2020 election results.
President Biden used the words unity or uniting 11 times, and stressed that “we must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.” He mentioned democracy 11 times, but did not speak the word Trump.
Trump, 2017
“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”
Doug Mills/The New York Times
President Trump’s first Inaugural Address had a grim tone, and was memorable for words and phrases that were spoken only once: carnage, hardships, trapped in poverty, rusted-out factories, depletion, disrepair and decay.
Obama, 2013
“A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun.”
Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
President Barack Obama used the phrase we must 10 times during his second Inaugural Address, in a forceful defense of modern liberalism: “We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial.”
Obama, 2009
“Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.”
Todd Heisler/The New York Times
President Obama was sworn in before a massive crowd and spoke for about 20 minutes at his first inauguration, promising to “begin again the work of remaking America.”
Bush, 2005
“The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.”
Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
President George W. Bush began his second term in 2005 without using the words Afghanistan, Iraq, Sept. 11 or terrorism. Instead, his second Inaugural Address framed his first term as a defense of freedom, which he mentioned 27 times, more than once in every 100 words.
Bush, 2001
“I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity.”
Paul J. Richards/AFP
Four years earlier, President Bush’s first Inaugural Address asked Americans to join together in a common national purpose after the disputed election of 2000.
One of his most frequently used words was citizens: “I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character.”
Harrison, 1841
The longest Inaugural Address.
President William Henry Harrison gave the longest Inaugural Address in American history, speaking 8,445 words over nearly two hours in wet and freezing weather. He spoke at length about the power granted by the Constitution to the various branches of government.
President Harrison died a month later, possibly from pneumonia that developed at his inauguration, or from a combination of pneumonia and typhoid fever.
Washington, 1793
The shortest Inaugural Address.
George Washington’s second Inaugural Address was the shortest to date, at only 135 words:
“Fellow citizens: I am again called upon, by the voice of my country, to execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavour to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of United America.
“Previous to the execution of any official act of the President, the Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence; that if it shall be found, during my administration of the Government, I have in any instance, violated, willingly or knowingly, the injunction thereof, I may (besides incurring Constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.”
Washington, 1789
The first Inaugural Address.
Washington delivered his first Inaugural Address in Federal Hall in New York City, which was briefly the nation’s capital. He described his conflicting emotions about being “summoned by my Country” out of retirement at his Mount Vernon estate, “a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection.”
In one measure of how political language has shifted, Washington used an average of 62 words per sentence in his first Inaugural Address, compared with 10 words per sentence for President Biden and 15 words for President Trump’s first Inaugural Address.