I have to say...

I have to say that the position of the US President has been a huge fascination of mine from the last six and half years. I am a history buff and am a fan of social history. I don't care much for how a war was executed or which policies helped a country or two. I am a fan of social history and have been for most of my life. What I care about is how people through the rivers of time thought and perceived life around them. When you study this, you realize that the people may dress different, think different or even speak different but the common things that tie altogether through the splitting forces of time is how people individually react to stresses, joys and tragedies in life. US Presidents go through a heightened state of reactions since their decisions impact millions of people around them. My fascination started when I read the biography of John Adams by David McCullough. The book showed a human who was trying to do his best to lead a country but no one was happy with him. He wasn't as charismatic as Washington or articulate as Jefferson but he was nevertheless a nobleman who realized that his position was greater than him.

Anyway after going to the Inauguration last week, I thought it would be nice to put CSPAN videos of the inaugurations speeches. All the presidents when are they ready to take the office for the first time are full of hope and promise but by the time they are done with their term they realize that they reality of the job. Enjoy the speeches:

2009 - Barak Obama



2001 - George W. Bush



1993 - Bill Clinton



1989 - George H. W. Bush



1981 - Ronald Reagen



1977 - Jimmy Carter



1974 - Gerald Ford



1969 - Richard Nixon



1965 - Lyndon Johnson



1961 - John Kennedy



1953 - Dwight Eisenhower



1945 - Harry Truman (speech from 1949)



1933 - Franklin Roosevelt

Comments

Michelle said…
Wow, that sure is a lot of them. Did you listen to all of them?
January 26, 2009 at 1:31:00 PM EST
Sr. Fab said…
Listening to the JFK speech, I now know what Ronald Reagan meant when he said that he didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left him. JFK's speech could have been done by Reagan. He talks about peace through strength, he lowered taxes, he talks about the United States helping others achieve Liberty. He said ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. Self-sufficiency NOT bailouts! Increased military strength not downsizing. The Democratic party really left its roots behind because today they would be opposed to most of what Kennedy stood for.
April 1, 2009 at 7:20:00 PM EST
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