A good find over at Metafilter. Here you’ll find 22 inauguration speeches, starting with McKinley’s 1901 address. There’s some great footage in this series of videos.
Along similar lines, The New York Times has posted an interactive feature that covers every inaugural address. You can read the full text of each speech, and see which words and ideas were most widely used within each text. It’s a quick way to see what issues mattered most during a given historical moment. Start with George Washington’s address here.
Lastly, let me leave you with this. FDR’s 1933 address, which helped America move with a little more confidence through another difficult time. It’s the speech that gives us “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself,” a kind of prelude to “Yes we can.” Here’s to new beginnings.
thanks for the video, excellent site.