In one week, Barack Obama will fulfill his first obligation as President under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution by declaring:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 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.
Then, he will fulfill his first unofficial obligation: addressing the nation.
The AP writes of the great expectations for next Tuesday's speech. Will it go down in history as commensurate with the great speeches of JFK, Martin Luther King, or Obama's hero, Abraham Lincoln? Those were no ordinary orators—but neither is Obama.
In the spirit of ultimate political nerdiness, I think it's worth speculating about the themes and rhetoric that will grace the first words of 44.
It is my hope that this speech will be short on policy details and long on vision. No doubt the speech will mention some of the agenda that Obama is putting front and center for his first term: The proposed economic stimulus. The critical need for overhaul in America's health care system, and the urgency of our quest for clean energy. The vital retooling of our relations with the rest of the world.
But there will be plenty of time for policy details in press releases and legislative hearings. The First Inaugural, I predict, will take a broad view, considering the questions: Where is America now? What do we have to learn from the past? And most importantly, where do we need to go?
I think three recurrent themes will be familiar from the campaign: Hope, Change, and Unity. Obama will tell us that, though the going is tough, our greatest strength is our capacity to believe in a better tomorrow—and to work together so that belief is manifested in real change.
Rhetorically, I predict the speech will ground our current crisis in examples from individual Americans' lives. We must not forget these individuals, the President will tell us; we must not shy away from the great task ahead of us, settling for incremental solutions or resigning ourselves to petty politics.
Yet, he will remind us, our heritage is one of facing—and surmounting—crisis. On September 11, 2001, we found national unity in our collective grief. In the last century, we rescued the economy from the Great Depression, liberated Europe, and banished segregation from our schools, restaurants, and public halls. And in the century before that, we emerged from our darkest hour as a freer nation.
Today, we must follow the example of previous generations, marshaling our courage and our energy to build a better future. That, Obama will tell us, is the essence of the American spirit—so let's get to work.
What are your predictions?