trump inaugural address
Donald Trump delivering his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 2017. (Photo: Alex Wong, Getty Images)
When Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States, some outlets and commentators were quick to comment that his speech felt a little … different.
The swift reaction online — and especially the dark tone that so many were saying Trump’s speech took — left us at USA TODAY College wondering: Was his speech actually that different from other inaugural addresses?
Richard Vatz, a professor of rhetoric at Towson University, said that Trump’s speech was shorter than most.
But, he said, that’s not what was most interesting about the speech.
“The most fascinating point was that President Trump complimented Barack Obama during the transition,” Vatz told USA TODAY College in an interview. “But after he did that, he then gave a couple of offensives that you could put in a category of ‘our long national nightmare is over,'” which, Vatz said, was similar to President Gerald Ford’s inaugural speech after the presidency of Richard Nixon.
(Fun fact: “Obama” was one of the four most-used words in Trump’s inaugural address.)
And, while Vatz said that it’s not unusual to have an inaugural address without many policy specifics, there were some policy elements that are still disquieting.
“Inaugural speeches are usually not specific,” Vatz said. “[But] you should be, even in generalities, you should be clear on positions you’re taking. But his foreign policy remains a big concern for many of us.”
Vatz said he was concerned about Trump’s views on foreign policy, in part because there haven’t been many hints as to what Trump’s positions may be.
Vatz would not say whether or not his speech was more “grim” than previous inaugural addresses, calling it a “political dispute.”
“I call it over-promising,” Vatz said. “Because he says we have these terrible problems, but he’s saying, ‘Boy you’re lucky because I’m president now.’”
But, Vatz said, because Trump’s personality is so polarizing, there’s no way that he won’t let down a large population.
“With his personality, and his personal attacks on people, and his resentment, there’s just no way that he’s going to be a generally approved presidency,” Vatz said.
Several inaugural addresses came with memorable phrases. For example:
“Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country, ” John F. Kennedy, 1961.
“Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933.
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations,” Abraham Lincoln, 1865.
As for President Donald Trump?
“The phrase of Trump is, ‘We will make America great again,’” Vatz said. Which could backfire.
“After four years, I guarantee you the Democratic argument will be that [Trump] didn’t make America great again,” Vatz said. 
Cody Boteler is a Towson University student and a USA TODAY College correspondent. 
http://college.usatoday.com/2017/01/23/how-a-rhetoric-professor-assesses-president-trumps-inaugural-address/