What a deeply impressive occasion President Obama’s inauguration was. The very sight of the million plus people gathered for the historic day set the inspirational scene and that picture will endure in memory and record.
So also will the President Obama’s speech endure. Some commentators, no doubt seeking highbrow entertainment, have complained that it was not drenched in soaring phrases. There was poetry there aplenty but it seemed clear to me that this was a speech of great substance setting out the character of the new United States administration, its broad intentions, some clear imperatives and struck notes of genuine change and what I would characterise as ‘ambitious realism’.
As with all the limited selection of Obama material that I have heard, including the half-hour ‘infomercial’, not a word was wasted. It was laden with significance and for that reason will outlast speeches remembered mostly for their memorable phrases (‘ask not...’, ‘land a man on the moon...’, ‘nothing to fear but fear itself...’) from Kennedy or Franklin Roosevelt. And, I will wager, we will see more of President Obama’s speech implemented - that was the clear intention.
And such are Obama’s gifts of organisation, the structure of decision making, confidence and sheer ability - clearly comfortable with power from the outset - that he will do this himself.
Franklin Roosevelt, in my view the greatest US president to date, had major achievements both at home and abroad but could have pulled the United States out of the Great Depression sooner had he not been somewhat hamstrung both by institutions and the thinking of the times. It was President Johnson of course who carried forward much of the Kennedy programme and, despite his less attractive qualities, began material delivery on civil rights with considerable political skill.
P
resident Obama has got down to work immediately - and so should national leaders elsewhere. In this connection, one less commented upon point of Obama’s speech is how the powerful and poetic phrases are deployable to other contexts. Before illustrating this in an English context, could I point towards a completely unrelated source that is richly usable in the same way.
So also will the President Obama’s speech endure. Some commentators, no doubt seeking highbrow entertainment, have complained that it was not drenched in soaring phrases. There was poetry there aplenty but it seemed clear to me that this was a speech of great substance setting out the character of the new United States administration, its broad intentions, some clear imperatives and struck notes of genuine change and what I would characterise as ‘ambitious realism’.As with all the limited selection of Obama material that I have heard, including the half-hour ‘infomercial’, not a word was wasted. It was laden with significance and for that reason will outlast speeches remembered mostly for their memorable phrases (‘ask not...’, ‘land a man on the moon...’, ‘nothing to fear but fear itself...’) from Kennedy or Franklin Roosevelt. And, I will wager, we will see more of President Obama’s speech implemented - that was the clear intention.
And such are Obama’s gifts of organisation, the structure of decision making, confidence and sheer ability - clearly comfortable with power from the outset - that he will do this himself.Franklin Roosevelt, in my view the greatest US president to date, had major achievements both at home and abroad but could have pulled the United States out of the Great Depression sooner had he not been somewhat hamstrung both by institutions and the thinking of the times. It was President Johnson of course who carried forward much of the Kennedy programme and, despite his less attractive qualities, began material delivery on civil rights with considerable political skill.
P
resident Obama has got down to work immediately - and so should national leaders elsewhere. In this connection, one less commented upon point of Obama’s speech is how the powerful and poetic phrases are deployable to other contexts. Before illustrating this in an English context, could I point towards a completely unrelated source that is richly usable in the same way.This is Ecclesiasticus from the Biblical Apocrypha, which will reward a reflective browse. I once gave a speech at a cricket dinner reviewing the season my club had had, illuminated by phrases from this both multi-levelled and profound source. It would probably work for other sports too, should you want to try something a bit different. No doubt your ‘delivery’ would be a distinct improvement on mine - no wonder half the members seemed to be nodding off!
So, as a few examples of the relevance of the Obama phrases and the lamentable English economic condition:
‘An economic crisis caused by greed and irresponsibility...’ Applies here too - unchanged and, alas, probably with even greater force, now amplified for England by having to pick up another huge chunk of losses from the Royal Bank of Scotland.
‘Our collective failure to make hard choices...’ In my book principally the choice to live within our means, abandoning the ‘have it all’, ‘must have’ and ‘generation now’ advertising mentalities as well as unmade selections of options in political economy.
‘The challenges we face are real...’ All too true of the real economy skewered by the avaricious and incompetent bankers and the glut of globalisation thrust upon us in a cruel kind of industrial pate de foie gras.
‘Clinging to power through corruption and deceit...’ Today’s (or yesterday’s) possessors of economic power, corrupted by bonuses and deceiving themselves as well as both citizens and leaders here. In my view we must do something about the culture of customer deceit on which so much of our economy became based.
‘Bold and swift action...’ on the economy - not so swift and only retrospectively emboldened by discoveries of the emerging scale of the debt the banks have saddled us with.
There are many more widely adaptable phrases in an eloquent speech, the relevance of which extends to large parts of the Western World.
So, as a few examples of the relevance of the Obama phrases and the lamentable English economic condition:
‘An economic crisis caused by greed and irresponsibility...’ Applies here too - unchanged and, alas, probably with even greater force, now amplified for England by having to pick up another huge chunk of losses from the Royal Bank of Scotland.
‘Our collective failure to make hard choices...’ In my book principally the choice to live within our means, abandoning the ‘have it all’, ‘must have’ and ‘generation now’ advertising mentalities as well as unmade selections of options in political economy.
‘The challenges we face are real...’ All too true of the real economy skewered by the avaricious and incompetent bankers and the glut of globalisation thrust upon us in a cruel kind of industrial pate de foie gras.
‘Clinging to power through corruption and deceit...’ Today’s (or yesterday’s) possessors of economic power, corrupted by bonuses and deceiving themselves as well as both citizens and leaders here. In my view we must do something about the culture of customer deceit on which so much of our economy became based.
‘Bold and swift action...’ on the economy - not so swift and only retrospectively emboldened by discoveries of the emerging scale of the debt the banks have saddled us with.
There are many more widely adaptable phrases in an eloquent speech, the relevance of which extends to large parts of the Western World.
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