Imagine it's 2008 and you're an adult American worker. Yeah, it's a tough mental exercise, but just bear with us. The stock market has just crashed, and to add insult to injury, the housing market has exploded. You lose your house to foreclosure in the same month that your company lays you off to save money. Your investments have gone down the tubes, putting your retirement plans in jeopardy. You're trying to look for a new job, but no one is hiring. You don't have enough money to make ends meet, much less to buy the things you want.
Basically, your life is a stone-cold bummer.
You turn on the TV and flip to the inauguration ceremony for the new president. Wouldn't you want to hear something that encouraged you to keep on trying? If not, go ahead and change the channel—2008 was peak Gossip Girl.
Anyway, Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural address is built around a comforting message of perseverance: he encourages American citizens to weather the storm with help from themselves and their government.
Questions About Perseverance
- Obama's 2009 inaugural address discusses the nation's decline in confidence. How did America's emotional and mental response to the recession relate to actual events?
- Obama references crises and challenges throughout American history. What do these allusions contribute to the overall message?
- If you had won the 2008 presidential election, what message would you have sent to people struggling through dire economic times? How would your message differ from or be similar to Obama's?
- Should the federal government use tax revenue to help make economic downturns easier on the majority of Americans? Or should American citizens overcome economic challenges on their own?
Chew on This
The 2009 inaugural address is about the responsibility of government and citizens. It asks the American people to work with the government to survive a crisis.
One of Obama's primary objectives in his inaugural address is to comfort and reassure a nation reeling from multiple crises.