Research of past presidents similar to Barack Obama

I have an upcoming assignment to predict the themes of Barack Obama’s upcoming State of the Union address. In light of that objective, I researched speeches from three previous presidents who were in similar circumstances to the ones Obama finds himself in today.

Franklin Roosevelt had to deal with World War II and the Great Depression during his time in office and made a powerful State of the Union address in 1942. His speech lasted about 30 to 40 minutes and was 3,511 words. His main theme in the address was to become united in war. He doesn’t make it just about America but for all people to be freed from the evil of the Axis powers. In one part of the speech he said, “The militarists of Berlin and Tokyo started this war. But the massed, angered forces of common humanity will finish it.” He makes the war a battle between good and evil. His words are forceful and he leaves no room for doubt that America and the rest of the nations supporting the good side will come out victorious. It is not a question of whether the allies will win or not, but when.

John F. Kennedy was in the midst of Vietnam and the Cold War during his time as president. His address to the nation January 11, 1962 was 6,569 words and about an hour long. During that time he talked about encouraging and helping freedom. In his address, JFK looked back to World War II and the suppression of freedom during that time. In his tenure his aim was to build that freedom back up for America and the rest of the world. He stated, “Yet our basic goal remains the same; a peaceful world community of free and independent states — free to choose their own future and their own system, so long as it does not threaten the freedom of others.” He made it clear that to start freedom’s growth, America must first help themselves from their own recession and then encourage others to do the same. Americans were the ones he made responsible for spreading freedom and helping it along in other nations. In his address he said, “For our nation is commissioned by history to be either an observer of freedom or the cause of its success.”

Another president that had troubles to fix while in office is Herbert Hoover. In his December 8, 1931 address to the union that was 5,682 words and about 50 minutes long, Hoover focuses on the domestic needs of the nation during the Great Depression. His main objectives are to keep the federal government from gaining economic influence and to uphold the power of local governments and individuals. He believed that when the nation’s emergencies could be solved, then America could lead the rest of the world in picking up the broken pieces and becoming more secure. He said, “A strong America is the highest contribution to world stability.” When America becomes stable, then the rest of the world gains confidence to become better.