Obama's First Inaugural

Lots of folks much better versed in politics, history, and rhetoric will be commenting on Obama's First Inaugural Address.
That won't stop me from offering my perspective.

Pre-Inaugural commentary from the elder Obama daughter, Malia:

"First African American president -- it better be good."

No pressure, Mr. President!

Length: just under 2400 words (2396) - putting it at about the 66th-%-ile (eye-ball estimate: 37 of 56 Inaugurals have come in at 2400 words or fewer).
[Length in Words of Inaugural Addresses (chart)]

First impression: Obama did not achieve the soaring rhetoric of Lincoln's Second, FDR's First, or Kennedy's only.
Nothing approaching, "With Malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right",
"the only thing we have to fear is fear itself",
or
"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country".

That said, it seemed a well-crafted speech, modeled more-or-less on FDR's First, which seems appropriate given the challenges facing Obama.

What was not said: Obama did not directly invoke MLK. Rather, he personalized King's dream:

"This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across the magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."

I found this more powerful than any platitudinous reference to MLK could have been.

There were moments in which I felt uncomfortable - feeling sorry for former Texas Governor George W. Bush, as Obama none-too-subtly lambasted W's policies:

"Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous."
...
"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers ... our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake."
...
"Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint."
[Text of President Barack Obama's inaugural address

Each of these is a direct refutation of W's policies.

Finally, above I suggested that Obama seems to have modeled his First Inaugural on FDR's. Here are a few excerpts from FDR's that Obama's mirrors:

FDR: This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure, as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.
[Franklin Delano Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address]

Obama: Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.


FDR: And yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered, because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply.

Obama: We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed.


FDR: Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation is asking for action, and action now.
Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. ... but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing great -- greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our great natural resources.

Obama: For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.


FDR: In the field of world policy, I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor: the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others; the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.

Obama: And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

These parallels seem more than coincidental.

An Inaugural for the Ages?
Maybe not.
An Inaugural for today? Yes - I think so.