Loading ...The Ten Worst Inaugural Addresses
Having reviewed the Ten Best Inaugural Addresses, let us now attend to the ten worst. Given their status as worst, it should be of little surprise that only two of these Presidents earned a second term in office.
Franklin Pierce
Hard to say whether Pierce was naïve or stupid. We guess the latter.
“No heart but my own can know the personal regret and bitter sorrow over which I have been borne to a position so suitable for others.”
Read Franklin Pierce’s Inaugural Address.
Warren G. Harding
So many words to say so little.
“But America, our America, the America builded on the foundation laid by the inspired fathers…”
Read Warren G. Harding’s Inaugural Address.
Lyndon B. Johnson
Who would know from this speech of scarcely connected paragraphs that The Great Society was only months from being proposed?
“Our destiny in the midst of change will rest on the unchanged character of our people, and on their faith.”
Read Lyndon B. Johnson’s Inaugural Address.
John Quincy Adams
Son, I know John Adams, and you’re no John Adams. You’re Quincy.
“I commit with humble but fearless confidence my own fate.”
Read John Quincy Adams’ Inaugural Address.
Martin Van Buren
Entirely retrospective, it was a farewell on his first day in office.
“in imitating their example, I tread in the footsteps of illustrious men.”
Read Martin Van Buren’s Inaugural Address.
Ulysses S. Grant’s First
The Civil War had ended, and the electorate swept General Grant from the front lines to the White House. Grant, foreshadowing his disastrous eight years, delivered this small-minded speech during a large and needy historical moment.
“A prostrate commerce is to be rebuilt and all industries encouraged.”
Read Ulysses S. Grant’s First Inaugural Address.
George H.W. Bush
Metaphors stretched till they screamed, clichés jammed like Beltway traffic. Like a piña colada, the first time was sweet, but it makes you woozy if repeated. Like a thousand points of light…
“Some see leadership as high drama, and the sound of trumpets calling, and sometimes it is that. But I see history as a book with many pages.”
Read George H.W. Bush’s Inaugural Address.
William Henry Harrison
Harrison’s address was the longest delivered at any inaugural. A 9,000 word epic that could fill nearly two modern newspaper pages, hearing it must have been like enduring a know-it-all uncle who won’t shut up.
“Organized associations of citizens requiring compliance with their wishes too much resembles the recommendations of Athens to her allies.”
Read William Henry Harrison’s Inaugural Address.
Thomas Jefferson’s Second
It is hard to know if Jefferson believed he was serving a second term in prison, or second term as President after reading this address. What is clear is the fact that politics was beginning to take its toll. The Washington Post said that this speech was “unworthy of a giant.”
“The artillery of the press has been leveled against us.”
Read Thomas Jefferson’s Second Inaugural Address.
James Buchanan
Only four years before the Civil War, the nation already had endured ten years of crisis. It was a time of grave national peril, and Buchanan delivered a craven, simpering speech.
“May we not, then, hope that the long agitation of [slavery] is approaching its end…Most happy will it be for the country when the public mind shall be delivered from this question to others of more pressing and practical importance.”
Read James Buchanan’s Inaugural Address.
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