Behind The Scenes Of The Inaugural Speech

By Maggie Smolka 1-19-2013

WEBN staff photo

James Fallows knows what is like to write an inaugural address.

“There is a whole body of past inaugural addresses that you look at and then you start writing,” says Fallows who is  former President Jimmy Carter’s speech writer.

But something Fallow’s employer, Jimmy Carter, never got to do was deliver a second inaugural address.  And that, Fallows claims, is harder speech to write than the first.

“It is tricky to do a second inaugural address because people already know what you are like,” says Fallows.  “You can’t have the same open ended commitment you have in your first speech.  The President must recognize the challenges the country has been through and set a tone for the next four years.”

Fallows believes the success behind any Inaugural speech is giving people a sense of hope about the future of America’s leadership.