After the class discussions about Obama's State of the Union and the Wordle of his speech and the speeches of former presidents, I found myself most interested in the differences between Obama and Bush. Pictured on the top left is the Wordle of Obama's speech, while the bottom left is a Wordle compilation of all of Bush's State of the Union speeches.
The most used word in Obama's speech was Americans while Bush's was America. This is particularly reflective of each president's goal in office. After the economic downturn, individual Americans needed hope that things would turn out o.k. So it only seems natural that Obama would address the American people rather than America itself. Using Americans instead of America also connotes that Obama cares about every person in the United States, not just the country as a whole.
Bush probably used 'America' the most because his goals involved the direction of the country as a whole. As most of his presidency involved different wars, Bush was directing the involvement of America, not Americans, in multiple countries.
Another difference involves the second most common word used. Obama's was people while Bush's was must. Once again, Obama focused on solving problems within America and among the American people rather than problems involving foreign countries. His focus within the American population indicates why this would be the second most used word. After 9/11, Bush was in a state of urgency to react to the War on Terror. His urgency is reflected through the word 'must'. Bush created an enormous to-do list for America after 9/11, and in order to get those things accomplished Bush needed to use the word 'must'.
What else do you find interesting about these two Wordles? How do the words used reflect either Obama or Bush?
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