Joe Biden’s inaugural address at noon eastern on Wednesday was well-written with powerful rhetorical flourishes and inspiring themes. According to one speechwriter who worked with Biden while he served as vice president, “He knows that words matter.”
In collaboration with his speechwriters and historian Jon Meacham, Biden wrote and delivered a speech that will inspire many of those who read or watch it.
Theme of Unity
A great speech needs a unifying theme that is clear and plainly spoken. Biden wasted no time in getting to the point.
“The American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us,” he said.
To overcome the challenges that America faces and to “restore the soul of America,” Biden said, requires more than words. “It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy. Unity. Unity.”
Biden used the word “unity” eight times in his 21-minute speech (interrupted by applause). Biden cited historical figures like St. Augustine and Abraham Lincoln to reinforce his theme.
“In another January on New Year’s Day in 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. When he put pen to paper the president said, and I quote, ‘if my name ever goes down in history, it’ll be for this act, and my whole soul is in it’. My whole soul is in it today, on this January day. Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause.”
Alliteration
Alliteration, repeating letters or sounds in close succession, is a rhetorical tool that requires strong writing to convey ideas. When it works, it adds to the power of a message.
Biden said, “This is a time of testing. We face an attack on our democracy and on truth. A raging virus, growing inequities, the sting of systemic racism, a climate in crisis…we will be judged, you and I, by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era.” [bold letters are mine]
Highlight Differences
Presidents collaborate with speechwriters to make their ideas sound better and, therefore, much more memorable. You can tell when a speechwriter has a hand in a sentence when you see juxtaposition, highlighting the differences between two ideas.
For example, in Biden’s speech, he said:
“We have much to do in this winter of peril and significant possibilities.
“Together we will write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity not division, of light not darkness.”
Repetition
Repetition adds weight to an idea. The writing tool of repetition is called anaphora. You know it when you hear it. It happens when the same words start a series of sentences. Biden said,
“Here we stand in the shadow of the Capitol dome, completed amid the Civil War when the union itself was literally hanging in the balance. Yet we endured. We prevailed.
Here we stand…
Here we stand…
Here we stand…
And here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of this democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground. It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today. Not tomorrow, not ever. Not ever.”
This series of repeated sentences garnered loud and sustained applause.
Shared Dreams
People like to be reminded of who they are. Biden did so in several sections of his speech.
Americans, Biden reminded his listeners, are “restless, bold, optimistic.”
“This is a great nation,” Biden continued. “We are good people. And over the centuries, through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we’ve come so far…Through civil war, the Great Depression, world war, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice, and setbacks, our better angels have always prevailed.”
Biden said America faces a historic moment of crisis and challenge. “Unity is the path forward,” he added.
We don’t know what the next chapter of America’s story will read, but Biden made it clear that he hopes unity is the headline.