The number of toned themes between both Republican and Democratic presidents are nearly identical, with 350 and 351 respectively. Republican presidents used a positive tone 57% of the time, and democratic presidents used positive tone 63% of the time. This means presidents tend to use a more positive tone in their inaugural addresses, especially among democrats. The most notable party differences are between Unity and War, with democratic presidents referencing Unity more, and War less than their Republican counterparts.
For non-toned themes, the results between parties are fairly similar, with the most noticeable differences between Religion, Diplomacy, and Tax elements. Republican presidents tend to talk more about Religion, Regulation, and Tax by a significant margin. Democrats tend to reference Democracy more often than Republicans but less for all other non-toned elements.
Blue backgrounds represent Democratic administrations and red backgrounds represent Republican administrations.
Unity is the most prevalent theme across inaugural addresses. References of unity increased and became more consistent throughout our period of study. Some differences can be found between Democratic and Republican presidencies.
Green backgrounds represent significant periods of recessions in the American economy.
References of Economy have remained relatively consistent over time with mild changes due to the economic conditions of the period. References typically increased during economic recessions like the Great Depression in the 1930s and Great Recession of 2007-09. Mentions were particularly low in the 1950s and 1960s when other issues like the Cold War were more prevalent.
Red backgrounds represent periods the United States was at war. Does not include periods of less conventional war like the Cold War (1947-1989), early years of the Vietnam War (1954-1965), the Yugoslav Wars (1992-1995), and others.
References of War tend to vary heavily between addresses and have decreased slightly over time. Spikes tend to align with years before, during, and after U.S. engagement in war. Wars include the First World War (1917-19), Second World War (1941-45), Korean War (1950-53), Vietnam War (1965-1975), Persian Gulf War (1990-91), and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (2001-21).