Over the course of the next several months, both presidential
             nominees will make many speeches in their efforts to campaign for
             president. However, after the election is overâ€"and the last presidential
             election was not over in the year 2000 until long after Novemberâ€"the
             president must make an inaugural address in January on the steps of the
             Capitol building to bring the nation together after a long and divisive
             campaign. Unlike the campaign speeches, this speech must not be partisan
             or divisive in the nature of its tone. It must be positive, rather than
             negative in its use of rhetoric. It must set the stage for the president's
             entire administration in terms of firmly establishing his vision for the
             country. It must speak to the world rather than to just the American
             voters. It must also speak to both houses of congress, republicans and
             Because of these factors, presidents tend to use poetic and
             rhetorical tropes when expressing themselves in their inaugural addresses.
             One of the classic rhetorical uses of antithesis, for example, or the
             pairing of two unlike ideas with similar phrases is John F. Kennedy's "ask
             not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
             country." Note too how Kennedy addresses the young people of the nation,
             rather than taking any political jibes at his opposition. Even though he
             was advocating a policy change in terms of creating the Peace Core, he
             discusses service in positive terms, rather than in the tone of an advocate
             The president who speaks in January to the nation must speak to a
             divided nation, frustrated over a protracted Iraqi commitment, higher costs
             of living in the form of higher oil prices, and a still shaky economy.
             Whether this president's name is Kerry or Bush, he must inspire the people
             not simply to believe in him, but to help him heal the nation, the Iraqi
             ...