One of the things Ronald Reagan was most known for during his presidency was his belief that the main focus of America is to better the lives of its citizens. This is echoed in George H. W. Bush’s inaugural address in which he states in a prayer to God, “there is just one use of power and it is to serve people” (1989). Bush also mentions how Americans were living during a time full of promise and opportunity (1989), which is a reverberation of Reagan’s previous State of the Union in 1988. This suggests that Bush was dedicated to following his predecessor’s example in continuing to make America the greatest democratic nation of the world. What is different about the two former presidents, however, is while Reagan focused on actual evidence; Bush used grandiose statements that are not supplemented with proof thus warranting disbelief from his listeners in whether or not he would hold true to his promises and further Reagan’s ideology. This paper will provide an analysis of Bush’s inaugural address in order to determine if he was genuine.
A quote I found particularly interesting and confusing is “free will unhampered by the state” (Bush 1989), for it seems to imply that Bush felt state governments were overbearing and thus needed to be regulated. Though this is merely speculation on my part, it is worth noting that Reagan did not make a similar observation in his State of the Union address thus promoting the idea that Bush had his own agenda which was separate from that of the Reagan administration. Furthermore this quote is yet another example of how Bush appeared to like to make grand, romantic statements that ultimately meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. It does imply Bush enjoyed sounding like some medieval poet who was more interested in choosing fanciful words than being straightforward as Reagan had been. Bush did, however, emphasize the strength of the individual as he urged his fellow Americans to look within themselves to see what is right (1989), he just did so in a way where it is hard to take him seriously as he continued to use vague, colorful language.
Additionally while Reagan emphasized leaving their children with a world free of dictators and totalitarianism, Bush chose to focus on urging the people not to measure their worth and lives based on material possessions but to leave the future generations believing in “what matters” (1989), whatever that means. The one aspect of both speeches which I truly enjoyed was their insistence on promoting not only the betterment of society and one’s fellow citizens, but the improvement of one’s self as they strived for goodness. In other words, even while both Bush and Reagan noted how much America had grown into being one of the leading nations of the modern world, they took the time to observe how there was room for improvement which had to be accomplished by everyone resulting in a sense of unity that was no doubt needed after decades of war with both Fascist and Communist leaders.
In conclusion, I believe Bush planned to keep true to some of Reagan’s policies while implementing his own to promote an America that would continue to be the shining light for the rest of the world to follow. What I wish he would have talked about more though is promoting diversity and the sharing of different cultures and ideologies instead of focusing merely on Christianity for it would have demonstrated how America needed to grow and mature into a country where everyone would feel safe to practice and live the way they feel was right for them. Thus it would have been more impressive for Bush to have been more specific as well as holistic.
Work Cited
Bush, George H.W. "President George H. W. Bush 1989 Inaugural Address." YouTube. C-Span, 14 Jan. 2009. Web. 05 Jan. 2017.
Reagan, Ronald. "President Reagan's State of the Union Speech." YouTube. Reagan Foundation, 08 May 2009. Web. 05 Jan. 2017.
