Mac Brantley of Birmingham, MI asks:

What do you think the theme of President-elect Bush's speech should be? If you were writing for the president-elect, what themes would you emphasize, given the current political climate?

Ray Price responds:

Whatever the particular themes of George W.’s speech, I think the crucial things to project are strength, purpose, and a calm determination. I can’t think of any incoming president in my lifetime who, during the crucial transition period between election and inauguration, has been so systematically and hypocritically savaged by his political opposition – not just by the other party in Congress, but also by shrill special-interest groups totally unconstrained in their slanders. The currently fashionable "politics of personal destruction" is the greatest single threat to our democracy today, and George W. has to show himself not just unmoved by it, but steel-strong in his immovability by it. Otherwise he won’t be able to govern.

He shouldn’t respond in kind, of course. He should be above that. But neither should he yield an inch. He should be inclusive, of course; presidential, of course; gracious, of course. But he should also, more by indirection than directly, make clear that civility, rationality, decency, honor, integrity, and that whole complex of old-fashioned virtues recently out of fashion are now not only back in fashion, but are once again the keys to acceptability for those who want to make themselves heard.

Ted Sorensen responds:

George W. Bush must be non-partisan, reaching out to those of other races, religious beliefs and political convictions whom he has frightened or alienated.

Next question...

1) Who was the first president to use a speechwriter?

2) How do you become a speechwriter?

3) How much does a president contribute to his speeches?

4) What are the goals of an inaugural address?

5) What should be the theme of Bush's speech?

6) How long should an inaugural speech be?

Library of Congress: Presidential Inaugurations

National Museum of American History: The American Presidency

George W. Bush's Campaign Speeches