The Online NewsHour asks:

Early reports indicate President-elect Bush's speech might be approximately 15 minutes. What is your opinion on how long or short a major address like this should be?

Ray Price responds:

Short, but not too short. In this TV- and MTV-driven age, attention spans have been radically reduced. I usually figure 20 minutes are about as long as you can go these days without losing your audience. With an Inauguration, the inherent drama of the ceremony itself gives a little more leeway. He has to say enough so that people feel he’s taken the occasion, the opportunity and themselves seriously. But a time limit is a useful discipline; it forces the speaker to focus in on the big, central themes, and also makes it more likely that the audience will remember those themes. If he leaves something out of the Inaugural, he can get to it later.

The key thing is to pick a few big, central ideas, preferably with some relationship to one another, and drive them home. Leave the details to others. Shorter is more memorable. Fifteen minutes is perhaps a bit short, but not by too much. Depends on what he chooses to say, and how he chooses to say it.

Ted Sorensen responds:

If an Inaugural is concisely written, less is always more.

Back to the beginning of this forum...

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