what is an inaugural address

An inaugural address is a speech given by a newly elected or re-elected president during the inauguration ceremony. The custom of delivering an address on Inauguration Day started with the very first Inauguration of George Washington in 1789. Since then, every president has delivered an inaugural address, usually after taking the oath of office. The inaugural address is an opportunity for the president to present their vision of America and to set forth their goals for the nation. The speech is typically bipartisan and unifying, and it gives the president a first "center stage" opportunity to introduce their vision to the nation and the world. Inaugural addresses are considered their own rhetorical genre, and they typically contain arguments or attributes that establish them as a classification of presidential speech. Some of the most memorable inaugural addresses in American history have emphasized enduring governing principles instead of specific policy proposals, underscored the collective nature of ideas rather than focusing on the president in first person as the sole originator of those conceptions, and signified the end of political division and campaigning in an attempt to foster national unity.