Anatomy of an Inaugural

From The New Yorker’s archive: stories about Presidential Inaugurations and Inaugural Addresses. View in browser | Update your preferences Anatomy of an Inaugural Joe Biden’s Inauguration, just days away, takes place at a moment of upheaval, violence, and profound division. Even as the nation continues to absorb an unprecedented attack on our democracy, we look to a new Administration to propose a different course. This week, we’re bringing you a selection of pieces on Presidential Inaugurations and Inaugural Addresses. In “Ask Not, Tell Not,” Louis Menand writes about the story behind John F. Kennedy’s influential and inspiring address at his Inauguration, in 1961. In “Can Biden’s Center Hold?,” Evan Osnos examines whether Biden will be able to unite a fractured nation. In “A Dark Inaugural,” Benjamin Wallace-Wells explores the stark, divisive rhetoric of Donald Trump’s Inaugural Address, in 2017. (“There were no nods to ‘the sacrifices borne by our ancestors,’ which Obama spoke of in his first Inaugural Address, or to America’s values, or to its spirit.”) In “The Speech,” Jill Lepore chronicles the evolution of inaugural speeches throughout American history. Finally, in “A Poet’s Tale from Obama’s First Inaugural,” Elizabeth Alexander reflects on her experience delivering the verse she composed for Barack Obama’s first Inauguration: “I read my poem, feeling American poets alive and dead by my side, feeling myself as representative in the most grave and beautiful way.” We hope that this, too, is an auspicious moment. — David Remnick From The New Yorker’s Archive Books Ask Not, Tell Not The story behind Kennedy’s famous Inaugural Address. By Louis Menand | November 8, 2004 Profiles Can Biden’s Center Hold? After a career built on incremental progress, Joe Biden is promising a Presidency of transformational change. By Evan Osnos | August 31, 2020 Our Columnists A Dark Inaugural Amid displays of continuity at his Inauguration, the new President insisted on a break with the past. By Benjamin Wallace-Wells | January 20, 2017 Annals of the Presidency The Speech Have Inaugural Addresses been getting worse? By Jill Lepore | January 12, 2009 Culture Desk A Poet’s Tale from Obama’s First Inaugural I held the word “freedom” inside me as I waited to read. By Elizabeth Alexander | January 17, 2017 This e-mail was sent to you by The New Yorker. To insure delivery, we recommend adding newyorker@newsletters.newyorker.com, to your contacts, while noting that it is a no-reply address. Please send all newsletter feedback to tnyinbox@newyorker.com. For more from The New Yorker, sign up for our newsletters, shop the store, and sign in to newyorker.com, where subscribers always have unlimited access. Contact us with questions. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2020. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.