Peabody Mayor Mike Bonfanti has an inkling of what Barack Obama will face when he gives his inaugural address today.
His first inaugural in 2002 was not on the same scale as the one set for today, Bonfanti hastens to adds. Peabody has never grappled with issues of war and peace, for example.
On the other hand, when Bonfanti first spoke to his constituents in 2002 the country and the region was in the grip of an economic downturn. The mayor remembers the faces looking back and what he saw in each of them.
"You see the love and pride of your family," he says. "You see people that believed in you and helped you get elected. And you see some skeptics. And people who think, 'I should be in his place.'"
The new president is likely to see some of the very same things. Of course, a national speech also presents unique challenges given the historic nature of the office and the vast ramifications of presidential policies.
Gordon College professor Nathaniel Baxter teaches communication and believes that a presidential inaugural must satisfy four criteria.
"First is reunifying the audience," he says. After a divisive political campaign that means drawing everyone to the idea that this is now everyone's president. "The speech can't be partisan."
Second, Baxter explains, the talk must "rehearse" communal values, perhaps by citing the nation's common heritage. "It might evoke past presidential addresses."
The third requirement aims to delineate the new leader's view of his mission. "He must lay out the principles central to his new administration."
Finally, the fourth measure will have special importance for Obama, the need to lower expectations. The subject of widespread praise, Obama must make clear that he faces formidable challenges, Baxter concludes.
Obama will bring another unique feature to his address as, for the first time in hisory, an African-American assumes the highest office in the land.
Tom Healy, a professor of theater and speech at Salem State, doesn't expect the new president to refer overtly to his ethnic background. His approach will be inclusive of all.
"I think we're going to see that one America (theme) that he used in the 2004 (Democratic) Convention," he said.
For his part, Healy's expectations are high. "He's a really special person as far as a public speaker. We can expect something monumental. ... He has a great command of the language."
A speech is a tough sell these days, he cautions. People are more accustomed to the glitz and glamor of the digital age.
State Rep. Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers, has seen a lot of politics. As many as a million people have been predicted for this event, but Speliotis cautions that the inaugural has little to do with them.
"It's about the nation," he says. "The setting in Washington is a prop. ... The fact that it's outside shows that we're open." Obama's likely message was established long ago, he believes. "At the beginning of his campaign when he talked about hope."
A member of Toastmasters, a group interested in public speaking, Gail Burke has addressed large crowds herself. "It can be intimidating," she says, but probably not for Obama who has talked before hundreds of thousands.
"The more you do," says Burke, "the better you get. An inaugural address, it's pretty well rehearsed." The template for such speeches, she says, was established by men like John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
Finally, she adds, "I would keep it short. Poignant. And very direct."
Healy agrees that brevity is ideal. He cites the ill-starred inaugural of William Henry Harrison in 1841. He spoke for two hours in a snowstorm. Worse yet, the 68-year-old wore no overcoat, which resulted in a cold, which swiftly passed into pneumonia, which killed him within a month.
In any case, it doesn't take a long speech to go down in history. Often a single sentence or phrase remains in the public consciousness. And that's more than most presidents can expect.
"With malice toward none, with charity for all," said Lincoln in his second inaugural, anticipating a Civil War victory.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," said Franklin Roosevelt in the depths of the Great Depression.
"Ask not what your country can do for you," said John F. Kennedy during the Cold War.
With Obama, Healy wonders, "What is the phrase that will go down in history?"
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