Trump to Truman: Patterns from the Last 20 Inaugural Addresses

Analysis of the last 20 presidential inaugural addresses from Harry S Truman to Donald J Trump examining body language, verbal patterns, and persuasiveness

• Which president used the most hand gestures • Which president smiled the most and least • Which party uses more negative language

Team coded inaugural addresses for body language and verbal patterns using detailed analysis

Video challenges viewers with presidential trivia questions to test their knowledge before revealing the data findings

Donald Trump used the most hand gestures with 641 hand gestures in just 17 minutes during his inaugural address

• Thumbs up gesture • Pointing • Open palm gesture

Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter relied heavily on their podium and used no hand gestures

Democrats are more handsy than Republicans overall in their inaugural addresses

Barack Obama smiled the most during his second term inaugural address for 14.5 seconds, with George Bush Senior close second at 13.5 seconds

John F Kennedy and Harry S Truman smiled the least during their inaugural addresses

Every president smiled more in their second term inaugural address than their first, suggesting they become more relaxed the second time around

Smiling indicates optimism, warmth, and openness in a presidential address

• Blue is the most popular tie color • Red is the second most popular • Gray and blue mix also common

Every president in the sample wore a white shirt

Every president wore a black suit except Dwight D Eisenhower who wore a renegade gray suit

Both Republicans and Democrats wore blue and red, showing that most candidates do not stick to their party color

Ronald Reagan had the worst weather during his inaugural address at a bitterly cold 7.2 degrees, while Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan had good luck with pleasant temperatures

• Harry S Truman spoke the longest at 22 minutes • George W Bush second term came close second at 21 minutes

Gerald Ford had the shortest inaugural address in the last 20 presidents at 8 minutes

Republicans are the more verbose party and spoke for more minutes than Democratic presidents overall

Donald Trump showed pride poses 20 times in his inaugural address, significantly more than any other president

• Barack Obama showed pride 8 times • Bill Clinton showed pride 4 times

Researchers from the University of British Columbia found that winning athletes use broad expansive gestures

Alpha body language or expansive gestures project confidence and dominance

George W Bush used the most emotional language in his inaugural address, exemplified by his quote about lighting a fire in the minds of men

President Lyndon B Johnson used the least emotional language in his inaugural address

Republican presidents use 99.5% more emotion than Democratic presidents during their inaugural addresses

Partnered with Quantified Communications who used their word analyzer software to examine each inaugural address transcript word for word

Harry S Truman used the most logic in his inaugural address, establishing research and proof through structured arguments about four major courses of action

Barack Obama used the least logic-based language in his inaugural address

Speaking with logic involves using language that establishes research and proof, cites data and statistics to support arguments

Logical appeals help listeners understand the reasoning and evidence behind presidential proposals

John F Kennedy used the most negative language in his inaugural address, focusing on threats like the dark powers of destruction and self-destruction

Dwight D Eisenhower used the most positive language in his inaugural addresses, emphasizing virtues and the dignity of labor

• George Bush Senior used the least negative language • Lyndon B Johnson used the least positive language

Almost every single president used more positive language in his second term address, showing greater optimism going into their second term

Lyndon B Johnson used the most individualistic language with frequent use of I, me, and my throughout his inaugural address

Barack Obama used the least I, me, my language in his inaugural address

• Republican presidents use 18% more I language than Democratic presidents • Republicans tend to focus on individual rights and freedoms • Democrats tend to focus on fostering community and group support

High personal pronoun use versus high third-person pronoun use reveals philosophical differences between presidents and parties

Lyndon B Johnson used the most storytelling language in his inaugural address with narrative examples like the rocket moving toward Mars

Harry S Truman used the least storytelling language in his inaugural address

• Storytelling is more persuasive than just logic or data • Stories appeal to a broader audience • Stories provide emotional appeal beyond statistics alone

Narratives help listeners envision the future and create personal investment in the message

Jimmy Carter used the most trustworthy language in his inaugural address

Harry S Truman used the least trustworthy language in his inaugural address

George Bush Senior had the most clarity in his inaugural address with straightforward language about freedom and free markets

• Trustworthy language includes insights behind stated goals and directness • Demonstrated accountability and balanced emotional tone inspire trust • Republicans use 9.2% clearer language than Democratic presidents during inaugural addresses

• Use more emotional language • Tell more stories with intense words both positive and negative • Use clearer language overall • Use more individualistic I, me, my language

• Love data and logic • More likely to use neutral or we based language • More handsy with gestures • Less emotional overall

Most nonverbally expressive presidents have been the more recent ones with Donald Trump and Barack Obama smiling and using the most hand gestures

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