The inaugural address contains the first words uttered by a new president. It is an untarnished moment during which the American leader can set the presidential tone, inspire a country, put an election to rest, and look to the future.
An examination of the facial expressions of the last six presidents during the past 10 inaugurations revealed remarkable differences in the moods and emotions they conveyed. Five of the past six presidents were either positive or measured during their speeches, a striking contrast to the negative countenance found in President Trump’s inaugural remarks.
Shown here in the form of collected emotion arcs, each “feather” represents an inaugural address. Each barb of the feather is a moment during the speech where the president displayed an emotion — positive emotions are drawn above the quill, negative emotions below. The length of each barb represents the intensity of the emotion. The curve of the feather itself indicates the overall positivity or negativity of the speech.
