From Progress to Restoration to Unity: Ideological Transformation in the Inaugural Speeches of Obama, Trump, and Biden
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61987/jelp.v1i1.45Keywords:
Critical Discourse Analysis, Ideologies, Inaugural SpeechAbstract
This paper explores how the personal background of three elected American presidents (Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden) is depicted in their inaugural speeches and how the trend issue in each era is being represented in the ideological trend of each president through their speeches. Qualitative approaches using Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework, document study, and descriptive analysis are used to analyze the data from the full transcript of inaugural speeches of the three presidents. The findings show that the personal backgrounds such as the education, race, religion, and previous work experiences of each president are depicted in their inaugural speeches. Moreover, each president represents trend issues in their ideological trend through their speech by addressing them implicitly, spreading his slogan and beliefs into the society, and encouraging people to do things collectively.
References
Ahmed, S. K. (2024). The Pillars Of Trustworthiness In Qualitative Research. Journal Of Medicine, Surgery, And Public Health, 2, 100051. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.glmedi.2024.100051
AlAfnan, M. A. (2022). Public Discourse: Systemic Functional Analysis of Trump's and Biden's Inaugural Speeches. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 18(1), 1-14.
AlAfnan, M. A. (2022). Public discourse: Systemic functional analysis of Trump’s and Biden’s inaugural speeches. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 18(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.52462/jlls.162
Al-Khawaldeh, N. N., Rababah, L. M., Khawaldeh, A. F., & Banikalef, A. A. (2023). The Art of Rhetoric: Persuasive Strategies in Biden's Inauguration Speech: A Critical Discourse Analysis. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10, 936. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02450-y
Al-Khawaldeh, N. N., Rababah, L. M., Khawaldeh, A. F., & Banikalef, A. A. (2023). The art of rhetoric: Persuasive strategies in Biden’s inauguration speech: A critical discourse analysis. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10, Article 936. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02450-y
Arhin, K., Stockemer, D., & Normandin, M.-S. (2023). The Republican Trump Voter: A Populist Radical Right Voter Like Any Other? World Affairs, 186(3), 572-602. https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200231176818
Atmawijaya, T. D. (2024). Reclaiming the narrative: A critical discourse analysis of Donald Trump’s 2024 Super Tuesday campaign speech. K@Ta: A Biannual Publication on the Study of Language and Literature, 26(2), 87–102. https://doi.org/10.9744/kata.26.2.87-102
Badarussyamsi, B., Syam, N., Ermawati, E., & As'ad, A. (2024). Hegemony of Trump: Manifestation of Islamophobia in an Inaugural Speech. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(1), 93-103.https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v14i1.70355
Bingham, A. J. (2023). From Data Management To Actionable Findings: A Five-Phase Process Of Qualitative Data Analysis. International Journal Of Qualitative Methods, 22, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231183620
Đelilbašić, M. (2021). Uncovering Ideology in Inaugural Speeches of Trump and Biden: Analysis of Material Processes. Journal of the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo / Radovi Filozofskog Fakulteta U Sarajevu, 24, 172-192. https://doi.org/10.46352/23036990.2021.172
Đelilbašić, M. (2021). Uncovering ideology in inaugural speeches of Trump and Biden: By doing a transitivity analysis of material processes. Journal of the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo / Radovi Filozofskog Fakulteta U Sarajevu, (24), 172–192. https://doi.org/10.46352/23036990.2021.172
Eissler, R., Russell, A., & Theriault, S. (2025). Research Note: "Comparing Traditional Presidential Rhetoric: Trump Versus Biden." American Politics Research, 53(1), 80-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X241276413
Hamed, D. M., & Alqurashi, N. (2025). Impact vs. vision: A critical discourse analysis of Trump and Harris’ leadership rhetoric in the 2024 presidential election. Frontiers in Communication, 10, Article 1541513. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1541513
Hamed, D. M., & Alqurashi, N. (2025). Impact Vs. Vision: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Trump And Harris’ Leadership Rhetoric In The 2024 Presidential Election. Frontiers In Communication, 10, 1541513. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1541513
Igwebuike, E. E., & Chimuanya, L. (2024). Self-promotion, ideology and power in the social media posts of Nigerian female political leaders. Journal of Language and Politics, 23(1), 67–90. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22148.igw
Jamie, K., & Rathbone, A. P. (2022). Using Theory And Reflexivity To Preserve Methodological Rigour Of Data Collection In Qualitative Research. Research Methods In Medicine & Health Sciences, 3(1), 11–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/26320843211061302
Jones, C., & Fowler, L. (2022). Administration, Rhetoric, and Climate Policy in the Obama Presidency. Review of Policy Research, 39(4), 512-532. https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12472
Kivimäki, T. (2023). When ideologies became dangerous: An analysis of the transformation of the relationship between security and oppositional ideologies in US presidential discourse. Global Society, 37(2), 225–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600826.2022.2061923
Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, J. (2024). The Voice of the People: Populism and Donald Trump's Use of Informal Voice. Society, 61, 289-302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-024-00969-7
Lacatus, C., & Meibauer, G. (2023). Crisis, Rhetoric and Right-Wing Populist Incumbency: An Analysis of Donald Trump's Tweets and Press Briefings. Government and Opposition, 58(2), 249-267. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2021.34
Lie, J., & Tanto, T. (2024). Maga forces under scrutiny: Examining representation in President Biden’s speech. LiNGUA: Jurnal Ilmu Bahasa dan Sastra, 19(2). https://doi.org/10.18860/ling.v19i2.23270
Liu, R.-Y. (2024). Constituting institutional identity in political discourse: The use of the first-person plural pronoun in China’s press conferences. Language in Society, 53(3), 421–444. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404523000386
Maksum, A., (2025). Islamic Educational Management as Adaptive Community Governance Amid Coastal Social Transformation. JUMPA: Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan, 6(2), 548–562.
Martika, D., Mahyuni, & Azis, A. D. (2022). Critical Discourse Analysis of Barack Obama Speech. Jurnal Ilmiah Profesi Pendidikan, 7(2c), 1020-1031.
Morgan, H. (2022). Conducting A Qualitative Document Analysis. The Qualitative Report, 27(1), 64–77. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5044
Mundiri, A., (2023). From Digital Schools to Intelligent Schools: Exploring AI Governance Practices Among Educational Leaders in Managing Responsible Innovation. Journal of Educational Management Research, 2(2), 147–162.
Mustafa, S. (2023). A Fairclough-Based Analysis of Persuasive Strategies in Trump and Biden's Speeches. BELT - Brazilian English Language Teaching Journal, 14(1), e44170. https://doi.org/10.15448/2178-3640.2023.1.44170
Ngidi, P., Cekiso, M., & Mandende, P. (2022). A critical discourse analysis of former President Nelson Mandela’s two state of the nation addresses (1994 and 1999). Language Matters, 53(3), 72–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2113912
Nigatu, B. A., & Admassu, M. T. (2023). Critical discourse analysis of the second inaugural speech of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 10(1), Article 2172805. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2023.2172805
Peddle, M. (2021). Maintaining Reflexivity In Qualitative Nursing Research. Nursing Open, 9(6), 2908–2914. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.999
Pramadya, T. P., & Rahmanhadi, A. D. (2021). A day of history and hope: A critical discourse analysis of Joe Biden’s inauguration speech. Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Culture Studies, 10(2), 85–94. https://doi.org/10.15294/rainbow.v10i2.45383
Ramadani, R. (2025). Experiences of Mental Fatigue among University Students in a Digital Academic Ecosystem. MindScape: Journal of Psychology, 1(2), 65–79.
Ronderos, S., & Glynos, J. (2023). Anti-populist fantasies: Interrogating Veja’s discursive constructions, from Lula to Bolsonaro. Critical Discourse Studies, 20(6), 618–642. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2022.2156567
Salek, T. A. (2022). "This Is a Great Nation, and We Are a Good People": President Joe Biden's Inaugural Address and Attitude of Empathy. Southern Communication Journal, 87(2), 138-150. https://doi.org/10.1080/1041794X.2022.2030788
Sikanku, G. E. (2023). The Obama creed in retrospect: Communicative frames and representations from an Afrocentric perspective. Communication and the Public, 8(4), 324–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/20570473231195919
Sun, J., & Liu, Z. (2023). Evaluation mechanism of political discourse: A holistic approach. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 52(6), 2143–2179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-023-09988-7
Ushchyna, V., & Szczyrbak, M. (2025). The language of power or the power of language? Presidential rhetoric and leadership. Journal of Language and Politics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.24051.ush
Zahroh, E. A. (2025). Shaping Cashless Behavior in Higher Education: Social-Benefit Dynamics in Mobile Payment Intention. Islamic Finance and Economic Insights, 1(2), 90–100.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Putri Zahra Prabandari, Tiara Uni Fatima, Whitney Andina Blessia Putri
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
