To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Literally. According to a Flesch-Kincaid analysis by the University of Minnesota's Smart Politics, President Obama's State of the Union addresses have the lowest average score of any modern president. He owns three of the six lowest-scoring addresses since FDR. Last night's speech was written at an 8th grade level. Here are the scores for the modern presidents:
| Rank | President | Words per sentence | Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level |
| 1 | John Kennedy | 23.8 | 12.0 |
| 2 | Dwight Eisenhower | 20.5 | 11.9 |
| 3 | Richard Nixon | 23.5 | 11.5 |
| 4 | Franklin Roosevelt | 24.3 | 11.4 |
| 5 | Gerald Ford | 19.3 | 11.2 |
| 6 | Jimmy Carter | 19.7 | 10.8 |
| 7 | Harry Truman | 18.9 | 10.5 |
| 8 | Lyndon Johnson | 20.3 | 10.4 |
| 8 | George W. Bush | 19.0 | 10.4 |
| 10 | Ronald Reagan | 19.6 | 10.3 |
| 11 | Bill Clinton | 19.0 | 9.5 |
| 12 | George H.W. Bush | 17.4 | 8.6 |
| 13 | Barack Obama | 16.7 | 8.4 |
My husband plugged Mitch Daniels' response into the Flesch-Kincaid read-o-meter. Gov. Daniels was speaking to us as adults, just like I said! His score was Grade 14. Remember these last lines?
We will advance our positive suggestions with confidence, because we know that Americans are still a people born to liberty. There is nothing wrong with the state of our Union that the American people, addressed as free-born, mature citizens, cannot set right.
Sadly, this also might explain why some people prefer Obama's rhetoric to Daniels. Some people prefer being treated as juveniles than as "free-born, mature citizens."
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Jun '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Mollie: Over on the Member feed I have a post that discloses that Obama used personal pronouns 75 times. I'll bet he's number one on the Self-Obsession scale.
I seem to recall that you have a special hatred for the misuse of the word "literally." Go to the comments in the Delingpole thread and seen a particularly egregious use by Michael Mann.
And I loved Daniels' last two sentences: real adult talk.
Edited on January 25, 2012 at 5:15pmSep '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Mollie,
All the lawyers on Ricochet have no doubt read their Bryan Garner. Nouns that end in -ions are a clue that the writing could be simplified for more punch. I think it could be brought down a notch to make it more Reaganesque without falling victim to Barneysizing.
Sep '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Pseudodionysius: Mollie,
All the lawyers on Ricochet have no doubt read their Bryan Garner. Nouns that end in -ions are a clue that the writing could be simplified for more punch. I think it could be brought down a notch to make it more Reaganesque without falling victim to Barneysizing. · 0 minutes ago
To cut to the chase: Less wonk; more work.
Mar '11
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
It kills me to defend Obama here, but the Flesch-Kincaid scores are likely a reflection of speechwriting-by-committee and its streamlining of the SOTU over the years. The English language, in general use, has simplified considerably in the last century as people find more direct ways of saying the same things.
The same holds true for popular music: music producers know how to set a hook early, then create tension and release with a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus/fade format. No more Calvin Coolidge speeches and no more Moody Blues epics.
Edited on January 25, 2012 at 5:29pmNov '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Most college graduates in this grade-inflated world read at a 10th grade level and lack critical thinking skills. You were expecting otherwise?
Aug '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
I was always taught to aim for a lower Flesch-Kincaid score, for increased clarity.
Apr '11
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Yah, I'm going to have to go with the simplest explanation here. Our language is trending to a more streamlined construction. With the dawn of the internet we have seen the rise of acronyms replacing whole sentences and the disfavoring of punctuation. It may very well be that the overall level of education of the audience has diminished, but I wonder about that. If you look at books in general books from the turn of the last century were just denser, then people like Hemingway came who cut through the clutter and wrote simple sentences. I know when I do science writing (which is made inaccessible to most by our specialized lexicon) I am always scolded by my boss for writing long sentences with several clauses.
Any one recall hearing this acronym in school KISS (Keep it simple, stupid!).
May '11
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Yes. This is especially important in international business. Also, this was a speech meant to be understood aurally. So I have no objection to the lower Flesch-Kincaid score.
The content is another matter entirely.
Jul '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
This piece of work:
Has a 46 for reading level and -64 for readability.
Mar '11
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
From the website that Mollie cited: "The Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease score indicates how easy a text is to read. A high score implies an easy text. In comparison comics typically score around 90 while legalese can get a score below 10."
That is, a lower score does not mean simplicity. It means increased complexity.
Mar '11
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Addendum to previous post: the website gives two scores. The one Mollie cites above for Obama refers to "grade level". A lower score here means that someone with a reading ability of a person in that grade--that is a 7 is a 7th grade reading level--which could indicate simplicity.
But the Reading Ease score, which I cited above, is the opposite. A low score means it is not easy to read.
Just in case there was confusion.
Jul '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Michael Tee: This piece of work:
Has a 46 for reading level and -64 for readability. · 13 minutes ago
Ugh.
I'd rather pledge a Dartmouth frat than read that again.
Mar '11
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Michael Tee: This piece of work:
Has a 46 for reading level and -64 for readability. · 13 minutes ago
The nonsense you reference reminds me why I believe Henry Hazlitt was a stud.
Mar '11
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
I recall a story, possibly apochryphal, about General Grant during the Civil War. He would locate the dimmest literate soldier under his command and have him attached to headquarters. When Grant had completed writing an order, he would hand it over to his staff to see if they understood it. Then he would hand it over to Private Puddinhead and see if he understood it. If the results of both trials were successful, the order was dispatched.
Not many of Grant's subordinates ever complained of incomplete or confusing orders.
If you've ever read Grant's Personal Memoirs, you know that he was an articulate and clear writer. Compared to most of his contemporaries, his style was strikingly modern.
Sep '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
P, we usually attribute the story to Napoleon. We still refer to the youngster as "Napoleon's corporal".
Jun '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Michael Tee: This piece of work:
Has a 46 for reading level and -64 for readability. · 3 hours ago
Written by the highly acclaimed Professor Judith Butler: "Judith Butler is Maxine Elliot Professor in the Departments of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature and the Co-director of the Program of Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley."
Judith Butler and John Yoo: From the ridiculous to the sublime.
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
A reader compared all SOTU speeches and SOTU responses since 2002 and passed along the Flesch-Kincaid results:
Edited on January 25, 2012 at 10:03pmMar '11
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Thank you Colonel, you're undoubtedly right. For my next trick, I'll confuse Benjamin Franklin and Winston Churchill. Again.
Aug '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
One could argue this is evidence that he'd make a poor presidential candidate.
Aug '10
Re: To Obama, We're Children. To Daniels, We're Adults.
Percival
Thank you Colonel, you're undoubtedly right. For my next trick, I'll confuse Benjamin Franklin and Winston Churchill. Again.
It's not necessarily an error on your part. It could simply be an apocryphal story that is attributed to different figures throughout history. One might consider submitting the story to Snopes.com and asking what they think of it.