Barack Obama / George Bush Speaking Similarities

As we all know, President George W. Bush was not always the most eloquent of speakers. His verbal stumbles included such gems as the word "misunderestimated" and the phrase "childrens do learn." He once pronounced the word "eclectic" like "epileptic" and implied that Japan was an ally during the World War II era.

Though these speaking fumbles certainly stand out, they only really happened when he was speaking without a prepared speech. Constant amusing repetition by the media of lines like "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...(*confused pause*)...I won't get fooled again" can make these mistakes seem plentiful. But they were fairly rare. When Bush had a speech to go off of, he could be a great speaker. His 2004 inauguration speech was particularly well received and his addresses to the people were good. Speaking to the nation, he was learned and articulate. Even sometimes without a speech he could be charming and bright as he joked with correspondents.

Now we have another president known for his speaking abilities. Barack Obama is seen an especially gifted orator and considered by some to be one of the greatest speakers of our time. His speaking skills are impressive. But observation will reveal some similarities in his and Bush's speaking abilities.

With a prepared speech, Obama is a great speaker. His acceptance speech in November 2008 was inspiring and many speeches on the campaign trail were delivered with persuasion and eloquence. Even times without a speech, he can articulate himself with intelligence. And like Bush, he can bring humor to press conferences by joking with journalists and others. And also like Bush, his speaking skills can occasionally fail him. He flubbed his lines during the inauguration oath requiring him to recite them correctly later and he has a distinctive halting speaking pattern sometimes when he doesn't have a prepared speech. He peppers sentences with a lot of "uh's," "um's," pauses and strings of quickly spoken words. "His, uh, speaking can...uh, sometimes make it...seem, um...like he, uh...doesn't really know, um...whatheistalkingabout."

Both presidents could be fantastic speakers and could generally express themselves coherently and intelligently. Both of them had their occasional verbal fumbles, but so does everyone else. One wasn't unintelligent based on speaking abilities and the other isn't infallibly articulate based on speaking abilities. No more than is true for anyone else. They are/were both leaders of the free world, but they are also human.