Speech of a lifetime

Tom Whalen ’86 was part of a CNN panel that discussed President Obama’s inauguration speech. Whalen, author of A Higher Purpose: Profiles in Presidential Courage, said the speech “overall [was] not a speech for the ages, but a speech for our times and the concerns people have. In many ways, it reminds me of a coach giving a halftime locker room speech to his team that’s behind in the game. What Obama saying is that we have to make improvements or adjustment in order to prevail.” Comparing Obama to another president, Whalen suggested that Obama might be aiming for an FDR-like pragmatism, using “both conservative and liberal approaches to solve the Great Depression problems. He’s also paintiong himself as a non-idealogue.” [Original story]