Inaugural Address Lengths

  • William Henry Harrison had the longest inaugural address at 8,460 words and took one hour and 45 minutes to deliver. This was 3,000 words more than Taft's which was the second longest.
  • George Washington's second inaugural address was the shortest at 135 words. It lasted less than two minutes.
  • The average length of a presidential inaugural address is 2,340 words.
  • Five presidents did not give inaugural addresses.

Rank#PresidentYearLength in Words
19William Henry Harrison18418,460
227William H. Taft19095,434
311James K. Polk18454,809
45James Monroe18214,472
523Benjamin Harrison18894,392
630Calvin Coolidge19254,055
725William McKinley18973,968
88Martin Van Buren18373,843
931Herbert Hoover19293,672
1016Abraham Lincoln18613,637
115James Monroe18173,375
1214Franklin Pierce18533,336
1329Warren G. Harding19213,329
1420James A. Garfield18812,979
156John Quincy Adams18252,915
1615James Buchanan18572,831
1740Ronald Reagan19852,561
1846Joe Biden20212,551
1919Rutherford B. Hayes18772,486
2034Dwight D. Eisenhower19532,459
2140Ronald Reagan19812,427
2244Barack Obama20092,395
232John Adams17972,321
2441George H. W. Bush19892,320
2533Harry S. Truman19492,273
2625William McKinley19012,218
273Thomas Jefferson18052,166
2842Bill Clinton19972,155
2937Richard M. Nixon19692,128
3044Barack Obama20132,096
3143George W. Bush20052,071
3224Grover Cleveland18932,015
3332Franklin D. Roosevelt19331,880
3432Franklin D. Roosevelt19371,808
3537Richard M. Nixon19731,803
363Thomas Jefferson18011,730
3728Woodrow Wilson19131,704
3822Grover Cleveland18851,686
3934Dwight D. Eisenhower19571,658
4042Bill Clinton19931,598
4143George W. Bush20011,592
4228Woodrow Wilson19171,526
4336Lyndon B. Johnson19651,507
4445Donald J. Trump20171,433
451George Washington17891,431
4635John F. Kennedy19611,366
4732Franklin D. Roosevelt19411,359
4818Ulysses S. Grant18731,339
4939Jimmy Carter19771,229
504James Madison18131,211
514James Madison18091,177
527Andrew Jackson18331,176
537Andrew Jackson18291,128
5418Ulysses S. Grant18691,127
5512Zachary Taylor18491,090
5626Theodore Roosevelt1905984
5716Abraham Lincoln1865700
5832Franklin D. Roosevelt1945559
591George Washington1793135
-10John TylerDid not give an inaugural address.
-13Millard FillmoreDid not give an inaugural address.
-17Andrew JohnsonDid not give an inaugural address.
-21Chester A. ArthurDid not give an inaugural address.
-38Gerald R. FordDid not give an inaugural address.

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