- 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 | # | President | Year | Length in Words |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 | William Henry Harrison | 1841 | 8,460 |
2 | 27 | William H. Taft | 1909 | 5,434 |
3 | 11 | James K. Polk | 1845 | 4,809 |
4 | 5 | James Monroe | 1821 | 4,472 |
5 | 23 | Benjamin Harrison | 1889 | 4,392 |
6 | 30 | Calvin Coolidge | 1925 | 4,055 |
7 | 25 | William McKinley | 1897 | 3,968 |
8 | 8 | Martin Van Buren | 1837 | 3,843 |
9 | 31 | Herbert Hoover | 1929 | 3,672 |
10 | 16 | Abraham Lincoln | 1861 | 3,637 |
11 | 5 | James Monroe | 1817 | 3,375 |
12 | 14 | Franklin Pierce | 1853 | 3,336 |
13 | 29 | Warren G. Harding | 1921 | 3,329 |
14 | 20 | James A. Garfield | 1881 | 2,979 |
15 | 6 | John Quincy Adams | 1825 | 2,915 |
16 | 15 | James Buchanan | 1857 | 2,831 |
17 | 40 | Ronald Reagan | 1985 | 2,561 |
18 | 46 | Joe Biden | 2021 | 2,551 |
19 | 19 | Rutherford B. Hayes | 1877 | 2,486 |
20 | 34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1953 | 2,459 |
21 | 40 | Ronald Reagan | 1981 | 2,427 |
22 | 44 | Barack Obama | 2009 | 2,395 |
23 | 2 | John Adams | 1797 | 2,321 |
24 | 41 | George H. W. Bush | 1989 | 2,320 |
25 | 33 | Harry S. Truman | 1949 | 2,273 |
26 | 25 | William McKinley | 1901 | 2,218 |
27 | 3 | Thomas Jefferson | 1805 | 2,166 |
28 | 42 | Bill Clinton | 1997 | 2,155 |
29 | 37 | Richard M. Nixon | 1969 | 2,128 |
30 | 44 | Barack Obama | 2013 | 2,096 |
31 | 43 | George W. Bush | 2005 | 2,071 |
32 | 24 | Grover Cleveland | 1893 | 2,015 |
33 | 32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1933 | 1,880 |
34 | 32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1937 | 1,808 |
35 | 37 | Richard M. Nixon | 1973 | 1,803 |
36 | 3 | Thomas Jefferson | 1801 | 1,730 |
37 | 28 | Woodrow Wilson | 1913 | 1,704 |
38 | 22 | Grover Cleveland | 1885 | 1,686 |
39 | 34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 1957 | 1,658 |
40 | 42 | Bill Clinton | 1993 | 1,598 |
41 | 43 | George W. Bush | 2001 | 1,592 |
42 | 28 | Woodrow Wilson | 1917 | 1,526 |
43 | 36 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 1965 | 1,507 |
44 | 45 | Donald J. Trump | 2017 | 1,433 |
45 | 1 | George Washington | 1789 | 1,431 |
46 | 35 | John F. Kennedy | 1961 | 1,366 |
47 | 32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1941 | 1,359 |
48 | 18 | Ulysses S. Grant | 1873 | 1,339 |
49 | 39 | Jimmy Carter | 1977 | 1,229 |
50 | 4 | James Madison | 1813 | 1,211 |
51 | 4 | James Madison | 1809 | 1,177 |
52 | 7 | Andrew Jackson | 1833 | 1,176 |
53 | 7 | Andrew Jackson | 1829 | 1,128 |
54 | 18 | Ulysses S. Grant | 1869 | 1,127 |
55 | 12 | Zachary Taylor | 1849 | 1,090 |
56 | 26 | Theodore Roosevelt | 1905 | 984 |
57 | 16 | Abraham Lincoln | 1865 | 700 |
58 | 32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 1945 | 559 |
59 | 1 | George Washington | 1793 | 135 |
- | 10 | John Tyler | Did not give an inaugural address. | |
- | 13 | Millard Fillmore | Did not give an inaugural address. | |
- | 17 | Andrew Johnson | Did not give an inaugural address. | |
- | 21 | Chester A. Arthur | Did not give an inaugural address. | |
- | 38 | Gerald R. Ford | Did not give an inaugural address. |
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