President Bush spoke for 54 minutes last night, using roughly 5,200 words in his State of the Union address.
Bush referred to the “economy” 14 times, most often speaking of it “growing stronger” or moving “forward.”
He used the word “weapons” eight times, three of which were references to “weapons of mass destruction.” One of those references read “weapons of mass destruction-related program activities.”
He spoke of “war” a dozen times, two of those being the “war on terror.”
He mentioned “taxes” nine times.
He referred to “Saddam Hussein” five times, but did not mention “Osama bin Laden.”
He mentioned “Iraq” or “Iraqis” 24 times. Bush mentioned “Afghanistan” five times, the “Taliban” twice, and “al-Qaida” three times. He referred to “North Korea” once in context of its nuclear program.
He referred to “terrorist” or “terrorists” 14 times.
He spoke of “allies” four times and “coalition” three times.
Bush referred to “jobs” six times, once referring to a proposed program called “Jobs for the 21st Century.”
He referred to “corporate scandals” once, saying, “We have come through recession, and terrorist attack, and corporate scandals, and the uncertainties of war.”
He spoke of “health care” nine times and “health insurance” about six times.
He used the word “free” nine times and “freedom” eight times.
He used the word “evil” only once, referring to “Saddam Hussein’s evil regime.”
He used the word “marriage” nine times, twice in the context of the “marriage penalty” and seven times in the context of defending the institution.
Bush did not mention the word “environment,” but he did refer to promoting “conservation” once.
Bush did not mention “AIDS.”
Bush did not use the words “Allah,” “Christian” or “Jew,” though in speaking of religious charities he did say “government has often denied social service grants and contracts to these groups, just because they have a cross or Star of David or crescent on the wall.”
He mentioned “religions” once, saying, “It is mistaken, and condescending, to assume that whole cultures and great religions are incompatible with liberty and self-government.”
Bush spoke of “God” three times, once referring to “God’s sight” and another time saying, “I believe that God has planted in every heart the desire to live in freedom.”
Cliff Vaughn is culture editor for EthicsDaily.com.
Read our keyword analyses of Bush’s 2003 and 2002 State of the Union addresses.
Click here for a transcript Bush’s 2004 speech.
Media producer at Good Faith Media.
