The only other orally delivered State of the Union Addresses that were written with fewer average words per sentence than Obama's 16.6 average in his 2010 Address, and that scored lower than Obama's 8.8 Flesch-Kincaid score (measuring the readability level of written text, with a formula that translates the score to a U.S. grade level), were:
· George H.W. Bush's final Address in 1992 (7.5, 15.8 words per sentence)
· Lyndon Johnson's 1965 Address (8.6, 16.1 words per sentence)
· Harry Truman's 1951 Address (8.6, 16.3 words per sentence)
Though, with his shorter sentences and shorter words, Obama's Address may have been readable for junior high school students, it is not known if the average 12 and 13 year old was able to sit still through Obama's speech. At approximately 7,300 words, only Bill Clinton spoke more words before Congress and the nation in State of the Union speeches since 1934 (in 1994, 1995, 1999, and 2000). |