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Grading Bush
Thanks to a handy function in Microsoft Word, you can determine the grade level of a document or a speech. It’s called the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score.
For example, the program tells us, “a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can understand the document.”
Wouldn’t it be fun to do a Flesch-Kincaid spot check of the speeches and comments of President Bush (BA, Yale, 1968; MBA, Harvard, 1975)? Yes, it would be fun.
Today’s speech to the Associated General Contractors: 8.5
Q-and-A after today’s speech (including the questions): 7.3
Tuesday’s veto message: 10.1
Tuesday’s speech at U.S. Central Command in Tampa: 9.9
Saturday’s commencement speech at Miami-Dade College: 7.7
April 20 speech in Michigan re terrorism: 9.7 (It dropped to 8.5 during the q-and-a when Bush worked without a script.)
Feb. 14 press conference (including questions from reporters): 8.1
Feb. 3 remarks to Democrats’ conference in Williamsburg, Virginia: 6.9
2007 State of the Union address: 10.4
2005 inaugural address: 8.9
Post-9/11 speech to Congress: 8.0
Remarks at 9/11 memorial service at National Cathedral: 6.1
2001 first speech to joint session: 7.3
2001 inaugural address: 8.3
By way of review, other than the 9/11 memorial service, Bush spoke at the lowest grade level when he addressed Democrats.
For comparison:
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: 10.9
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech”: 9.0
JFK’s inaugural address: 11.3
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