State of the Superlatives
datascience@berkeley looked at each president’s first State of the Union address — from Woodrow Wilson to Donald J. Trump — to find out how often they mentioned these words.
Donald J. Trump
Party: Republican
Year: 2018
Total Word Count: 5,799
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 3 | 0.051733057 |
Big | 2 | 0.034488705 |
Great | 28 | 0.482841869 |
Highest | 1 | 0.017244352 |
Many | 9 | 0.155199172 |
Most | 6 | 0.103466115 |
Really | 1 | 0.017244352 |
Very | 24 | 0.413864459 |
Barack Obama
Party: Democrat
Year: 2010
Total Word Count: 7,304
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 3 | 0.041073384 |
Big | 9 | 0.123220153 |
Great | 6 | 0.082146769 |
Large | 6 | 0.082146769 |
Many | 13 | 0.177984666 |
Most | 10 | 0.136911281 |
Very | 2 | 0.027382256 |
George W. Bush
Party: Republican
Year: 2002
Total Word Count: 3,878
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 6 | 0.154718927 |
Big | 1 | 0.025786488 |
Great | 10 | 0.257864879 |
Highest | 1 | 0.025786488 |
Large | 4 | 0.103145952 |
Magnificently | 1 | 0.025786488 |
Many | 5 | 0.128932439 |
Most | 5 | 0.128932439 |
Very | 1 | 0.025786488 |
Bill Clinton
Party: Democrat
Year: 1994
Total Word Count: 7,432
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 9 | 0.121097955 |
Big | 2 | 0.026910657 |
Great | 3 | 0.040365985 |
Highest | 1 | 0.013455328 |
Many | 14 | 0.188374596 |
Most | 12 | 0.16146394 |
Large | 2 | 0.026910657 |
Really | 3 | 0.040365985 |
Very | 4 | 0.053821313 |
George Bush Sr.
Party: Republican
Year: 1990
Total Word Count: 3,777
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 1 | 0.026476039 |
Great | 9 | 0.238284353 |
Many | 4 | 0.105904157 |
Most | 5 | 0.132380196 |
Really | 1 | 0.026476039 |
Very | 7 | 0.185332274 |
Ronald Reagan
Party: Republican
Year: 1982
Total Word Count: 5,154
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 2 | 0.038804812 |
Big | 2 | 0.038804812 |
Great | 1 | 0.019402406 |
Large | 7 | 0.135816841 |
Many | 5 | 0.097012029 |
Most | 2 | 0.038804812 |
Really | 1 | 0.019402406 |
Very | 2 | 0.038804812 |
James Carter, Jr.
Party: Democrat
Year: 1978
Total Word Count: 4,580
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 10 | 0.218340611 |
Great | 12 | 0.262008734 |
Highest | 1 | 0.021834061 |
Many | 2 | 0.043668122 |
Most | 3 | 0.065502183 |
Really | 1 | 0.021834061 |
Large | 1 | 0.021834061 |
Very | 6 | 0.131004367 |
Gerald Ford
Party: Republican
Year: 1975
Total Word Count: 4,126
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 2 | 0.048473097 |
Great | 7 | 0.169655841 |
Huge | 1 | 0.024236549 |
Large | 1 | 0.024236549 |
Many | 8 | 0.19389239 |
Most | 8 | 0.19389239 |
Very | 5 | 0.121182744 |
Richard Nixon
Party: Republican
Year: 1970
Total Word Count: 4,457
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 5 | 0.112183083 |
Big | 1 | 0.022436617 |
Great | 25 | 0.560915414 |
Highest | 1 | 0.022436617 |
Many | 5 | 0.112183083 |
Large | 1 | |
Most | 7 | 0.157056316 |
Very | 1 | 0.022436617 |
Lyndon B. Johnson
Party: Democrat
Year: 1964
Total Word Count: 3,168
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 2 | 0.063131313 |
Great | 2 | 0.063131313 |
Highest | 1 | 0.031565657 |
Large | 1 | 0.031565657 |
Many | 3 | 0.09469697 |
Most | 4 | 0.126262626 |
Really | 1 | 0.031565657 |
Very | 1 | 0.031565657 |
John F. Kennedy
Party: Democrat
Year: 1961
Total Word Count: 5,274
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 2 | 0.037921881 |
Great | 11 | 0.208570345 |
Huge | 2 | 0.037921881 |
Large | 4 | 0.075843762 |
Many | 5 | 0.094804702 |
Most | 8 | 0.151687524 |
Really | 1 | 0.01896094 |
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Party: Republican
Year: 1953
Total Word Count: 6,973
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 8 | 0.114728237 |
Big | 1 | 0.01434103 |
Great | 20 | 0.286820594 |
Huge | 1 | 0.01434103 |
Large | 5 | 0.071705148 |
Many | 6 | 0.086046178 |
Most | 5 | 0.071705148 |
Very | 1 | 0.01434103 |
Harry S. Truman
Party: Democrat
Year: 1946
Total Word Count: 27,465
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 12 | 0.043691972 |
Big | 2 | 0.007281995 |
Great | 54 | 0.196613872 |
Huge | 1 | 0.003640998 |
Large | 43 | 0.156562898 |
Many | 39 | 0.141998908 |
Most | 22 | 0.080101948 |
Very | 12 | 0.043691972 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Party: Democrat
Year: 1934
Total Word Count: 2,230
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Great | 9 | 0.403587444 |
Large | 2 | 0.089686099 |
Many | 9 | 0.403587444 |
Most | 1 | 0.044843049 |
Herbert Hoover
Party: Republican
Year: 1929
Total Word Count: 10,994
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 1 | 0.00909587 |
Great | 18 | 0.163725669 |
Highest | 1 | 0.00909587 |
Huge | 1 | 0.00909587 |
Large | 16 | 0.145533928 |
Many | 15 | 0.136438057 |
Most | 26 | 0.236492632 |
Very | 5 | 0.045479352 |
Calvin Coolidge
Party: Republican
Year: 1923
Total Word Count: 6,706
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 6 | 0.089472115 |
Great | 28 | 0.417536534 |
Highest | 1 | 0.014912019 |
Large | 16 | 0.238592305 |
Many | 5 | 0.074560095 |
Most | 9 | 0.134208172 |
Very | 5 | 0.074560095 |
Warren Harding
Party: Republican
Year: 1921
Total Word Count: 5,606
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 2 | 0.035676061 |
Big | 1 | 0.017838031 |
Great | 13 | 0.231894399 |
Large | 15 | 0.26757046 |
Many | 7 | 0.124866215 |
Most | 8 | 0.142704245 |
Really | 2 | 0.035676061 |
Very | 14 | 0.24973243 |
Woodrow Wilson
Party: Democrat
Year: 1913
Total Word Count: 3,553
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Best | 2 | 0.056290459 |
Great | 6 | 0.168871376 |
Many | 6 | 0.168871376 |
Large | 2 | 0.056290459 |
Most | 2 | 0.056290459 |
Frequency adjusted for speech length.
Similar variations of words were combined. For example: great, greater, greatly, and greatest are all categorized under “great–.” Largely, larger, and largest are all categorized under “large–.”
Source: The American Presidency Project — http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/sou.php