OK, kids, everything off your desk and get a number 2 pencil out.

I am going to give you paragraphs from two State of the Union addresses.  Some will be from Richard Nixon’s 1974 address, and some will be from Barack Obama’s 2014 address.  For those of you playing at home, yes, that’s 40 years apart, and yes, it’s both president’s fifth SOTU address.  Please mark them with either an “N” or an “O” on your paper.

Let’s begin:

1. It was five years ago on the steps of this Capitol that I took the oath of office as your President. In those five years, because of the initiatives undertaken by this administration, the world has changed. America has changed. As a result of those changes, America is safer today, more prosperous today, with greater opportunity for more of its people than ever before in our history.
2. We will establish a new system that makes high-quality health care available to every American in a dignified manner and at a price he can afford.
3. To indicate the size of the government commitment, to spur energy research and development, we plan to spend $10 billion in federal funds over the next five years. That is an enormous amount. But during the same five years, private enterprise will be investing as much as $200 billion—and in 10 years, $500 billion—to develop the new resources, the new technology, the new capacity America will require for its energy needs
4. One measure of a truly free society is the vigor with which it protects the liberties of its individual citizens. As technology has advanced in America, it has increasingly encroached on one of those liberties—what I term the right of personal privacy. Modern information systems, data banks, credit records, mailing list abuses, electronic snooping, the collection of personal data for one purpose that may be used for another—all these have left millions of Americans deeply concerned by the privacy they cherish.
5. As we create more jobs, as we build a better health care system, as we improve our education, as we develop new sources of energy, as we provide more abundantly for the elderly and the poor, as we strengthen the system of private enterprise that produces our prosperity as we do all of this and even more, we solidify those essential bonds that hold us together as a nation.
6. And in the coming months, let’s see where else we can make progress together. Let’s make this a year of action. That’s what most Americans want, for all of us in this chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes, their aspirations. And what I believe unites the people of this nation, regardless of race or region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all, the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead in America.
7. Meanwhile, my administration will keep working with the industry to sustain production and jobs growth while strengthening protection of our air, our water, our communities. And while we’re at it, I’ll use my authority to protect more of our pristine federal lands for future generations.
8. And finally, let’s remember that our leadership is defined not just by our defense against threats but by the enormous opportunities to do good and promote understanding around the globe, to forge greater cooperation, to expand new markets, to free people from fear and want. And no one is better positioned to take advantage of those opportunities than America.

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