WASHINGTON (AP) -- Inaugural addresses tend to be about 15 to 20 minutes long. Look for Barack Obama's to fall in that range today.
He probably won't be setting any records. That's tough to do. George Washington took fewer than 150 words to say all he wanted to say at his second inauguration in 1793. At the other extreme, William Henry Harrison spoke at least for 1 hour and 45 minutes in 1841. He died a month later, of pneumonia.
His presidency was the shortest in history and his inauguration speech the longest. Some of the best remembered speeches have been among the tightest.
John F. Kennedy's in 1961 was just under 15 minutes. George W. Bush spoke for 15 minutes in 2001, 21 minutes in 2005.
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