Obama 'to echo JFK's plea for self-sacrifice' in inaugural speech

Barack Obama is reportedly set to remind his fellow Americans of John F Kennedy's call for self-sacrifice along with a with a new "era of responsibility" in his inaugural speech.

Obama may echo Kennedy's plea to "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" in his address, which is expected to be heard by millions within Washington and around the globe.

According to new press secretary Robert Gibbs, the speech would be "heavily infused with this notion of responsibility and getting our country back on track", reports The Telegraph.

The final draft might also bank upon the ideas presented in landmark inaugural speeches in American history, including those of Lincoln, Franklin D Roosevelt and John F Kennedy, conveying a message of unity and hope but not without self-sacrifice.

William Galston, a former adviser to Bill Clinton said: "He has to provide a sense of direction. And I think part of that has to be a message that as a nation we have lived beyond our means.

"This is real opportunity for the new president to say we all went overboard, that this economic crisis isn't something that was just done to us by crooks, swindlers and fast-buck chasers, that to some extent we did this to ourselves.

"Then he has to say that we can dig our way out of this together. He has to capture that hope and fear Americans feel right now."

America's first African-American to be elected president further faces the challenge to live up to soaring expectations of delivering what may become another milestone in the history of speeches.

Matt Bennett, a former deputy assistant in the Clinton White House said: "This will be the most consequential speech since Roosevelt's in the Great Depression and in the top two or three since Lincoln."

Michael Gerson, ex lead speechwriter for President George W Bush, added: "The best speeches have evoked unity at turning points for the nation."