James Madison speaks smarter than any other president!

A fall from his place of honor has broken Mr. Madison

The Guardian has an interactive article which has graphed all the State of the Union Addresses in order of the reading comprehension of the speech. The lower the number, the lower the reading comprehension needed to understand the speech. The higher the number... The number given relates to the grade level expected to 'get' the material.

The president with the highest score? JAMES MADISON, of course! Now it needs to be said that while Madison's score in 2013 would require a reading level at the post-graduate level, the reality is that the way he wrote was common to his day.

The President with the lowest score? George Herbert Walker Bush. His State of the Union in 1998 would have been understood at a level my students currenly write and read at.

The gist of the article is that the speeches are getting more and more simple linguistically.

Last night's speech? According to the Guardian article, a sophomoric grasp of English would be needed.