(via Boing Boing) Chirag Mehta created a tag cloud (like the one for our site below right) that illustrates the words presidents use in their speeches as a way to measure which issues the presidents deemed important (or which issues they thought would win them the most support).

Not surprisingly, words like “crime” “deficit” and “welfare” are prominent in Bill Clinton’s cloud while “terrorist” is the most prominent in G.W. Bush’s cloud. Move the slider back and forth to find out what presidents have been talking about from 1776-2006. Here’s the link.