The Top Ten Political Speeches of All Time
By Rick Moran Posted in Archived — Comments (40) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I am sick of writing about Mike Huckabee and his desperate, shameless pandering to South Carolinians. I am sick of politics in general. So today I want to write about something a little more uplifting.
Political oratory is not what it once was in America. This is understandable given the advent of television and the lessening attention span of the voter. Back in the day, a good political speech could run 2 hours or more. And in the days before microphones, that meant the orator would have to really belt it out, usually in a sing-song manner so that the diaphragm did most of the work. There was an art and artifice to oratory back then. Audiences came to expect the classical allusions, the histrionic hand waving, the tears, the posing - all tricks of the trade a good orator would have at his beck and call.
How on earth did people sit still for two hours to listen to a speech, you might ask? With the good ones, the people usually begged for more. Most politicians were proud of their ability to deliver a stemwinder of a speech and sway people to vote for them.
This is an outgrowth of the fact that most politicians began their careers as lawyers. In small town America, going to a courtroom was like going to the movies. Court watching was sophisticated entertainment for high born and low born alike.
There are numerous examples of defense attorneys getting a murderer off by giving a closing argument that blatantly appealed to the pity of the jurors or of prosecutors getting a jury to convict an innocent man by raising the jury's bloodlust.
There were also traveling orators who, for a fee, would deliver appropriate remarks at funerals and holidays like the Fourth of July. Many times, these orators doubled as preachers - another place Americans liked to go to listen to a good speech.
It seems we Americans appreciated a good speech more than just about anything. Think of the Lincoln-Douglas debates where thousands turned out to hear the two men. And, of course, a half a million turned out to hear a Georgia preacher speak of a dream he had for America.
There are a couple of things that all great speeches have in common. 1.) The moment. The exact time in history where the speakers words will resonate. 2.) The backdrop. The place the speech is delivered amplifies its meaning. And 3.) The words. All great speeches are as inspiring when read as they are when delivered orally.
Here following are my personal top 10 political speeches in American history. The idea came from this list filed this morning in the Washington Post. I felt I could do much better.
I doubt whether any of my choices will be controversial although the ranking I give them will spark a healthy debate in the comments, I hope. Just take this little diversion for what it is - a hope that you are as fascinated with our past and the impact of the spoken word as I am.
10. Lincoln's Second Inaugural
On March 4, 1865 the Civil War was finally winding down. Abraham Lincoln stood on the Capitol steps underneath the recently completed dome - a symbol of the country's commitment to the Union.
Lincoln delivered one of the shortest but one of the most memorable inaugural addresses of all time. The peroration haunts us to this day:
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether'.
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan -- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
Standing 15 feet away from Lincoln was John Wilkes Booth. The two would meet a month later in Ford's Theater.
9. Patrick Henry "Give me liberty or give me death."
On March 23, 1775, the British were occupying Boston and had declared martial law throughout the colony. A rabble rousing firebrand member of the House of Burgess named Patrick Henry stood up and, some believe, helped start a war. Others say he gave America a national consciousness that day. What he did was convince some very influential people - George Washington among them - that if the British could take away the rights of New Englanders they could do it to Virginians.
Henry's bombastic, sneering, inspiring speech was a catalyst for Virgina to support Massachusetts and thus start the country down the road to independence. The peroration from Henry's speech is what we most remember:
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! Peace!" -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
Gives me the chills reading it today.
8. Washington's Speech before Congress Resigning his Commission
It was an act that stunned the Europeans and caused them to elevate Washington to hero status. A winning general simply resigning and going home? Such a thing had never been done - going all the way back to the Romans.
Washington, ever cognizant of his place in history and knowing full well what his self-abnegation would mean to the history books, nevertheless was quite sincere about going home. On December 23, 1783, he stood before Congress and with trembling hands, delivered a short, graceful speech that assured the strength of civilian rule and democracy in America:
Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.
7. Franklin Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address
March 4, 1933 saw the American experiment in ruins. More than 13 million unemployed. Industrial capacity at 50% of what it was pre-stock market crash. Banks closing, soup lines, suicides up - people had lost faith.
Franklin Roosevelt didn't change things immediately. Indeed, unemployment was still at 10% more than 8 years later on December 7, 1941. But what Roosevelt offered was hope that things were going to get better. And for a people as optimistic as Americans historically are, that's all that was needed.
Contrasted with the do-nothing Hoover administration, Roosevelt's activism was a tonic that got America out of the doldrums and blunted much of the impetus for a communist revolution that in 1932 seemed a possibility. Here's the passage everyone remembers:
So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
But it is his peroration that inspires:
We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.
In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come.
6. Ronald Reagan at Point du Hoc
This speech is consistently ranked in the top 10 of the greatest of the 20th Century. And for good reason. It has all the elements I mentioned above that makes a great speech plus the drama of having the survivors of D-Day present to listen to it.
I challenge anyone - conservative or liberal - to watch this June 6, 1984 speech in its entirety and not get choked with emotion.
The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers -- the edge of the cliffs shooting down at them with machineguns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After 2 days of fighting, only 90 could still bear arms.
Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there.
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.
Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your ``lives fought for life . . . and left the vivid air signed with your honor.''
5. Roosevelt Declaration of War Against Japan
In a voice shaking with emotion and indignation, Roosevelt threw down the gauntlet to the Japanese empire:
Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.
Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
Given before a joint session of Congress while men were still trapped below decks in many of the ships bombed at Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt's peroration drew the loudest and most prolonged standing ovation of his career:
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.
Roosevelt's words awoke the "Sleeping Giant" by putting the war in terms of a crusade against the Japanese.
MP3 here. Note the applause at the beginning of the speech. Unbelievable.
4. William Jennings Bryan "Cross of Gold" Speech
You can draw a straight line from Bryan to John Edwards without deviating an inch. The angry populist wasn't invented by Bryan but he carried the shtick all the way to the Democratic nomination in July of 1896.
Basically, some crackpot had come up with the idea that the problem of poverty in rural America could be fixed if only we had a lot more money in circulation. The way to do that was to go off the gold standard and make silver a sort of substitute. It was called "bimetalism" and would have set off an inflation panic that would have destroyed the economy.
But why let that stand in the way of personal ambition? Bryan, a relatively unknown ex-Congressman, got up to speak to the issue at the convention and quite simply wowed 'em. A contemporary description of the reaction among the delegates:
His dramatic speaking style and rhetoric roused the crowd to a frenzy. The response, wrote one reporter, “came like one great burst of artillery.” Men and women screamed and waved their hats and canes. “Some,” wrote another reporter, “like demented things, divested themselves of their coats and flung them high in the air.” The next day the convention nominated Bryan for President on the fifth ballot.
The peroration sounds a helluva lot like Edwards at his angriest:
If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world. Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.
Bryan was later humiliated at the Scopes Trial by Clarence Darrow and died a broken bitter old man.
3. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
He was invited as an after thought. The great orator of the time Edward Everett was slated to give the dedication with Lincoln invited to make a "few appropriate remarks." Originally scheduled for September 23, 1863, Horton said he could hardly do justice to the event with such short notice. The organizers rescheduled for November 19th.
Everett's two hour oration held the audience spellbound. It was a classic 19th century eulogy with allusions to the Greeks and the Romans, biblical quotes, and flowery language - all given in a booming voice so that all could hear.
Then the President of the United States rose and in his high pitched, tinny, nasally voice, spoke the words that redefined America for all time by greatly expanding the very definition of freedom:
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
No other speech in American history has accomplished so much by saying so little.
2. Kennedy Inaugural
Many historians believe that the January 20, 1961 Kennedy Inaugural address was the best of all time. I agree. The speech is a masterpiece of writing and Kennedy delivered it magnificently.
Beyond that, it was the time the speech was given that gave it such resonance. World War II vets were moving into positions of authority in business, in labor, in politics. The torch was indeed being passed to a new generation. And most Americans believed that the coming years would see a confrontation with the Soviet Union.
But little noticed by many is that the "young people" who flocked to Kennedy's banner were not baby boomers. That group was too young. Rather it was the "tweeners" who were born between 1935 and 1945 who were too young for World War II and mostly too young for Korea (the Korean war ended in 1953) who supported him. The baby boomers adopted him after his death for the most part.
But Kennedy's apparent youthfulness - something he cultivated religiously despite his poor health - inspired the entire population. His enthusiasm or "vigor" also was contagious. After the Eisenhower years, it was like the country woke up from a long nap.
The speech was a challenge to the country and to the Soviets. Reading it, one is struck by how bellicose it was - a cold warrior's dream come true. And its stirring call to sacrifice for the common good - so often misused by Democrats when they call upon the people to help the poor or pay more in taxes - was actually an echo of the kind of sacrifice the country made during World War II.
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Kennedy is referring to the coming confrontation with the Soviets - that he makes quite clear he wishes to avoid but has no illusions about the enemy.
Echoes of this speech are still heard today making it a truly historic speech that deserves its ranking.
1. Martin Luther King "I have a dream"
No speech in American history - and few in world history - had the immediate and lasting impact of King's words on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that 28th day of August, 1963. It electrified both black and white Americans and was the catalyst for passing two extremely important pieces of legislation; the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act.
But beyond the practical effects of the speech, the uplifting, spiritual nature of the words as well as King's thundering delivery made the speech almost biblical in its incantations:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
King had the ability to hold a mirror up to white America so that they were forced to confront their shame. In many respects, he was almost like a biblical prophet. And his words, with their spectacular imagery and inspirational message poured over the listeners like a cool, refreshing rain.
The man, the moment, the backdrop, and the words all came together that August day to deliver what I consider the greatest speech in American history.
I don't think anything can compare to Lincoln's second inaugural. One of the most beautifully written - and important - speeches ever.
It would probably be remembered that way. Unfortunately, "Malice toward none and Charity for all" was not the eventual reconstruction policy of the government
Recommended
It may not be one of the greatest speeches, but I love this speech because it is so relevent. Our conservative principles must transcend the immediate poltics of the Iraq war. It's unfortunate that neocons have flushed the brilliance and wisdom of our tradition and history of non-intervention and left it to be defended by nutcases like Ron Paul. The wisdom of our founding fathers regarding foreign policy is wrapped up succinctly and beautifully in this little speech. I do not wish America to recoil from foreign affairs in this modern world, but I wish some of our leaders would print this and read it for guidance from time to time. Written in 1821, it could provides great wisdom even today. How on point is this, speaking of America:
"Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be.
But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.
She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.
She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.
She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.
She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.
The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force....
She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.... "
http://www.angelfire.com/pa/sergeman/foundingdocs/otherdocs/quincy.html
www.fred08.com
Redneck Hippie
And thanks for the links to each. These great speeches are only presented in snippets and one-line highlights in our culture now. The full effect of them is too often lost these days. I'm saving some of the links so I can refer back to the whole speech at any time.
Read Patrick Henry's whole speech - incredible.
And ditto for Kennedy's inaugural.
Empire speech as well. It covers much more than the battle against the USSR:
"Evil Empire"
The National Association of Evangelicals Annual Convention
Orlando, Florida on March 8, 1983
Reverend Clergy all, Senator Hawkins, distinguished members of the Florida congressional delegation, and all of you:
I can't tell you how you have warmed my heart with your welcome. I'm delighted to be here today.
Those of you in the National Association of Evangelicals are known for you spiritual and humanitarian work. And I would be especially remiss if I didn't discharge right now one personal debt of gratitude. Thank you for your prayers. Nancy and I have felt their presence many times in many years. And believe me, for us they've made all the difference.
The other day in the East Room of the White House at a meeting there, someone asked me whether I was aware of all the people out there who were praying for the President. And I had to say, "Yes, I am. I've felt it. I believe in intercessionary prayer." But I couldn't help but say to that questioner after he'd asked the question that - or at least say to them that if sometimes when he was praying he got a busy signal, it was just me in there ahead of him. [Laughter] I think I understand how Abraham Lincoln felt when he said, "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." From the joy and the good feeling of this conference, I go to a political reception. [Laughter] Now, I don't know why, but that bit of scheduling reminds me of a story - [Laughter] - which I'll share with you.
An evangelical minister and a politician arrived at Heaven's gate one day together. And St. Peter, after doing all the necessary formalities, took them in hand to show them where their quarters would be. And he took them to a small, single room with a bed, a chair, and a table and said this was for the clergyman. And the politician was a little worried about what might be in store for him. And he couldn't believe it then when St. Peter stopped in front of a beautiful mansion with lovely grounds, many servants, and told him that these would be his quarters.
And he couldn't help but ask, he said, "But wait, how-there's something wrong - how do I get this mansion while that good and holy man only gets a single room?" And St. Peter said, "You have to understand how things are up here. We've got thousands and thousands of clergy. You're the first politician who ever made it." [Laughter]
But I don't want to contribute to a stereotype. [Laughter] So I tell you there are a great many God-fearing, dedicated, noble men and women in public life, present company included. And yes, we need your help to keep us ever mindful of the ideas and the principles that brought us into the public arena in the first place. The basis of those ideals and principles is a commitment to freedom and personal liberty that, itself, is grounded in the much deeper realization that freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly sought and humbly accepted.
The American experiment in democracy rests on this insight. Its discovery was the great triumph of our Founding Fathers, voiced by William Penn when he said: "If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants." Explaining the inalienable rights of men, Jefferson said, "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." And it was George Washington who said that "of all the disposition and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supporters."
And finally, that shrewdest of all observers of American democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville, put it eloquently after he had gone on a search for the secret of America's greatness and genius - and he said: "Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the greatness and the genius of America . . . America is good. And if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
Well, I'm pleased to be here today with you who are keeping America great by keeping her good. Only through your work and prayers and those of millions of others cans we hope to survive this perilous century and keep alive this experiment in liberty, this last, best hope of man.
I want you to know that this administration is motivated by a political philosophy that sees the greatness of America in you, here people, and in your families, churches, neighborhoods, communities - the institutions that foster and nourish values like concern for others and respect for the rule of law under God.
Now, I don't have to tell you that this puts us in opposition to, or at least out of step with, a prevailing attitude of many who have turned to a modern-day secularism, discarding the tried and time-tested values upon which our very civilization is based. No matter how well intentioned, their value system is radically different from that of most Americans. And while they proclaim that they're freeing us from superstitions of the past, they've taken upon themselves the job of superintending us by government rule and regulation. Sometimes their voices are louder than ours, but they are not yet a majority.
An example of that vocal superiority is evident in a controversy now going on in Washington. And since I'm involved I've been waiting to hear from the parents of young America. How far are they willing to go in giving to government their prerogatives as parents?
Let me state the case as briefly and simply as I can. An organization of citizens, sincerely motivated and deeply concerned about the increase in illegitimate births and abortions involving girls well below the age of consent, some time ago established a nationwide network of clinics to offer help to these girls and, hopefully, alleviate this situation. Now, again, let me say, I do not fault their intent. However, in their well-intentioned effort, these clinics have decided to provide advice and birth control drugs and devices to underage girls without the knowledge of their parents.
For some years now, the federal government has helped with funds to subsidize these clinics. In providing for this, the Congress decreed that every effort would be made to maximize parental participation. Nevertheless, the drugs and devices are prescribed without getting parental consent or giving notification after they've done so. Girls termed "sexually active" - and that has replaced the word "promiscuous" - are given this help in order to prevent illegitimate birth or abortion.
Well, we have ordered clinics receiving federal funds to notify the parents such help has been given. One of the nation's leading newspapers has created the term "squeal rule" in editorializing against us for doing this, and we're being criticized for violating the privacy of young people. A judge has recently granted an injunction against an enforcement of our rule. I've watched TV panel shows discuss the issue, seen columnists pontificating on our error, but no one seems to mention morality as playing a part in the subject of sex.
Is all of Judeo-Christian tradition wrong? Are we to believe that something so sacred can be looked upon as a purely physical thing with no potential for emotional and psychological harm? And isn't it the parents' right to give counsel and advice to keep their children from making mistakes that may affect their entire lives?
Many of us in government would like to know what parents think about this intrusion in their family by government. We're going to fight in the courts. The right of parents and the rights of family take precedence over those of Washington-based bureaucrats and social engineers.
But the fight against parental notification is really only one example of many attempts to water down traditional values and even abrogate the original terms of American democracy. Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. When our Founding Fathers passed the First Amendment, they sought to protect churches from government interference. They never intended to construct a wall of hostility between government and the concept of religious belief itself.
The evidence of this permeates our history and our government. The Declaration of Independence mentions the Supreme Being no less than four times. "In God We Trust" is engraved on our coinage. The Supreme Court opens its proceedings with a religious invocation. And the members of Congress open their sessions with a prayer. I just happen to believe the schoolchildren of the United States are entitled to the same privileges as Supreme Court justices and congressmen.
Last year, I sent the Congress a constitutional amendment to restore prayer to public schools. Already this session, there's growing bipartisan support for the amendment, and I am calling on the Congress to act speedily to pass it and to let our children pray.
Perhaps some of you read recently about the Lubbock school case, where a judge actually ruled that it was unconstitutional for a school district to give equal treatment to religious and nonreligious student groups, even when the group meetings were being held during the students' own time. The First Amendment never intended to require government to discriminate against religious speech.
Senators Denton and Hatfield have proposed legislation in the Congress on the whole question of prohibiting discrimination against religious forms of student speech. Such legislation could go far to restore freedom of religious speech for public school students. And I hope the Congress considers these bills quickly. And with you help, I think it's possible we could also get the constitutional amendment through the Congress this year.
More than a decade ago, a Supreme Court decision literally wiped off the books of fifty states statutes protecting the rights of unborn children. Abortion on demand now takes the lives of up to one and a half million unborn children a year. Human life legislation ending this tragedy will someday pass the Congress, and you and I must never rest until it does. Unless and until it can be proven that the unborn child is not a living entity, then its right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness must be protected.
You may remember that when abortion on demand began, many, and indeed, I'm sure many of you, warned that the practice would lead to a decline in respect for human life, that the philosophical premises used to justify abortion on demand would ultimately be used to justify other attacks on the sacredness of human life - infanticide or mercy killing. Tragically enough, those warnings proved all too true. Only last year a court permitted the death by starvation of a handicapped infant.
I have directed the Health and Human Services Department to make clear to every health care facility in the United States that the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 protects all handicapped persons against discrimination based on handicaps, including infants. And we have taken the further step of requiring that each and every recipient of federal funds who provides health care services to infants must post and keep posted in a conspicuous place a notice stating that "discriminatory failure to feed and care for handicapped infants in this facility is prohibited by federal law." It also lists a twenty-four-hour, toll-free number so that nurses and others may report violations in time to save the infant's life.
In addition, recent legislation introduced in the Congress by Representative Henry Hyde of Illinois not only increases restrictions on publicly financed abortions, it also addresses this whole problem of infanticide. I urge the Congress to begin hearings and to adopt legislation that will protect the right of life to all children, including the disabled or handicapped.
Now, I'm sure that you must get discouraged at times, but you've done better than you know, perhaps. There's a great spiritual awakening in America, a renewal of the traditional values that have been the bedrock of America's goodness and greatness.
One recent survey by a Washington-based research council concluded that Americans were far more religious than the people of other nations; 95 percent of those surveyed expressed a belief in God and a huge majority believed the Ten Commandments had real meaning in their lives. And another study has found that an overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of adultery, teenage sex, pornography, abortion, and hard drugs. And this same study showed a deep reverence for the importance of family ties and religious belief.
I think the items that we've discussed here today must be a key part of the nation's political agenda. For the first time the Congress is openly and seriously debating and dealing with the prayer and abortion issues - and that's enormous progress right there. I repeat: America is in the midst of a spiritual awakening and a moral renewal. And with your biblical keynote, I say today, "Yes, let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream."
Now, obviously, much of this new political and social consensus I've talked about is based on a positive view of American history, one that takes pride in our country's accomplishments and record. But we must never forget that no government schemes are going to perfect man. We know that living in this world means dealing with what philosophers would call the phenomenology of evil or, as theologians would put it, the doctrine of sin.
There is sin and evil in the world, and we're enjoined by Scripture and the Lord Jesus to oppose it with all our might. Our nation, too, has a legacy of evil with which it must deal. The glory of this land has been its capacity for transcending the moral evils of our past. For example, the long struggle of minority citizens for equal rights, once a source of disunity and civil war, is now a point of pride for all Americans. We must never go back. There is no room for racism, anti-Semitism, or other forms of ethnic and racial hatred in this country.
I know that you've been horrified, as have I, by the resurgence of some hate groups preaching bigotry and prejudice. Use the mighty voice of your pulpits and the powerful standing of your churches to denounce and isolate these hate groups in our midst. The commandment given us is clear and simple: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
But whatever sad episodes exist in our past, any objective observer must hold a positive view of American history, a history that has been the story of hopes fulfilled and dreams made into reality. Especially in this century, America has kept alight the torch of freedom, but not just for ourselves but for millions of others around the world.
And this brings me to my final point today. During my first press conference as president, in answer to a direct question, I point out that, as good Marxist-Leninists, the Soviet leaders have openly and publicly declared that the only morality they recognize is that which will further their cause, which is world revolution. I think I should point out I was only quoting Lenin, their guiding spirit, who said in 1920 that they repudiate all morality that proceeds from supernatural ideas - that's their name for religion - or ideas that are outside class conceptions. Morality is entirely subordinate to the interests of class war. And everything is moral that is necessary for the annihilation of the old, exploiting social order and for uniting the proletariat.
Well, I think the refusal of many influential people to accept this elementary fact of Soviet doctrine illustrates a historical reluctance to see totalitarian powers for what they are. We saw this phenomenon in the 1930s. We see it too often today.
This doesn't mean we should isolate ourselves and refuse to seek an understanding with them. I intend to do everything I can to persuade them of our peaceful intent, to remind them that it was the West that refused to use its nuclear monopoly in the forties and fifties for territorial gain and which now proposes a 50-percent cut in strategic ballistic missiles and the elimination of an entire class of land-based, intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
At the same time, however, they must be made to understand we will never compromise our principles and standards. We will never give away our freedom. We will never abandon our belief in God. And we will never stop searching for a genuine peace. But we can assure none of these things America stands for through the so-called nuclear freeze solutions proposed by some.
The truth is that a freeze now would be a very dangerous fraud, for that is merely the illusion of peace. The reality is that we must find peace through strength.
I would agree to freeze if only we could freeze the Soviets' global desires. A freeze at current levels of weapons would remove any incentive for the Soviets to negotiate seriously in Geneva and virtually end our chances to achieve the major arms reductions which we have proposed. Instead, they would achieve their objectives through the freeze.
A freeze would reward the Soviet Union for its enormous and unparalleled military buildup. It would prevent the essential and long overdue modernization of United States and allied defenses and would leave our aging forces increasingly vulnerable. And an honest freeze would require extensive prior negotiations on the systems and numbers to be limited and on the measures to ensure effective verification and compliance. And the kind of a freeze that has been suggested would be virtually impossible to verify. Such a major effort would divert us completely from our current negotiations on achieving substantial reductions.
A number of years ago, I heard a young father, a very prominent young man in the entertainment world, addressing a tremendous gathering in California. It was during the time of the cold war, and communism and our own way of life were very much on people's minds. And he was speaking to that subject. And suddenly, though, I heard him saying, "I love my little girls more than anything -" And I said to myself, "Oh, no, don't. You can't - don't say that." But I had underestimated him. He went on: "I would rather see my little girls die now, still believing in God, than have them grow up under communism and one day die no longer believing in God."
There were thousands of young people in that audience. They came to their feet with shouts of joy. They had instantly recognized the profound truth in what he had said, with regard to the physical and the soul and what was truly important.
Yes, let us pray for the salvation of all of those who live in that totalitarian darkness - pray they will discover the joy of knowing God. But until they do, let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world.
It was C.S. Lewis who, in his unforgettable Screwtape Letters, wrote: "The greatest evil is not done now in those sordid 'dens of rime' that Dickens loved to paint. It is not even done in concentration camps and labor camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do no need to raise their voice."
Well, because these "quiet men" do no "raise their voices," because they sometimes speak in soothing tones of brotherhood and peace, because, like other dictators before them, they're always making "their final territorial demand," some would have us accept them as their word and accommodate ourselves to their aggressive impulses. But if history teaches anything, it teaches that simpleminded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom.
So, I urge you to speak our against those who would place the United States in a position of military and moral inferiority. You know, I've always believed that old Screwtape reserved his best efforts for those of you in the church. So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride - the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.
I ask you to resist the attempts of those who would have you withhold your support for our efforts, this administration's efforts, to keep America strong and free, while we negotiate real and verifiable reductions in the world's nuclear arsenals and one day, with God's help, their total elimination.
While America's military strength is important, let me add here that I've always maintained that the struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets, by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith.
Whittaker Chambers, the man whose own religious conversation made him a witness to one of the terrible traumas of our time, the Hiss-Chambers case, wrote that the crisis of the Western world exists to the degree in which the West is indifferent to God, the degree to which it collaborates in communism's attempt to make man stand alone without God. And then he said, for Marxism-Leninism is actually the second-oldest faith, first proclaimed in the Garden of Eden with the words of temptation, "Ye shall be as gods."
The Western world can answer this challenge, he wrote, "but only provided that its faith in God and the freedom He enjoins is as great as communism's faith in Man."
I believe we shall rise to the challenge. I believe that communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written. I believe this because the source of our strength in the quest for human freedom is not material, but spiritual. And because it knows no limitation, it must terrify and ultimately triumph over those who would enslave their fellow man. For in the words of Isaiah: "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increased strength . . . But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary..."
Yes, change your world. One of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Paine, said, "We have it within our power to begin the world over again." We can do it, doing together what no one church could do by itself.
God bless you, and thank you very much.
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
The first one- Pres. Bush's speech to Congress after 9/11- may or may not be from start to finish one of the greatest speeches of all time, but when he held up that Port Authority cop's badge and said:
"Some will remember an image of a fire or story or rescue. Some will carry memories of a face and a voice gone forever.
And I will carry this. It is the police shield of a man named George Howard who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others.
It was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son. It is my reminder of lives that ended and a task that does not end.
I will not forget the wound to our country and those who inflicted it. I will not yield, I will not rest, I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people. The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them."
I have never been so blown away listening to any speech as I was at that moment, it still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up when I remember it.
Read the whole thing.
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/20/gen.bush.transcript/
The other one I'd suggest, I guess doesn't qualify because the list is only American Speeches. But Winston Churchill's speech to Parliment on 6/4/40, particularly famous for the line:
"we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender"
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=393
If you've ever heard the audio recording, Sir Winston's delivery really puts it over the top.
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
...there was a statement made by Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) during WWII that I always remembered. When asked if the Royal Family would be sending her daughters away from England, to keep them safe, she said something along the lines of "The princesses would never leave without me, and I couldn't leave without the King.
"And the King will never leave."
...Leaves nothing else to say, doesn't it?
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
Ronald Reagan's "A Time for Choosing" is, in my humble opinion, the most significant political speech in recent U.S. history and should rank among the most significant of all time.
4:15 minute video of a portion of that speach.
First third of the complete audio.
I watch it regularly to regain my focus.
___________________________________________________________
Molon Labe!
http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/digitalarchive/speechDetail/32
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
conservative thought and the turning point for America from which we still travel it's path.
Change a few of the words and names and it is still as valid today as it was in 1964.
Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin
Reagan's speech at the Berlin Wall, "Mr. Gorbachev, take down this wall..." layed down a marker for the Cold War.
Jeanne Kirkpatrick's San Francisco Democrats convention speech that painted the Democratic Party as the anti-American bunch that they remain to this day.
____
CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
Morning to you!
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." ~Professor Dumbledore
a stimulus package? Mitt's Detroit speech? Paper or plastic?
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
to Mitt tossing $20B or so the auto industry in Detroit, I'm forever opposed. I'm OK with Detroit sinking under the weight of their own making. The auto industry in your part of the country will pick up the slack & Michigan can rot with the UAW & AFSCME. I would favor finding a way to eliminate all federal funds to the Peoples Republic of MI.
Next question?
____
CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
In a fit of bipartisanship he's taken making tax cuts permanent off the table.
I want a President who will fight the DC Dems to the death. This one just doesn't make it.
____
CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Yes, I was thinking of that speech too.
Reagan was probably the last US politician that could give a great speech. Kennedy was probably the last who could speak without a script and not sound like a high school student's instant message. It's sad...
You missed the most important political speech ever in American history: Washington's "I have grown gray in your service, and now I find myself growing blind" speech. It may have by itself made the difference between America being a banana republic instead of the stable country it is.
I would rate the 2nd inaugural higher than most of the others, and the MLK and JFK speeches lower.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkcivilrights.htm
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
Obviously I'm not a big Reagan fan, but I gotta give respect where respect is due: the "the great communicator" label is well deserved.
The D-day speech was a much better written speech and fulfilled all the criteria I set out for a great speech.
The "Tear down" speech was very good but only in retrospect was it important. Each of the speeches above had an immediate and lasting impact.
Re: Washington's speech to his rebelling officers.
I have written extensively about that moment - a defining moment in American history and for Washington. It had little political impact, however. It broke the back of the mutiny but it was never clear how serious the plotters were (save the ringleaders) about their plans. More importantly, it established the primacy of civilian rule and the military's need to stay out of politics.
It had the very immediate impact of digging a very deep trench between those who love liberty and those who love capitulation. Worldwide.
The Wall layed down a clear marker and built on the foundation Reagan put down with his Evil Empire speech.
Needless to say that the EuroWeenies and the Democrats joined hand in hand to stand with the Soviets. Even today they stand against liberty and with every two-bit dictator on earth.
The effect of The Wall was immediate and,to this day, lasting.
____
CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
a condition for the dems to give them a stimulus to run on.
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
Lincoln at Cooper Union.
None other than the great statesman--and classisist--Calvin Coolidge, said that it was possible the greatest speech ever.
Lincoln was this country bumpkin, going to give a talk before the Republican establishment in NYC. Gives the speech to show how powerfully he would hammer (1) Douglas, on the one hand, and (2) southern slaveholders, on the other, with brutal logic, and concludes with a stirring appeal to the noblest aspirations of his audience: "Let us have faith the right makes might, and in that faith, let us dare to do our duty, as we understand it."
MORE Generally, See the "Speech Bank" at www.americanrhetoric.com. They've got a ton of great speeches, and many great audio recordings. And for Lincoln, they've got Sam Watterson [sp?] do some pretty good renditions.
At present, my favorites over there that are not ranked above, include:
1. Shakespeare--Henry V--speech before Battle of Agincourt:
"This story a good man shall teach his son." Awesome.
2. Margaret Thatcher--the Lady's Not for Turning Speech.
3. Martin Luther Kin--last "been to the mountaintop" speech.
4. Reagan's first inaugural. "Government is the problem"
5. Reagan's farewell--"not bad, not bad at all."
6. Adlai Stevenson's 1952 nomination speech. Historical interest--listen/read it. Makes Huckabee look like an atheist.
7. Zell Miller's "spitballs" address.
Added bonus courtesy of A Texan:
And here's one that will move many to tears: recorded speech of Truman's after he left office, where he comes back to dedicate a shopping plaza to be built on the site of the farm where he grew up. Mega bittersweet. And shows what a truly decent man--and true American (in the best sense of the word)--Truman was. Truman was probably the last middle-American President offered by the Democrats. Reagan was the last from Republicans.
http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/990219.stories.html
"People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors." -Edmund Burke
May I suggest Ronald Reagan's speech for Barry Goldwater- dubbed the "A Time for Choosing" speech- be added to the list?
Otherwise, looks like you got a pretty solid list.
Khrushchev gave a great and powerful speech in secret to the 20th congress of the Soviet Union that stabbed Stalin in the back and changed the course of history. It is widely considered by political scholars to be one of the greatest speeches in political science. Read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Personality_Cult_and_its_Consequence...
The "Iron Curtain" speech by Churchill should also grace any list of political speeches in my humble opinion.
It looks the list you have is correctly a greatest "American" political speeches of all time, but there is an awful lot out there outside the US (including a few great Roman orations, and even a few evil doers like Hitler).
"Greater is an army of sheep led by a lion, than an army of lions led by a sheep" - Defoe
It just shows that when we have to, this country had (and will continue to have) citizens who can influence the nation to move forward--regardless of race or political party.
"today I want to write about something a little more uplifting."
I too am a fan of good speeches. Thanks for the list.
Many fine choices, though I think the Gettysburg Address should be number one. No speech before or sense has impacted American rhetoric more than Lincoln's short soliloquy on those who "gave their last full measure of devotion" for the Union. It was a speech for the soundbite era given at in the time of the great American orators.
I contend you should include a piece by Daniel Webster. While none of his addresses, often impromptu hours long affairs done without notes, resonate with most Americans today, in that great age of rhetoric, all acknowledged Webster as the best in America.
The 1830 Webster-Payne debate over nullification provided a great moment for the Massachusetts senator to affirm his support for the Union:
"When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic... not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, bearing for its motto, no such miserable interrogatory as "What is all this worth?" nor those other words of delusion and folly, "Liberty first and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable."; but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart,— Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable!"
I personally prefer Webster's speech supporting the Compromise of 1850, where he supported upholding the Union over his avowed anti-slavery views, but maybe I read Profiles in Courage too many times as a child.
I am currently writing a senior thesis on how American politics impacted U.S. foreign policy during the late 1890s, and I see an unfair stereotype of Bryan that persists to this day. After the Chicago convention speech, disgruntled gold Democrats joined Eastern Republican papers in denouncing Bryan. They painted Bryan's victory as a sign of mob rule and hoped to impart on their readers the dangers of "Bryanism" by painting his supporters as sheep easily swayed by the ravings of an unprincipled ambitious lunatic bent on destroying America.
I have only come across one major periodical or Eastern newspaper that provided measured coverage of the convention, the monthy "Review of Reviews" edited by Albert Shaw:
“Mr. Bryan’s speech is said, by very experienced and competent men who heard it, to have been undoubtedly the most electrifying oratorical effort in all the annals of American political history.”
In his next paragraph, the editor wrote:
"The men who carried the Chicago platform were doubtless affected by such a wave of emotional excitement as sometimes sways great religious gatherings, but they were not lunatics or revolutionists. They were self-respecting American citizens, who detest anarchy, abhor repudiation, and occupy their present attitude with the clearest consciences and strongest convictions that have swayed their political action at any time for many years."
More often than not, one's opinion of Bryan reflects his estimation of the intelligence and motives of his supporters.
I think you hit all the major American political speeches, at least in modern U.S. history, though I think you should replace Reagan's D-Day speech with his "A Time For Choosing," and move F.D.R.'s inaugural up a few notches.
If this list could encompass the whole Western tradition, Pericles' funeral oration, Cicerco's First Cataline Oration, the aforementioned Henry V speech, and almost anything by Winston Churchill, though I suggest his "Locust Year" speech from 1936 denouncing Stanley Baldwin.
reminder of just how far down the ladder typical speechifying has fallen. These were speeches that inspired, informed, questioned and gave purpose. None of them pandered, none of them said, "Look at ME, look at ME!!"
Thank you for all the aggregated greatness.