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American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton

Edited by Ted Widmer

“It’s nice to be reminded that American politics has arguably the richest oratorical tradition in the history of Western tradition.” — Los Angeles Times

Overview
Table of Contents
Contributors

Overview

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The history of American oratory exhibits, in the words of William F. Buckley, “powerful ignition points for hot flashes of indignation, contempt, rage, veneration and yearning.” This volume (the second of an unprecedented two-volume collection) gathers the unabridged texts of 83 eloquent and dramatic speeches delivered by 45 American public figures between 1865 and 1997, beginning with Abraham Lincoln’s last speech on Reconstruction and ending with Bill Clinton’s heartfelt tribute to the Little Rock Nine. During this period American political oratory continued to evolve, as a more conversational style, influenced by the intimacy of radio and television, emerged alongside traditional forms of rhetoric.

Included are speeches on Reconstruction by Thaddeus Stevens and African-American congressman Robert Brown Elliott, Frederick Douglass’s brilliant oration on Abraham Lincoln, and Oliver Wendell Holmes’s “touched with fire” Memorial Day Address. Speeches by Robert Ingersoll and William Jennings Bryan capture the fervor of 19th-century political conventions, while Theodore Roosevelt and Carl Schurz offer opposing views on imperialism. Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell denounce the cruelty of lynching and the injustice of Jim Crow; Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Carrie Chapman Catt advocate the enfranchisement of women; and Woodrow Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge present conflicting visions of the League of Nations.

Also included are wartime speeches by George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower; an address on the atomic bomb by J. Robert Oppenheimer; Richard Nixon’s “Checkers Speech;” Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet;” Barry Goldwater’s speech to the 1964 Republican convention; Mario Savio urging Berkeley students to stop “the machine;” Barbara Jordan defending the Constitution during Watergate; and an extensive selection of speeches by Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.

Each volume contains biographical and explanatory notes, and an index

Ted Widmer, editor, is the Beatrice and Julio Mario Santo Domingo Director and Librarian of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University and the author of Martin Van Buren in The American Presidents Series and of Young America: The Flowering of Democracy in New York City. He was director of speechwriting at the National Security Council and a senior advisor to President Clinton from 1997 to 2001.

This Library of America series edition is printed on acid-free paper and features Smyth-sewn binding, a full cloth cover, and a ribbon marker.

Project support for this volume was provided by The Achelis Foundation and The Bodman Foundation.

American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton is kept in print by a gift from The Berkley Foundation to the Guardians of American Letters Fund.
Table of Contents

Abraham Lincoln: Speech on Reconstruction
Thaddeus Stevens: Speech in Congress on Reconstruction
Sojourner Truth: Speech at Meeting Commemorating Emancipation
Susan B. Anthony: Is It a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to Vote?
Robert Brown Elliott: Speech in Congress on the Civil Rights Bill
Benjamin F. Butler: Speech in Congress on the Civil Rights Bill
Frederick Douglass: Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln
Robert G. Ingersoll: Speech Nominating James G. Blaine
Chief Joseph: Reply to General Howard
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.: Memorial Day Address
Grover Cleveland: Address at the Dedication of the Statue of Liberty
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: The Solitude of Self
Ida B. Wells: Lynch Law in All Its Phases
John Peter Altgeld: Labor Day Address
Booker T. Washington: Address at the Atlanta Exposition
William Jennings Bryan: Speech to the Democratic National Convention
Theodore Roosevelt: The Strenuous Life
Carl Schurz: The Policy of Imperialism
Theodore Roosevelt: The Man with the Muck-Rake
Mary Church Terrell: What It Means to be Colored in the Capital of the United States
Theodore Roosevelt: The New Nationalism
John Jay Chapman: Speech at Prayer Meeting
Woodrow Wilson: First Inaugural Address
Woodrow Wilson: Address to Congress on War with Germany
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.: Speech in the Senate on Free Speech in Wartime
Carrie Chapman Catt: Address to Woman Suffrage Convention
Eugene V. Debs: Speech to the Court
Woodrow Wilson: Address to the Senate on the League of Nations
Henry Cabot Lodge: Speech in the Senate on the League of Nations
Herbert Hoover: “Rugged Individualism” Speech
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Speech to the Democratic National Convention
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Speech to the Commonwealth Club
Franklin D. Roosevelt: First Inaugural Address
Huey Long: Every Man a King
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Speech to the Democratic National Convention
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Second Inaugural Address
Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Arsenal of Democracy” Fireside Chat
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Eighth Annual Address to Congress
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Address to Congress on War with Japan
George S. Patton: Speech to Third Army Troops
Dwight D. Eisenhower: Address to the Allied Expeditionary Forces
Harry S. Truman: Statement on the Atomic Bomb
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Speech to Los Alamos Scientists
George C. Marshall: Speech at Harvard University
Hubert H. Humphrey: Speech to the Democratic National Convention
Harry S. Truman: Speech to the Democratic National Convention
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
William Faulkner: Nobel Prize Address
Douglas MacArthur: Address to Congress
Richard M. Nixon: “Checkers” Speech
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Speech to the Montgomery Improvement Association
Dwight D. Eisenhower: Second Inaugural Address
John F. Kennedy: Speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association
Dwight D. Eisenhower: Farewell Address
John F. Kennedy: Inaugural Address
John F. Kennedy: Address at American University
John F. Kennedy: Address to the Nation on Civil Rights
John F. Kennedy: Speech in the Rudolph Wilde Platz
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Address at the March on Washington
Betty Friedan: The Crisis in Women’s Identity
Malcolm X: The Ballot or the Bullet
Barry Goldwater: Speech to the Republican National Convention
Ronald Reagan: Speech on Behalf of Barry Goldwater
Mario Savio: Speech in Sproul Plaza
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Nobel Prize Address
Lyndon B. Johnson: Address to Congress on Voting Rights
Lyndon B. Johnson: Address at Howard University
Robert F. Kennedy: Address at the University of Cape Town
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Speech on the Vietnam War
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Sermon at National Cathedral
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Speech at Mason Temple
Robert F. Kennedy: Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King
Barbara Jordan: Statement to the House Judiciary Committee
Richard M. Nixon: Remarks on Leaving the White House
Jimmy Carter: Address to the Nation on Energy Policy
Edward M. Kennedy: Speech to the Democratic National Convention
Ronald Reagan: Address to Members of Parliament
Ronald Reagan: Address at Pointe-du-Hoc
Jesse Jackson: Speech to the Democratic National Convention
Ronald Reagan: Address to the Nation on the Challenger Disaster
Ronald Reagan: Speech at the Brandenburg Gate
William J. Clinton: Speech at Mason Temple
William J. Clinton: Speech at Central High School
Contributors

John Peter Altgeld
Susan B. Anthony
William Jennings Bryan
Benjamin F. Butler
Jimmy Carter
Carrie Chapman Catt
John Jay Chapman
Chief Joseph
Grover Cleveland
William J. Clinton
Eugene V. Debs
Frederick Douglass
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Robert Brown Elliott
William Faulkner
Betty Friedan
Barry Goldwater
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Herbert Hoover
Hubert H. Humphrey
Robert G. Ingersoll
Jesse Jackson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Barbara Jordan
Edward M. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King Jr.
Robert M. La Follette Sr.
Abraham Lincoln
Henry Cabot Lodge
Huey Long
Douglas MacArthur
Malcolm X
George C. Marshall
Richard M. Nixon
J. Robert Oppenheimer
George S. Patton
Ronald Reagan
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Mario Savio
Carl Schurz
Margaret Chase Smith
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Thaddeus Stevens
Mary Church Terrell
Harry S. Truman
Sojourner Truth
Booker T. Washington
Ida B. Wells
Woodrow Wilson

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ISBN: 978-1-93108298-3 886 pages

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N° 167 Library of America Series

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