Today our concern must be with that future. But it is also a powerful argument about what had taken place in our economy, and the need to defend not only political freedom but economic opportunity in the face of concentrated wealth. Soldiers ransacked their home, stealing cash and jewelry. To mark the anniversary, we asked three former speech writers to tell us their favorite political orations. Three losses in three tries.
All rights reserved. We know what needs to be done. Sixty-one times, they’ve voted to repeal a health care law that the Supreme Court says is constitutional, and that 15 million Americans who now have health care can attest is working. And we can make sure that students who do take out loans can get the same low rates the banks get when they borrow money. Tails, Main Street loses. So here’s something we can do to make America work for everyone: We can make sure that every student in this country has the opportunity to get a community college degree for free. This is an on-going project. It is more than that; it is a war for the survival of democracy. If you’re someone who can trace your family to this country before the Pilgrims arrived, God bless you. That is why the people of the district have confidence in me. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war;” outlines the warring parties’ motivations – “One would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came;” and looks beyond the conflict to a time of potential reconciliation and reconstruction – “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 do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”. In his most famous speech, King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and called for an end to racism in the United States before a crowd of more than 250,000 people. So let’s make America the beacon of hope it was for our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents.

We are going to destroy all enslaving and degrading capitalist institutions and re-create them as free and humanizing institutions. When a bunch of bankers rig the interest rates so that you pay more to borrow for your house, or your car — that’s a rigged game. You may see a few famous speeches on this list, but my guess is that most people are not aware of many of them—just as I wasn't when I first started looking around. ), Where every senior has a retirement with dignity. Of course, there is one threat right in front of us — and that is the threat of climate change. And we can’t let that happen. Nehru, the leader of the Congress Party and the first prime minister of independent India, described this as the rebirth of his country. That was shown pretty clearly in the senatorial fight last year. Congress has still done nothing.”. After almost three centuries, Britain’s presence in India ended at midnight on August 14, 1947. But when you increase their income by a dollar, they actually spend more than a dollar, because, knowing they can count on those wages going forward, they can use credit. A speechwriter should always remember that the choice of words to use for spoken expression is similar to the choice a painter must exercise in choosing the right color of paint to place on his canvas to accurately portray the picture s/he seeks to paint.
You see, we look at our country and say: We know what it takes to make our economy stronger and fairer. President Obama has made it possible for 2 million young immigrants to stay in the only country they’ve ever called home.

Shakespeare was all right in his way, but he didn’t know anything about Fifteenth District politics. But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving.”, Highlight: “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people. But I want to ask you a question: What if, at the most pivotal moments in our history, their philosophy had won the day? To them, the world is as simple as it is scary. John McCain campaigned on cap-and-trade. “It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease, only for them to find, as the first balls are being bowled, that their bats have been broken.”. I accept the commission you have tendered me. We know that inclusion makes us stronger, and so, by the way, do the immigrants who come here to play by the rules and build better lives. These autocrats, these tyrants, these red-handed robbers and murderers, the “patriots,” while the men who have the courage to stand face to face with them, speak the truth, and fight for their exploited victims—they are the disloyalists and traitors. Listen to our opponents and you hear a different refrain. But, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." In the first sign that the British government accepted that the days of Empire were over, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke frankly against South Africa's apartheid system while addressing the country's parliament. And that’s why I’ll make you this simple pledge that my opponents won’t: The Social Security you know, the Social Security you depend on, the Social Security that provides a retirement with dignity and survivors benefits to those who will live out their lives without their life partners … that Social Security will be there for you. If you know of another great talk, please contact me. “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalisation: Come here to this gate! The words in his speech are sui generis. But we know that the world is something else — it’s interconnected. What we need is an Andrew Jackson to stand as Jackson stood, against the encroachments of aggregated wealth.” Great speech, great speaker, poor presidential candidate. You'll see all the posts for that time period. “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.”, Full speech: Only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Coverage is going up. And by the way, if the minimum wage had gone up with productivity, today it would be nearly $22 an hour. Because when it comes to keeping the combined promise of Medicare and Social Security — that’s not just something we can do, it’s the least we can do. I ask the American people for a mandate — not to preside over a finished program–not just to keep things going, I ask the American people for a mandate to begin. A century after slavery ended, a century after African-Americans were promised full equality, black children were being hosed down in the streets, spat upon, bused to separate schools, … I am a convicted prisoner serving five years for leaving the country without a permit and for inciting people to go on strike at the end of May 1961.

DEMOCRACY - The only solution By NELSON MANDELA, President of the African National Congress 1 July 1992 Please take note that this article was written prior to the answer that we have received yesterday afternoon from President De Klerk in response to the ANC's memorandum. The old era is ending. And it’s time for Republicans to get over it. is us. We're human beings. The Navy Yard. In our current state of affairs, we can look to these great leaders for inspiration. He's written two books about King and is currently currently the visiting/diversity professor at the University of San Francisco. In Paris, we’ve taken a good step. The reason I choose Frederick Douglass’ speech is because of who he was and the extraordinary “hero’s journey” of his life from being a slave to an articulate spokesman for the abolition of the institution of slavery. Kansas speech is at: http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/RFK-Speeches/Remarks-of-Robert-F-Kennedy-at-the-University-of-Kansas-March-18-1968.aspx, City Club speech is at: http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/RFK-Speeches/Remarks-of-Senator-Robert-F-Kennedy-to-the-Cleveland-City-Club-Cleveland-Ohio-April-5-1968.aspx. Of course, if we really want to strengthen our economy, the best answer, the only answer, is to educate our way forward. Since 1978, CEO compensation has gone up by 937 percent. Recently, I read a story about a woman named Linda who came here from Syria. Speaking to the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, Roosevelt delivered a ringing defense of his economic policies and warned against “economic royalists” in the Republican Party whose “economic tyranny” had brought the nation to ruin. And when we send our men and women to protect us abroad, we'd better make sure they receive the benefits they've earned when they come home. In due time the hour will strike and this great cause triumphant—the greatest in history—will proclaim the emancipation of the working class and the brotherhood of all mankind.". Everywhere I’ve gone in America, people come up and talk to me about their struggle with the demands of work and their desire to do a better job with their children. He was right to be scared. And when it comes to making things more affordable, here’s another something we can do: We can tell Republicans to stop trying to repeal Obamacare. But what we know is that Sojourner Truth’s speech moved that room and those who heard her speak found it hard to convey the experience. I ask you to stand with me. The people wouldn’t have minded much if I had been accused of robbin’ the city treasury, for they’re used to slanders of that kind in campaigns, but the automobile and the dress suit were too much for them. An America where all children are cherished and protected from destructive forces, where parents can succeed at home and at work. This nation, this generation, in this hour, has man’s first chance to build the Great Society — a place where the meaning of man’s life matches the marvels of man’s labor.”. And they’re working hard to make it in America. 'The 100-days speech' Mandela had completed 100 days in office as President in August 1994. We need to treat teachers like the professionals that they are. For women’s rights, and workers’ rights, and civil rights. When you raise the minimum wage, you give money to the people who spend more. We. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. Tue 19 Nov 2013 15.31 GMT Here is our list of the ten best Democratic presidential acceptance speeches of all time: William Jennings Bryan speaks in 1896 (American Rhetoric photo).