Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th century

University of Wisconsin-Madison and Texas A & M University ^ | December 15, 1999 | Stephen Lucas

[gusopol3]

thanks-- I admit I was too lazy to look for it. While you bring up speech-writers, they (not you) follow the usual liberal propaganda of ascribing Reagan's words to a speechwriter, while not giving Teddy Sorenson the well-deserved credit for # 2.

[gusopol3]

As far as acceptance speeches go, Goldwater's is underrated, because it's clear they take into account future significance and Goldwater launched the movement that led to Reagan

agreed it's a great speech and underrated, but disagree (quibble) as to the reason for its greatness. From 1964, to provide a roadmap to the end of the Soviet Union, as it did,25 years later, makes it one of the greatest speeches of history.

[rightofrush]

For JFK, read Ted Sorenson.

[ImaGraftedBranch]

Where is GW's speech before congress after 9/11?

[leadpenny]

Actually, my favorite Bill Clinton speeches started with:
"I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky..." and
ended with his "apology" and impeachment. A really good
show. Too bad it wasn't followed up by his imprisonment.

I believe he started his answer with, "I want you to listen to me, I'm going to say this again, I did not . . . "

Of course, that part turned out to be just another lie, also. He didn't have the guts to say it again in public.

[StockAyatollah]

Mario Cuomo, Barbara Jordan, Jesse Jackson? If these truly were the greatest orators of the 20th Century, we would have to tag that era as being the Century of Mediocrity and Marxism.

[Tribune7]

Tear into it? You mean you can't quote Barbara Jordan's Keynote Speech to the Democratic National Convention on 12 July 1976 from memory? The only reason that speech is number 5 instead of number 1 is because we live in a racist/sexist/ageist/lookist society!!!!!

SHAME, I say! SHAME!!!!

[Tribune7]

Agnew's "nattering nobobs of negativism" should have made the list, as it is such an appropriate description of so much that is on it.

You know, I think that's on it at number 50.

[Calvin Locke]

Cuomo did give a pretty good speech that one time. Great Orator? Well, broken [analog] clocks...

[Reagan Man]

>>>WHO IN THE WORLD said Reagan was a commie?

You inferred, Ronald Reagan was a communist. If that's not what you meant, okay.

If your deductive reasoning, or should I say, convoluted reasoning concludes, FDR, JFK, LBJ are in the same political class as "Lenin or Stalin or Pol Pot", I say that's quite a stretch, indeed. In that case, you're the last one that should be offering history lessons to anyone.

[Let's Roll]

My bad. The first thing I did was leap into the list looking for the ranking of Dubya's speech to see if they agreed with the analysis I mentioned. The 20th Century went in one eye and out the other.

[BluesDuke]

...while not giving Teddy Sorenson the well-deserved credit for # 2

And, though I could be wrong, wasn't JFK's Pulitzer Prize-winning Profiles in Courage predominantly a ghosted job?

[First_Salute]

Bump.

[BluesDuke]

My impression from the historical record, is that Jack Kennedy and Dick Nixon were political twins. One was a moderate, pragmatic, anti-communist, and the other was a ... moderate, pragmatic anti-communist.

So, in fact, might Joseph McCarthy have been classified. Outside the Communist question, McCarthy frequently enough took positions on domestic policy that would probably get him denounced as a RINO in other times and places. (In fact, McCarthy before the infamous Wheeling speech that launched him across the national radar seems to have had a reputation as one of the more moderate-to-liberal of Republican lawmakers...)

[GOPcapitalist]

Left wing bilge.

One must seriously doubt the sanity of a person or group of people who would consider putting ANY speech by the politicized likes of Jesse Jackson, Ann Richards, Stokely Carmichael, Mario Cuomo, Geralding Ferarro, and Anita Hill above the perfectly well known, non-partisan "no brainer" inclusion of Lou Gerhig.

[SoDak]

I agree...the "tear down this wall" speech (if this is the one) was definitely a top 5.

[LibWhacker]

I inferred nothing of the kind! Read it again. And my reasoning skills are right up there, pal, else I wouldn't have an advanced degree in mathematics. As for LBJ, et. al, not being communists simply because they didn't "achieve" all Pol Pot did, where are your reasoning skills? There are only a handful of communists who encounter as few obstacles as Pol Pot did in realising his dreams but billions who die frustrated.

[The Raven]

This is actually humorous. Guess they'll add Terry McAuliffe soon?