the orators

oratory was supposed to be obsolete in the TV age. But it has played a key part in barack obama's rise. His speeches during the campaign have been justly acclaimed, and it was a speech that shot him to national prominence in the first place. His speech to the Ebeneezer Church in South Carolina is a good example of his ability to combine argument, rhetorical sinew, and uplift.

it must be a while since oratory has played a key part in an american presidential campaign. We have seen rabble-rousers (Dean), feel-your-painers (Bill Clinton), and folksy charmers (Reagan). But who, since Kennedy, has been able to make speeches that appeal powerfully to head and heart?

as for british political campaigns - well, it has played even less part, though Blair wasn't too shabby behind the podium. Here is a list of great british speeches put together by  nick anstead, whose excellent blog i hadn't come across before. It's a pretty good list. I would add Neil Kinnock's speech to the Labour Party conference in 1985,  confronting the Militants.

1. Calgacus / Tacitus, speech to the Britons (85 AD).
2. Winston Churchill, “We will fight them on the beaches…” (1940).
3. Thomas Rainsborough, address to the Putney debates (1647).
4. Queen Elizabeth I, “Heart and stomach of a king…” (1588)
   
5. William Gladstone, first home rule bill (1886).
   
6. David Lloyd-George, proposing the people’s budget (1909).
7. Oliver Cromwell, “for godsake go…” (1653).
   
8. Geoffrey Howe, savaged by a dead sheep (1990).
9. Earl Spencer, funeral oration for Princess Diana (1997).
10. Harold MacMillan, “wind of change…” (1960).

Comments

[erin]

I agree with him on number one.

A list of the most chilling speeches ever made would be equally compelling, I think. Powell's Rivers of Blood, the Nuremberg Rallies, that sort of thing. Of course, the truly abominable ones are often met with laudation at the time, much like those above, and tend only to gain their horror factor with hindsight.