best persuasive speech of all time

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40 famous persuasive speeches you need to hear.

Written by Kai Xin Koh

Across eras of calamity and peace in our world’s history, a great many leaders, writers, politicians, theorists, scientists, activists and other revolutionaries have unveiled powerful rousing speeches in their bids for change. In reviewing the plethora of orators across tides of social, political and economic change, we found some truly rousing speeches that brought the world to their feet or to a startling, necessary halt. We’ve chosen 40 of the most impactful speeches we managed to find from agents of change all over the world – a diversity of political campaigns, genders, positionalities and periods of history. You’re sure to find at least a few speeches in this list which will capture you with the sheer power of their words and meaning!

1. I have a dream by MLK

“I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification – one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father’s died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!”

Unsurprisingly, Martin Luther King’s speech comes up top as the most inspiring speech of all time, especially given the harrowing conditions of African Americans in America at the time. In the post-abolition era when slavery was outlawed constitutionally, African Americans experienced an intense period of backlash from white supremacists who supported slavery where various institutional means were sought to subordinate African American people to positions similar to that of the slavery era. This later came to be known as the times of Jim Crow and segregation, which Martin Luther King powerfully voiced his vision for a day when racial discrimination would be a mere figment, where equality would reign.

2. Tilbury Speech by Queen Elizabeth I

“My loving people, We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit our selves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and crowns; and We do assure you on a word of a prince, they shall be duly paid. In the mean time, my lieutenant general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over these enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people.”

While at war with Spain, Queen Elizabeth I was most renowned for her noble speech rallying the English troops against their comparatively formidable opponent. Using brilliant rhetorical devices like metonymy, meronymy, and other potent metaphors, she voiced her deeply-held commitment as a leader to the battle against the Spanish Armada – convincing the English army to keep holding their ground and upholding the sacrifice of war for the good of their people. Eventually against all odds, she led England to victory despite their underdog status in the conflict with her confident and masterful oratory.

3. Woodrow Wilson, address to Congress (April 2, 1917)

“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them. Just because we fight without rancor and without selfish object, seeking nothing for ourselves but what we shall wish to share with all free peoples, we shall, I feel confident, conduct our operations as belligerents without passion and ourselves observe with proud punctilio the principles of right and of fair play we profess to be fighting for. … It will be all the easier for us to conduct ourselves as belligerents in a high spirit of right and fairness because we act without animus, not in enmity toward a people or with the desire to bring any injury or disadvantage upon them, but only in armed opposition to an irresponsible government which has thrown aside all considerations of humanity and of right and is running amuck. We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German people, and shall desire nothing so much as the early reestablishment of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us—however hard it may be for them, for the time being, to believe that this is spoken from our hearts. We have borne with their present government through all these bitter months because of that friendship—exercising a patience and forbearance which would otherwise have been impossible. We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friendship in our daily attitude and actions toward the millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy who live among us and share our life, and we shall be proud to prove it toward all who are in fact loyal to their neighbors and to the government in the hour of test. They are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they had never known any other fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt to stand with us in rebuking and restraining the few who may be of a different mind and purpose. If there should be disloyalty, it will be dealt with with a firm hand of stern repression; but, if it lifts its head at all, it will lift it only here and there and without countenance except from a lawless and malignant few. It is a distressing and oppressive duty, gentlemen of the Congress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts—for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.”

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson of the USA delivered his address to Congress, calling for declaration of war against what was at the time, a belligerent and aggressive Germany in WWI. Despite his isolationism and anti-war position earlier in his tenure as president, he convinced Congress that America had a moral duty to the world to step out of their neutral observer status into an active role of world leadership and stewardship in order to liberate attacked nations from their German aggressors. The idealistic values he preached in his speech left an indelible imprint upon the American spirit and self-conception, forming the moral basis for the country’s people and aspirational visions to this very day.

4. Ain’t I A Woman by Sojourner Truth

“That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman? … If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.”

Hailing from a background of slavery and oppression, Sojourner Truth was one of the most revolutionary advocates for women’s human rights in the 1800s. In spite of the New York Anti-Slavery Law of 1827, her slavemaster refused to free her. As such, she fled, became an itinerant preacher and leading figure in the anti-slavery movement. By the 1850s, she became involved in the women’s rights movement as well. At the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention held in Akron, Ohio, she delivered her illuminating, forceful speech against discrimination of women and African Americans in the post-Civil War era, entrenching her status as one of the most revolutionary abolitionists and women’s rights activists across history.

5. The Gettsyburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

“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.”

President Abraham Lincoln had left the most lasting legacy upon American history for good reason, as one of the presidents with the moral courage to denounce slavery for the national atrocity it was. However, more difficult than standing up for the anti-slavery cause was the task of unifying the country post-abolition despite the looming shadows of a time when white Americans could own and subjugate slaves with impunity over the thousands of Americans who stood for liberation of African Americans from discrimination. He urged Americans to remember their common roots, heritage and the importance of “charity for all”, to ensure a “just and lasting peace” among within the country despite throes of racial division and self-determination.

6. Woman’s Rights to the Suffrage by Susan B Anthony

“For any State to make sex a qualification that must ever result in the disfranchisement of one entire half of the people is to pass a bill of attainder, or an ex post facto law, and is therefore a violation of the supreme law of the land. By it the blessings of liberty are for ever withheld from women and their female posterity. To them this government has no just powers derived from the consent of the governed. To them this government is not a democracy. It is not a republic. It is an odious aristocracy; a hateful oligarchy of sex; the most hateful aristocracy ever established on the face of the globe; an oligarchy of wealth, where the right govern the poor. An oligarchy of learning, where the educated govern the ignorant, or even an oligarchy of race, where the Saxon rules the African, might be endured; but this oligarchy of sex, which makes father, brothers, husband, sons, the oligarchs over the mother and sisters, the wife and daughters of every household–which ordains all men sovereigns, all women subjects, carries dissension, discord and rebellion into every home of the nation. Webster, Worcester and Bouvier all define a citizen to be a person in the United States, entitled to vote and hold office. The only question left to be settled now is: Are women persons? And I hardly believe any of our opponents will have the hardihood to say they are not. Being persons, then, women are citizens; and no State has a right to make any law, or to enforce any old law, that shall abridge their privileges or immunities. Hence, every discrimination against women in the constitutions and laws of the several States is today null and void, precisely as in every one against Negroes.”

Susan B. Anthony was a pivotal leader in the women’s suffrage movement who helped to found the National Woman Suffrage Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and fight for the constitutional right for women to vote. She courageously and relentlessly advocated for women’s rights, giving speeches all over the USA to convince people of women’s human rights to choice and the ballot. She is most well known for her act of righteous rebellion in 1872 when she voted in the presidential election illegally, for which she was arrested and tried unsuccessfully. She refused to pay the $100 fine in a bid to reject the demands of the American system she denounced as a ‘hateful oligarchy of sex’, sparking change with her righteous oratory and inspiring many others in the women’s suffrage movement within and beyond America.

7. Vladimir Lenin’s Speech at an International Meeting in Berne, February 8, 1916

“It may sound incredible, especially to Swiss comrades, but it is nevertheless true that in Russia, also, not only bloody tsarism, not only the capitalists, but also a section of the so-called or ex-Socialists say that Russia is fighting a “war of defence,” that Russia is only fighting against German invasion. The whole world knows, however, that for decades tsarism has been oppressing more than a hundred million people belonging to other nationalities in Russia; that for decades Russia has been pursuing a predatory policy towards China, Persia, Armenia and Galicia. Neither Russia, nor Germany, nor any other Great Power has the right to claim that it is waging a “war of defence”; all the Great Powers are waging an imperialist, capitalist war, a predatory war, a war for the oppression of small and foreign nations, a war for the sake of the profits of the capitalists, who are coining golden profits amounting to billions out of the appalling sufferings of the masses, out of the blood of the proletariat. … This again shows you, comrades, that in all countries of the world real preparations are being made to rally the forces of the working class. The horrors of war and the sufferings of the people are incredible. But we must not, and we have no reason whatever, to view the future with despair. The millions of victims who will fall in the war, and as a consequence of the war, will not fall in vain. The millions who are starving, the millions who are sacrificing their lives in the trenches, are not only suffering, they are also gathering strength, are pondering over the real cause of the war, are becoming more determined and are acquiring a clearer revolutionary understanding. Rising discontent of the masses, growing ferment, strikes, demonstrations, protests against the war—all this is taking place in all countries of the world. And this is the guarantee that the European War will be followed by the proletarian revolution against capitalism”

Vladimir Lenin remains to this day one of the most lauded communist revolutionaries in the world who brought the dangers of imperialism and capitalism to light with his rousing speeches condemning capitalist structures of power which inevitably enslave people to lives of misery and class stratification. In his genuine passion for the rights of the working class, he urged fellow comrades to turn the “imperialist war” into a “civil” or class war of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. He encouraged the development of new revolutionary socialist organisations, solidarity across places in society so people could unite against their capitalist overlords, and criticised nationalism for its divisive effect on the socialist movement. In this speech especially, he lambasts “bloody Tsarism” for its oppression of millions of people of other nationalities in Russia, calling for the working class people to revolt against the Tsarist authority for the proletariat revolution to succeed and liberate them from class oppression.

8. I Have A Dream Speech by Mary Wollstonecraft

“If, I say, for I would not impress by declamation when Reason offers her sober light, if they be really capable of acting like rational creatures, let them not be treated like slaves; or, like the brutes who are dependent on the reason of man, when they associate with him; but cultivate their minds, give them the salutary, sublime curb of principle, and let them attain conscious dignity by feeling themselves only dependent on God. Teach them, in common with man, to submit to necessity, instead of giving, to render them more pleasing, a sex to morals. Further, should experience prove that they cannot attain the same degree of strength of mind, perseverance, and fortitude, let their virtues be the same in kind, though they may vainly struggle for the same degree; and the superiority of man will be equally clear, if not clearer; and truth, as it is a simple principle, which admits of no modification, would be common to both. Nay, the order of society as it is at present regulated would not be inverted, for woman would then only have the rank that reason assigned her, and arts could not be practised to bring the balance even, much less to turn it.”

In her vindication of the rights of women, Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the pioneers of the feminist movement back in 1792 who not only theorised and advocated revolutionarily, but gave speeches that voiced these challenges against a dominantly sexist society intent on classifying women as irrational less-than-human creatures to be enslaved as they were. In this landmark speech, she pronounces her ‘dream’ of a day when women would be treated as the rational, deserving humans they are, who are equal to man in strength and capability. With this speech setting an effective precedent for her call to equalize women before the law, she also went on to champion the provision of equal educational opportunities to women and girls, and persuasively argued against the patriarchal gender norms which prevented women from finding their own lot in life through their being locked into traditional institutions of marriage and motherhood against their will.

9. First Inaugural Speech by Franklin D Roosevelt

“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. … More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly. … I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken Nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption. But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis — broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.”

Roosevelt’s famous inaugural speech was delivered in the midst of a period of immense tension and strain under the Great Depression, where he highlighted the need for ‘quick action’ by Congress to prepare for government expansion in his pursuit of reforms to lift the American people out of devastating poverty. In a landslide victory, he certainly consolidated the hopes and will of the American people through this compelling speech.

10. The Hypocrisy of American Slavery by Frederick Douglass

“What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy – a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour. Go search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.”

On 4 July 1852, Frederick Douglass gave this speech in Rochester, New York, highlighting the hypocrisy of celebrating freedom while slavery continues. He exposed the ‘revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy’ of slavery which had gone unabolished amidst the comparatively obscene celebration of independence and liberty with his potent speech and passion for the anti-abolition cause. After escaping from slavery, he went on to become a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York with his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. To this day, his fierce activism and devotion to exposing virulent racism for what it was has left a lasting legacy upon pro-Black social movements and the overall sociopolitical landscape of America.

11. Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard ’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.”

With her iconic poem Still I Rise , Maya Angelou is well-known for uplifting fellow African American women through her empowering novels and poetry and her work as a civil rights activist. Every bit as lyrical on the page, her recitation of Still I Rise continues to give poetry audiences shivers all over the world, inspiring women of colour everywhere to keep the good faith in striving for equality and peace, while radically believing in and empowering themselves to be agents of change. A dramatic reading of the poem will easily showcase the self-belief, strength and punch that it packs in the last stanza on the power of resisting marginalization.

12. Their Finest Hour by Winston Churchill

“What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.””

In the darkest shadows cast by war, few leaders have been able to step up to the mantle and effectively unify millions of citizens for truly sacrificial causes. Winston Churchill was the extraordinary exception – lifting 1940 Britain out of the darkness with his hopeful, convicted rhetoric to galvanise the English amidst bleak, dreary days of war and loss. Through Britain’s standalone position in WWII against the Nazis, he left his legacy by unifying the nation under shared sacrifices of the army and commemorating their courage.

13. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

“Life for both sexes – and I looked at them (through a restaurant window while waiting for my lunch to be served), shouldering their way along the pavement – is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion as we are, it calls for confidence in oneself. Without self-confidence we are babes in the cradle. And how can we generate this imponderable quality, which is yet so invaluable, most quickly? By thinking that other people are inferior to oneself. By feeling that one has some innate superiority – it may be wealth, or rank, a straight nose, or the portrait of a grandfather by Romney – for there is no end to the pathetic devices of the human imagination – over other people. Hence the enormous importance to a patriarch who has to conquer, who has to rule, of feeling that great numbers of people, half the human race indeed, are by nature inferior to himself. It must indeed be one of the great sources of his power….Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. Without that power probably the earth would still be swamp and jungle. The glories of all our wars would be on the remains of mutton bones and bartering flints for sheepskins or whatever simple ornament took our unsophisticated taste. Supermen and Fingers of Destiny would never have existed. The Czar and the Kaiser would never have worn their crowns or lost them. Whatever may be their use in civilised societies, mirrors are essential to all violent and heroic action. That is why Napoleon and Mussolini both insist so emphatically upon the inferiority of women, for if they were not inferior, they would cease to enlarge. That serves to explain in part the necessity that women so often are to men. And it serves to explain how restless they are under her criticism; how impossible it is for her to say to them this book is bad, this picture is feeble, or whatever it may be, without giving far more pain and rousing far more anger than a man would do who gave the same criticism. For if she begins to tell the truth, the figure in the looking-glass shrinks; his fitness in life is diminished. How is he to go on giving judgment, civilising natives, making laws, writing books, dressing up and speechifying at banquets, unless he can see himself at breakfast and at dinner at least twice the size he really is?”

In this transformational speech , Virginia Woolf pronounces her vision that ‘a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction’. She calls out the years in which women have been deprived of their own space for individual development through being chained to traditional arrangements or men’s prescriptions – demanding ‘gigantic courage’ and ‘confidence in oneself’ to brave through the onerous struggle of creating change for women’s rights. With her steadfast, stolid rhetoric and radical theorization, she paved the way for many women’s rights activists and writers to forge their own paths against patriarchal authority.

14. Inaugural Address by John F Kennedy

“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. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”

For what is probably the most historically groundbreaking use of parallelism in speech across American history, President JFK placed the weighty task of ‘asking what one can do for their country’ onto the shoulders of each American citizen. Using an air of firmness in his rhetoric by declaring his commitment to his countrymen, he urges each American to do the same for the broader, noble ideal of freedom for all. With his crucial interrogation of a citizen’s moral duty to his nation, President JFK truly made history.

15. Atoms for Peace Speech by Dwight Eisenhower

“To pause there would be to confirm the hopeless finality of a belief that two atomic colossi are doomed malevolently to eye each other indefinitely across a trembling world. To stop there would be to accept helplessly the probability of civilization destroyed, the annihilation of the irreplaceable heritage of mankind handed down to us from generation to generation, and the condemnation of mankind to begin all over again the age-old struggle upward from savagery towards decency, and right, and justice. Surely no sane member of the human race could discover victory in such desolation. Could anyone wish his name to be coupled by history with such human degradation and destruction?Occasional pages of history do record the faces of the “great destroyers”, but the whole book of history reveals mankind’s never-ending quest for peace and mankind’s God-given capacity to build. It is with the book of history, and not with isolated pages, that the United States will ever wish to be identified. My country wants to be constructive,not destructive. It wants agreements, not wars, among nations. It wants itself to live in freedom and in the confidence that the peoples of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life. So my country’s purpose is to help us to move out of the dark chamber of horrors into the light, to find a way by which the minds of men, the hopes of men, the souls of men everywhere, can move forward towards peace and happiness and well-being.”

On a possibility as frightful and tense as nuclear war, President Eisenhower managed to convey the gravity of the world’s plight in his measured and persuasive speech centred on the greater good of mankind. Using rhetorical devices such as the three-part paratactical syntax which most world leaders are fond of for ingraining their words in the minds of their audience, he centers the discourse of the atomic bomb on those affected by such a world-changing decision in ‘the minds, hopes and souls of men everywhere’ – effectively putting the vivid image of millions of people’s fates at stake in the minds of his audience. Being able to make a topic as heavy and fraught with moral conflict as this as eloquent as he did, Eisenhower definitely ranks among some of the most skilled orators to date.

16. The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action by Audre Lorde

“I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you. But for every real word spoken, for every attempt I had ever made to speak those truths for which I am still seeking, I had made contact with other women while we examined the words to fit a world in which we all believed, bridging our differences. What are the words you do not have yet? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? Perhaps for some of you here today, I am the face of one of your fears. Because I am a woman, because I am black, because I am myself, a black woman warrior poet doing my work, come to ask you, are you doing yours?”

Revolutionary writer, feminist and civil rights activist Audre Lorde first delivered this phenomenal speech at Lesbian and Literature panel of the Modern Language Association’s December 28, 1977 meeting, which went on to feature permanently in her writings for its sheer wisdom and truth. Her powerful writing and speech about living on the margins of society has enlightened millions of people discriminated across various intersections, confronting them with the reality that they must speak – since their ‘silence will not protect’ them from further marginalization. Through her illuminating words and oratory, she has reminded marginalized persons of the importance of their selfhood and the radical capacity for change they have in a world blighted by prejudice and division.

17. 1965 Cambridge Union Hall Speech by James Baldwin

“What is dangerous here is the turning away from – the turning away from – anything any white American says. The reason for the political hesitation, in spite of the Johnson landslide is that one has been betrayed by American politicians for so long. And I am a grown man and perhaps I can be reasoned with. I certainly hope I can be. But I don’t know, and neither does Martin Luther King, none of us know how to deal with those other people whom the white world has so long ignored, who don’t believe anything the white world says and don’t entirely believe anything I or Martin is saying. And one can’t blame them. You watch what has happened to them in less than twenty years.”

Baldwin’s invitation to the Cambridge Union Hall is best remembered for foregrounding the unflinching differences in white and African Americans’ ‘system of reality’ in everyday life. Raising uncomfortable truths about the insidious nature of racism post-civil war, he provides several nuggets of thought-provoking wisdom on the state of relations between the oppressed and their oppressors, and what is necessary to mediate such relations and destroy the exploitative thread of racist hatred. With great frankness, he admits to not having all the answers but provides hard-hitting wisdom on engagement to guide activists through confounding times nonetheless.

18. I Am Prepared to Die by Nelson Mandela

“Above all, My Lord, we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy. But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division, based on colour, is entirely artificial and, when it disappears, so will the domination of one colour group by another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism. When it triumphs as it certainly must, it will not change that policy. This then is what the ANC is fighting. Our struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by our own suffering and our own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live. During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, My Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Apartheid is still considered one of these most devastating events of world history, and it would not have ended without the crucial effort and words of Nelson Mandela during his courageous political leadership. In this heartbreaking speech , he voices his utter devotion to the fight against institutionalised racism in African society – an ideal for which he was ‘prepared to die for’. Mandela continues to remind us today of his moral conviction in leading, wherein the world would likely to be a better place if all politicians had the same resolve and genuine commitment to human rights and the abolition of oppression as he did.

19. Critique on British Imperialism by General Aung San

“Do they form their observations by seeing the attendances at not very many cinemas and theatres of Rangoon? Do they judge this question of money circulation by paying a stray visit to a local bazaar? Do they know that cinemas and theatres are not true indicators, at least in Burma, of the people’s conditions? Do they know that there are many in this country who cannot think of going to these places by having to struggle for their bare existence from day to day? Do they know that those who nowadays patronise or frequent cinemas and theatres which exist only in Rangoon and a few big towns, belong generally to middle and upper classes and the very few of the many poor who can attend at all are doing so as a desperate form of relaxation just to make them forget their unsupportable existences for the while whatever may be the tomorrow that awaits them?”

Under British colonial rule, one of the most legendary nationalist leaders emerged from the ranks of the thousands of Burmese to boldly lead them towards independence, out of the exploitation and control under the British. General Aung San’s speech criticising British social, political and economic control of Burma continues to be scathing, articulate, and relevant – especially given his necessary goal of uniting the Burmese natives against their common oppressor. He successfully galvanised his people against the British, taking endless risks through nationalist speeches and demonstrations which gradually bore fruit in Burma’s independence.

20. Nobel Lecture by Mother Teresa

“I believe that we are not real social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of the people, but we are really contemplatives in the heart of the world. For we are touching the Body Of Christ 24 hours. We have 24 hours in this presence, and so you and I. You too try to bring that presence of God in your family, for the family that prays together stays together. And I think that we in our family don’t need bombs and guns, to destroy to bring peace–just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world. There is so much suffering, so much hatred, so much misery, and we with our prayer, with our sacrifice are beginning at home. Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action that we do. It is to God Almighty–how much we do it does not matter, because He is infinite, but how much love we put in that action. How much we do to Him in the person that we are serving.”

In contemporary culture, most people understand Mother Teresa to be the epitome of compassion and kindness. However, if one were to look closer at her speeches from the past, one would discover not merely her altruistic contributions, but her keen heart for social justice and the downtrodden. She wisely and gracefully remarks that ‘love begins at home’ from the individual actions of each person within their private lives, which accumulate into a life of goodness and charity. For this, her speeches served not just consolatory value or momentary relevance, as they still inform the present on how we can live lives worth living.

21. June 9 Speech to Martial Law Units by Deng Xiaoping

“This army still maintains the traditions of our old Red Army. What they crossed this time was in the true sense of the expression a political barrier, a threshold of life and death. This was not easy. This shows that the People’s Army is truly a great wall of iron and steel of the party and state. This shows that no matter how heavy our losses, the army, under the leadership of the party, will always remain the defender of the country, the defender of socialism, and the defender of the public interest. They are a most lovable people. At the same time, we should never forget how cruel our enemies are. We should have not one bit of forgiveness for them. The fact that this incident broke out as it did is very worthy of our pondering. It prompts us cool-headedly to consider the past and the future. Perhaps this bad thing will enable us to go ahead with reform and the open policy at a steadier and better — even a faster — pace, more speedily correct our mistakes, and better develop our strong points.”

Mere days before the 4 June 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising, Chinese Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping sat with six party elders (senior officials) and the three remaining members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the paramount decision-making body in China’s government. The meeting was organised to discuss the best course of action for restoring social and political order to China, given the sweeping economic reforms that had taken place in the past decade that inevitably resulted in some social resistance from the populace. Deng then gave this astute and well-regarded speech, outlining the political complexities in shutting down student protests given the context of reforms encouraging economic liberalization already taking place, as aligned with the students’ desires. It may not be the most rousing or inflammatory of speeches, but it was certainly persuasive in voicing the importance of taking a strong stand for the economic reforms Deng was implementing to benefit Chinese citizens in the long run. Today, China is an economic superpower, far from its war-torn developing country status before Deng’s leadership – thanks to his foresight in ensuring political stability would allow China to enjoy the fruits of the massive changes they adapted to.

22. Freedom or Death by Emmeline Pankhurst

“You won your freedom in America when you had the revolution, by bloodshed, by sacrificing human life. You won the civil war by the sacrifice of human life when you decided to emancipate the negro. You have left it to women in your land, the men of all civilised countries have left it to women, to work out their own salvation. That is the way in which we women of England are doing. Human life for us is sacred, but we say if any life is to be sacrificed it shall be ours; we won’t do it ourselves, but we will put the enemy in the position where they will have to choose between giving us freedom or giving us death. Now whether you approve of us or whether you do not, you must see that we have brought the question of women’s suffrage into a position where it is of first rate importance, where it can be ignored no longer. Even the most hardened politician will hesitate to take upon himself directly the responsibility of sacrificing the lives of women of undoubted honour, of undoubted earnestness of purpose. That is the political situation as I lay it before you today.”

In 1913 after Suffragette Emily Davison stepped in front of King George V’s horse at the Epsom Derby and suffered fatal injuries, Emmeline Pankhurst delivered her speech to Connecticut as a call to action for people to support the suffragette movement. Her fortitude in delivering such a sobering speech on the state of women’s rights is worth remembering for its invaluable impact and contributions to the rights we enjoy in today’s world.

23. Quit India by Mahatma Gandhi

“We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery. Every true Congressman or woman will join the struggle with an inflexible determination not to remain alive to see the country in bondage and slavery. Let that be your pledge. Keep jails out of your consideration. If the Government keep me free, I will not put on the Government the strain of maintaining a large number of prisoners at a time, when it is in trouble. Let every man and woman live every moment of his or her life hereafter in the consciousness that he or she eats or lives for achieving freedom and will die, if need be, to attain that goal. Take a pledge, with God and your own conscience as witness, that you will no longer rest till freedom is achieved and will be prepared to lay down your lives in the attempt to achieve it. He who loses his life will gain it; he who will seek to save it shall lose it. Freedom is not for the coward or the faint-hearted.”

Naturally, the revolutionary activist Gandhi had to appear in this list for his impassioned anti-colonial speeches which rallied Indians towards independence. Famous for leading non-violent demonstrations, his speeches were a key element in gathering Indians of all backgrounds together for the common cause of eliminating their colonial masters. His speeches were resolute, eloquent, and courageous, inspiring the hope and admiration of many not just within India, but around the world.

24. 1974 National Book Award Speech by Adrienne Rich, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde

“The statement I am going to read was prepared by three of the women nominated for the National Book Award for poetry, with the agreement that it would be read by whichever of us, if any, was chosen.We, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, and Alice Walker, together accept this award in the name of all the women whose voices have gone and still go unheard in a patriarchal world, and in the name of those who, like us, have been tolerated as token women in this culture, often at great cost and in great pain. We believe that we can enrich ourselves more in supporting and giving to each other than by competing against each other; and that poetry—if it is poetry—exists in a realm beyond ranking and comparison. We symbolically join together here in refusing the terms of patriarchal competition and declaring that we will share this prize among us, to be used as best we can for women. We appreciate the good faith of the judges for this award, but none of us could accept this money for herself, nor could she let go unquestioned the terms on which poets are given or denied honor and livelihood in this world, especially when they are women. We dedicate this occasion to the struggle for self-determination of all women, of every color, identification, or derived class: the poet, the housewife, the lesbian, the mathematician, the mother, the dishwasher, the pregnant teen-ager, the teacher, the grandmother, the prostitute, the philosopher, the waitress, the women who will understand what we are doing here and those who will not understand yet; the silent women whose voices have been denied us, the articulate women who have given us strength to do our work.”

Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, and Alice Walker wrote this joint speech to be delivered by Adrienne Rich at the 1974 National Book Awards, based on their suspicions that the first few African American lesbian women to be nominated for the awards would be snubbed in favour of a white woman nominee. Their suspicions were confirmed, and Adrienne Rich delivered this socially significant speech in solidarity with her fellow nominees, upholding the voices of the ‘silent women whose voices have been denied’.

25. Speech to 20th Congress of the CPSU by Nikita Khruschev

“Considering the question of the cult of an individual, we must first of all show everyone what harm this caused to the interests of our Party. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin had always stressed the Party’s role and significance in the direction of the socialist government of workers and peasants; he saw in this the chief precondition for a successful building of socialism in our country. Pointing to the great responsibility of the Bolshevik Party, as ruling Party of the Soviet state, Lenin called for the most meticulous observance of all norms of Party life; he called for the realization of the principles of collegiality in the direction of the Party and the state. Collegiality of leadership flows from the very nature of our Party, a Party built on the principles of democratic centralism. “This means,” said Lenin, “that all Party matters are accomplished by all Party members – directly or through representatives – who, without any exceptions, are subject to the same rules; in addition, all administrative members, all directing collegia, all holders of Party positions are elective, they must account for their activities and are recallable.””

This speech is possibly the most famed Russian speech for its status as a ‘secret’ speech delivered only to the CPSU at the time, which was eventually revealed to the public. Given the unchallenged political legacy and cult of personality which Stalin left in the Soviet Union, Nikita Khruschev’s speech condemning the authoritarian means Stalin had resorted to to consolidate power as un-socialist was an important mark in Russian history.

26. The Struggle for Human Rights by Eleanor Roosevelt

“It is my belief, and I am sure it is also yours, that the struggle for democracy and freedom is a critical struggle, for their preservation is essential to the great objective of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security. Among free men the end cannot justify the means. We know the patterns of totalitarianism — the single political party, the control of schools, press, radio, the arts, the sciences, and the church to support autocratic authority; these are the age-old patterns against which men have struggled for three thousand years. These are the signs of reaction, retreat, and retrogression. The United Nations must hold fast to the heritage of freedom won by the struggle of its people; it must help us to pass it on to generations to come. The development of the ideal of freedom and its translation into the everyday life of the people in great areas of the earth is the product of the efforts of many peoples. It is the fruit of a long tradition of vigorous thinking and courageous action. No one race and on one people can claim to have done all the work to achieve greater dignity for human beings and great freedom to develop human personality. In each generation and in each country there must be a continuation of the struggle and new steps forward must be taken since this is preeminently a field in which to stand still is to retreat.”

Eleanor Roosevelt has been among the most well-loved First Ladies for good reason – her eloquence and gravitas in delivering every speech convinced everyone of her suitability for the oval office. In this determined and articulate speech , she outlines the fundamental values that form the bedrock of democracy, urging the rest of the world to uphold human rights regardless of national ideology and interests.

27. The Ballot or The Bullet by Malcolm X

“And in this manner, the organizations will increase in number and in quantity and in quality, and by August, it is then our intention to have a black nationalist convention which will consist of delegates from all over the country who are interested in the political, economic and social philosophy of black nationalism. After these delegates convene, we will hold a seminar; we will hold discussions; we will listen to everyone. We want to hear new ideas and new solutions and new answers. And at that time, if we see fit then to form a black nationalist party, we’ll form a black nationalist party. If it’s necessary to form a black nationalist army, we’ll form a black nationalist army. It’ll be the ballot or the bullet. It’ll be liberty or it’ll be death.”

Inarguably, the revolutionary impact Malcolm X’s fearless oratory had was substantial in his time as a radical anti-racist civil rights activist. His speeches’ emancipatory potential put forth his ‘theory of rhetorical action’ where he urges Black Americans to employ both the ballot and the bullet, strategically without being dependent on the other should the conditions of oppression change. A crucial leader in the fight for civil rights, he opened the eyes of thousands of Black Americans, politicising and convincing them of the necessity of fighting for their democratic rights against white supremacists.

28. Living the Revolution by Gloria Steinem

“The challenge to all of us, and to you men and women who are graduating today, is to live a revolution, not to die for one. There has been too much killing, and the weapons are now far too terrible. This revolution has to change consciousness, to upset the injustice of our current hierarchy by refusing to honor it, and to live a life that enforces a new social justice. Because the truth is none of us can be liberated if other groups are not.”

In an unexpected commencement speech delivered at Vassar College in 1970, Gloria Steinem boldly makes a call to action on behalf of marginalized groups in need of liberation to newly graduated students. She proclaimed it the year of Women’s Liberation and forcefully highlighted the need for a social revolution to ‘upset the injustice of the current hierarchy’ in favour of human rights – echoing the hard-hitting motto on social justice, ‘until all of us are free, none of us are free’.

29. The Last Words of Harvey Milk by Harvey Milk

“I cannot prevent some people from feeling angry and frustrated and mad in response to my death, but I hope they will take the frustration and madness and instead of demonstrating or anything of that type, I would hope that they would take the power and I would hope that five, ten, one hundred, a thousand would rise. I would like to see every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up and let the world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody could imagine. I urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights. … All I ask is for the movement to continue, and if a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door…”

As the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, Harvey Milk’s entire political candidature was in itself a radical statement against the homophobic status quo at the time. Given the dangerous times he was in as an openly gay man, he anticipated that he would be assassinated eventually in his political career. As such, these are some of his last words which show the utter devotion he had to campaigning against homophobia while representing the American people, voicing his heartbreaking wish for the bullet that would eventually kill him to ‘destroy every closet door’.

30. Black Power Address at UC Berkeley by Stokely Carmichael

“Now we are now engaged in a psychological struggle in this country, and that is whether or not black people will have the right to use the words they want to use without white people giving their sanction to it; and that we maintain, whether they like it or not, we gonna use the word “Black Power” — and let them address themselves to that; but that we are not going to wait for white people to sanction Black Power. We’re tired waiting; every time black people move in this country, they’re forced to defend their position before they move. It’s time that the people who are supposed to be defending their position do that. That’s white people. They ought to start defending themselves as to why they have oppressed and exploited us.”

A forceful and impressive orator, Stokely Carmichael was among those at the forefront of the civil rights movement, who was a vigorous socialist organizer as well. He led the Black Power movement wherein he gave this urgent, influential speech that propelled Black Americans forward in their fight for constitutional rights in the 1960s.

31. Speech on Vietnam by Lyndon Johnson

“The true peace-keepers are those men who stand out there on the DMZ at this very hour, taking the worst that the enemy can give. The true peace-keepers are the soldiers who are breaking the terrorist’s grip around the villages of Vietnam—the civilians who are bringing medical care and food and education to people who have already suffered a generation of war. And so I report to you that we are going to continue to press forward. Two things we must do. Two things we shall do. First, we must not mislead the enemy. Let him not think that debate and dissent will produce wavering and withdrawal. For I can assure you they won’t. Let him not think that protests will produce surrender. Because they won’t. Let him not think that he will wait us out. For he won’t. Second, we will provide all that our brave men require to do the job that must be done. And that job is going to be done. These gallant men have our prayers-have our thanks—have our heart-felt praise—and our deepest gratitude. Let the world know that the keepers of peace will endure through every trial—and that with the full backing of their countrymen, they are going to prevail.”

During some of the most harrowing periods of human history, the Vietnam War, American soldiers were getting soundly defeated by the Vietnamese in guerrilla warfare. President Lyndon Johnson then issued this dignified, consolatory speech to encourage patriotism and support for the soldiers putting their lives on the line for the nation.

32. A Whisper of AIDS by Mary Fisher

“We may take refuge in our stereotypes, but we cannot hide there long, because HIV asks only one thing of those it attacks. Are you human? And this is the right question. Are you human? Because people with HIV have not entered some alien state of being. They are human. They have not earned cruelty, and they do not deserve meanness. They don’t benefit from being isolated or treated as outcasts. Each of them is exactly what God made: a person; not evil, deserving of our judgment; not victims, longing for our pity ­­ people, ready for  support and worthy of compassion. We must be consistent if we are to be believed. We cannot love justice and ignore prejudice, love our children and fear to teach them. Whatever our role as parent or policymaker, we must act as eloquently as we speak ­­ else we have no integrity. My call to the nation is a plea for awareness. If you believe you are safe, you are in danger. Because I was not hemophiliac, I was not at risk. Because I was not gay, I was not at risk. Because I did not inject drugs, I was not at risk. The lesson history teaches is this: If you believe you are safe, you are at risk. If you do not see this killer stalking your children, look again. There is no family or community, no race or religion, no place left in America that is safe. Until we genuinely embrace this message, we are a nation at risk.”

Back when AIDS research was still undeveloped, the stigma of contracting HIV was even more immense than it is today. A celebrated artist, author and speaker, Mary Fisher became an outspoken activist for those with HIV/AIDS, persuading people to extend compassion to the population with HIV instead of stigmatizing them – as injustice has a way of coming around to people eventually. Her bold act of speaking out for the community regardless of the way they contracted the disease, their sexual orientation or social group, was an influential move in advancing the human rights of those with HIV and spreading awareness on the discrimination they face.

33. Freedom from Fear by Aung San Suu Kyi

“The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation’s development. A revolution which aims merely at changing official policies and institutions with a view to an improvement in material conditions has little chance of genuine success. Without a revolution of the spirit, the forces which produced the iniquities of the old order would continue to be operative, posing a constant threat to the process of reform and regeneration. It is not enough merely to call for freedom, democracy and human rights. There has to be a united determination to persevere in the struggle, to make sacrifices in the name of enduring truths, to resist the corrupting influences of desire, ill will, ignorance and fear. Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying. So free men are the oppressed who go on trying and who in the process make themselves fit to bear the responsibilities and to uphold the disciplines which will maintain a free society. Among the basic freedoms to which men aspire that their lives might be full and uncramped, freedom from fear stands out as both a means and an end. A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear.”

Famous for her resoluteness and fortitude in campaigning for democracy in Burma despite being put under house arrest by the military government, Aung San Suu Kyi’s speeches have been widely touted as inspirational. In this renowned speech of hers, she delivers a potent message to Burmese to ‘liberate their minds from apathy and fear’ in the struggle for freedom and human rights in the country. To this day, she continues to tirelessly champion the welfare and freedom of Burmese in a state still overcome by vestiges of authoritarian rule.

34. This Is Water by David Foster Wallace

“Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the centre of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving…. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day. That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.”

Esteemed writer David Foster Wallace gave a remarkably casual yet wise commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005 on the importance of learning to think beyond attaining a formal education. He encouraged hundreds of students to develop freedom of thought, a heart of sacrificial care for those in need of justice, and a consciousness that would serve them in discerning the right choices to make within a status quo that is easy to fall in line with. His captivating speech on what it meant to truly be ‘educated’ tugged at the hearts of many young and critical minds striving to achieve their dreams and change the world.

35. Questioning the Universe by Stephen Hawking

“This brings me to the last of the big questions: the future of the human race. If we are the only intelligent beings in the galaxy, we should make sure we survive and continue. But we are entering an increasingly dangerous period of our history. Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill. But our genetic code still carries the selfish and aggressive instincts that were of survival advantage in the past. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million. Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward-looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space. The answers to these big questions show that we have made remarkable progress in the last hundred years. But if we want to continue beyond the next hundred years, our future is in space. That is why I am in favor of manned — or should I say, personned — space flight.”

Extraordinary theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author Stephen Hawking was a considerable influence upon modern physics and scientific research at large, inspiring people regardless of physical ability to aspire towards expanding knowledge in the world. In his speech on Questioning the Universe, he speaks of the emerging currents and issues in the scientific world like that of outer space, raising and answering big questions that have stumped great thinkers for years.

36. 2008 Democratic National Convention Speech by Michelle Obama

“I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history — knowing that my piece of the American dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I’ve met all across this country: People who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift — without disappointment, without regret — that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they’re working for. The military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table. The servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it. The young people across America serving our communities — teaching children, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for the least among us each and every day. People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters — and sons — can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher. People like Joe Biden, who’s never forgotten where he came from and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again. All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won’t do — that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack’s journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope. That is why I love this country.”

Ever the favourite modern First Lady of America, Michelle Obama has delivered an abundance of iconic speeches in her political capacity, never forgetting to foreground the indomitable human spirit embodied in American citizens’ everyday lives and efforts towards a better world. The Obamas might just have been the most articulate couple of rhetoricians of their time, making waves as the first African American president and First Lady while introducing important policies in their period of governance.

37. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

“I’m not talking about blind optimism here — the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t think about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope — Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope! In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation. A belief in things not seen. A belief that there are better days ahead.”

Now published into a book, Barack Obama’s heart-capturing personal story of transformational hope was first delivered as a speech on the merits of patriotic optimism and determination put to the mission of concrete change. He has come to be known as one of the most favoured and inspiring presidents in American history, and arguably the most skilled orators ever.

38. “Be Your Own Story” by Toni Morrison

“But I’m not going to talk anymore about the future because I’m hesitant to describe or predict because I’m not even certain that it exists. That is to say, I’m not certain that somehow, perhaps, a burgeoning ménage a trois of political interests, corporate interests and military interests will not prevail and literally annihilate an inhabitable, humane future. Because I don’t think we can any longer rely on separation of powers, free speech, religious tolerance or unchallengeable civil liberties as a matter of course. That is, not while finite humans in the flux of time make decisions of infinite damage. Not while finite humans make infinite claims of virtue and unassailable power that are beyond their competence, if not their reach. So, no happy talk about the future. … Because the past is already in debt to the mismanaged present. And besides, contrary to what you may have heard or learned, the past is not done and it is not over, it’s still in process, which is another way of saying that when it’s critiqued, analyzed, it yields new information about itself. The past is already changing as it is being reexamined, as it is being listened to for deeper resonances. Actually it can be more liberating than any imagined future if you are willing to identify its evasions, its distortions, its lies, and are willing to unleash its secrets.”

Venerated author and professor Toni Morrison delivered an impressively articulate speech at Wellesley College in 2004 to new graduates, bucking the trend by discussing the importance of the past in informing current and future ways of living. With her brilliance and eloquence, she blew the crowd away and renewed in them the capacity for reflection upon using the past as a talisman to guide oneself along the journey of life.

39. Nobel Speech by Malala Yousafzai

“Dear brothers and sisters, the so-called world of adults may understand it, but we children don’t. Why is it that countries which we call “strong” are so powerful in creating wars but so weak in bringing peace? Why is it that giving guns is so easy but giving books is so hard? Why is it that making tanks is so easy, but building schools is so difficult? As we are living in the modern age, the 21st century and we all believe that nothing is impossible. We can reach the moon and maybe soon will land on Mars. Then, in this, the 21st century, we must be determined that our dream of quality education for all will also come true. So let us bring equality, justice and peace for all. Not just the politicians and the world leaders, we all need to contribute. Me. You. It is our duty. So we must work … and not wait. I call upon my fellow children to stand up around the world. Dear sisters and brothers, let us become the first generation to decide to be the last. The empty classrooms, the lost childhoods, wasted potential-let these things end with us.”

At a mere 16 years of age, Malala Yousafzai gave a speech on the severity of the state of human rights across the world, and wowed the world with her passion for justice at her tender age. She displayed tenacity and fearlessness speaking about her survival of an assassination attempt for her activism for gender equality in the field of education. A model of courage to us all, her speech remains an essential one in the fight for human rights in the 21st century.

40. Final Commencement Speech by Michelle Obama

“If you are a person of faith, know that religious diversity is a great American tradition, too. In fact, that’s why people first came to this country — to worship freely. And whether you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh — these religions are teaching our young people about justice, and compassion, and honesty. So I want our young people to continue to learn and practice those values with pride. You see, our glorious diversity — our diversities of faiths and colors and creeds — that is not a threat to who we are, it makes us who we are. So the young people here and the young people out there: Do not ever let anyone make you feel like you don’t matter, or like you don’t have a place in our American story — because you do. And you have a right to be exactly who you are. But I also want to be very clear: This right isn’t just handed to you. No, this right has to be earned every single day. You cannot take your freedoms for granted. Just like generations who have come before you, you have to do your part to preserve and protect those freedoms. … It is our fundamental belief in the power of hope that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt and division, of anger and fear that we have faced in our own lives and in the life of this country. Our hope that if we work hard enough and believe in ourselves, then we can be whatever we dream, regardless of the limitations that others may place on us. The hope that when people see us for who we truly are, maybe, just maybe they, too, will be inspired to rise to their best possible selves.”

Finally, we have yet another speech by Michelle Obama given in her final remarks as First Lady – a tear-inducing event for many Americans and even people around the world. In this emotional end to her political tenure, she gives an empowering, hopeful, expressive speech to young Americans, exhorting them to take hold of its future in all their diversity and work hard at being their best possible selves.

Amidst the bleak era of our current time with Trump as president of the USA, not only Michelle Obama, but all 40 of these amazing speeches can serve as sources of inspiration and hope to everyone – regardless of their identity or ambitions. After hearing these speeches, which one’s your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!

Article Written By: Kai Xin Koh

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10 of the Most Famous and Inspirational Speeches from History

What makes a great and iconic speech? There are numerous examples of brilliant orators and speechmakers throughout history, from classical times to the present day. What the best speeches tend to have in common are more than just a solid intellectual argument: they have emotive power, or, for want of a more scholarly word, ‘heart’. Great speeches rouse us to action, or move us to tears – or both.

But of course, historic speeches are often also associated with landmark, or watershed, moments in a nation’s history: when Churchill delivered his series of wartime speeches to Britain in 1940, it was against the backdrop of a war which was still in its early, uncertain stages. And when Martin Luther King stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, he was addressing a crowd who, like him, were marching for justice, freedom, and civil rights for African Americans.

Let’s take a closer look at ten of the best and most famous speeches from great moments in history.

Abraham Lincoln, ‘ Gettysburg Address ’ (1863).

The Gettysburg Address is one of the most famous speeches in American history, yet it was extremely short – just 268 words, or less than a page of text – and Abraham Lincoln, who gave the address, wasn’t even the top billing .

The US President Abraham Lincoln gave this short address at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on 19 November 1863. At the time, the American Civil War was still raging, and the Battle of Gettysburg had been the bloodiest battle in the war, with an estimated 23,000 casualties.

Lincoln’s speech has been remembered while Edward Everett’s – the main speech delivered on that day – has long been forgotten because Lincoln eschewed the high-flown allusions and wordy style of most political orators of the nineteenth century. Instead, he addresses his audience in plain, homespun English that is immediately relatable and accessible.

Sojourner Truth, ‘ Ain’t I a Woman? ’ (1851).

Sometimes known as ‘Ar’n’t I a Woman?’, this is a speech which Sojourner Truth, a freed African slave living in the United States, delivered in 1851 at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio. The women in attendance were being challenged to call for the right to vote.

In her speech, Sojourner Truth attempts to persuade the audience to give women the vote . As both an ex-slave and a woman, Sojourner Truth knew about the plight of both groups of people in the United States. Her speech shows her audience the times: change is coming, and it is time to give women the rights that should be theirs.

John Ball, ‘ Cast off the Yoke of Bondage ’ (1381).

The summer of 1381 was a time of unrest in England. The so-called ‘Peasants’ Revolt’, led by Wat Tyler (in actual fact, many of the leaders of the revolt were more well-to-do than your average peasant), gathered force until the rebels stormed London, executing a number of high-ranking officials, including the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor, Simon Sudbury.

Alongside Tyler, the priest John Ball was an important leading figure of the rebellion. His famous couplet, ‘When Adam delved and Eve span, / Who was then the gentleman?’ sums up the ethos of the Peasants’ Revolt: social inequality was unheard of until men created it.

Winston Churchill, ‘ We Shall Fight on the Beaches ’ (1940).

Winston Churchill had only recently assumed the role of UK Prime Minister when he gave the trio of wartime speeches which have gone down in history for their rhetorical skill and emotive power. This, for our money, is the best of the three.

Churchill gave this speech in the House of Commons on 4 June 1940. Having brought his listeners up to speed with what has happened, Churchill comes to the peroration of his speech : by far the most famous part. He reassures them that if nothing is neglected and all arrangements are made, he sees no reason why Britain cannot once more defend itself against invasion: something which, as an island nation, it has always been susceptible to by sea, and now by air.

Even if it takes years, and even if Britain must defend itself alone without any help from its allies, this is what must happen. Capitulation to the Nazis is not an option. The line ‘if necessary for years; if necessary, alone’ is sure to send a shiver down the spine, as is the way Churchill barks ‘we shall never surrender!’ in the post-war recording of the speech he made several years later.

William Faulkner, ‘ The Agony and the Sweat ’ (1950).

This is the title sometimes given to one of the most memorable Nobel Prize acceptance speeches: the American novelist William Faulkner’s acceptance of the Nobel Prize for Literature at Stockholm in 1950.

In his speech, Faulkner makes his famous statement about the ‘duty’ of writers: that they should write about ‘the human heart in conflict with itself’, as well as emotions and themes such as compassion, sacrifice, courage, and hope. He also emphasises that being a writer is hard work, and involves understanding human nature in all its complexity. But good writing should also remind readers what humankind is capable of.

Emmeline Pankhurst, ‘ The Plight of Women ’ (1908).

Pankhurst (1858-1928) was the leader of the British suffragettes, campaigning – and protesting – for votes for women. After she realised that Asquith’s Liberal government were unlikely to grand women the vote, the Women’s Social and Political Union, founded by Pankhurst with her daughter Christabel, turned to more militant tactics to shift public and parliamentary opinion.

Her emphasis in this speech is on the unhappy lot most women could face, in marriage and in motherhood. She also shows how ‘man-made’ the laws of England are, when they are biased in favour of men to the detriment of women’s rights.

This speech was given at the Portman Rooms in London in 1908; ten years later, towards the end of the First World War, women over 30 were finally given the vote. But it would be another ten years, in 1928 – the year of Pankhurst’s death – before the voting age for women was equal to that for men (21 years).

Franklin Roosevelt, ‘ The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself ’ (1933).

This is the title by which Roosevelt’s speech at his inauguration in 1933 has commonly become known, and it has attained the status of a proverb. Roosevelt was elected only a few years after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 which ushered in the Great Depression.

Roosevelt’s famous line in the speech, which offered hope to millions of Americans dealing with unemployment and poverty, was probably inspired by a line from Henry David Thoreau, a copy of whose writings FDR had been gifted shortly before his inauguration. The line about having nothing to fear except fear itself was, in fact, only added into the speech the day before the inauguration took place, but it ensured that the speech went down in history.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, ‘ Among Us You Can Dwell No Longer ’ (63 BC).

Of all of the great classical orators, perhaps the greatest of all was the Roman statesman, philosopher, and speechmaker, Cicero (whose name literally means ‘chickpea’).

This is probably his best-known speech. At the Temple of Jupiter in Rome, Cicero addressed the crowd, but specifically directed his comments towards Lucius Catiline, who was accused of plotting a conspiracy to set fire to the capital and stage and insurrection. The speech was considered such a fine example of Roman rhetoric that it was a favourite in classrooms for centuries after, as Brian MacArthur notes in The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches .

Queen Elizabeth I, ‘ The Heart and Stomach of a King ’ (1588).

Queen Elizabeth I’s speech to the troops at Tilbury is among the most famous and iconic speeches in English history. On 9 August 1588, Elizabeth addressed the land forces which had been mobilised at the port of Tilbury in Essex, in preparation for the expected invasion of England by the Spanish Armada.

When she gave this speech, Elizabeth was in her mid-fifties and her youthful beauty had faded. But she had learned rhetoric as a young princess, and this training served her well when she wrote and delivered this speech (she was also a fairly accomplished poet ).

She famously tells her troops: ‘I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too’. She acknowledged the fact that her body was naturally less masculine and strong than the average man’s, but it is not mere physical strength that will win the day. It is courage that matters.

Martin Luther King, ‘ I Have a Dream ’ (1963).

Let’s conclude this selection of the best inspirational speeches with the best-known of all of Martin Luther King’s speeches. The occasion for this piece of oratorical grandeur was the march on Washington , which saw some 210,000 men, women, and children gather at the Washington Monument in August 1963, before marching to the Lincoln Memorial. King reportedly stayed up until 4am the night before he was due to give the speech, writing it out.

King’s speech imagines a collective vision of a better and more equal America which is not only shared by many Black Americans, but by anyone who identifies with their fight against racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination.

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10 famous speeches in history that continue to stand the test of time

A great speech is something that combines persuasive writing, a comfort with public speaking , and a meaningful message to create an impression greater than the sum of its parts. There’s no one set of rules to govern the ideal speech, and plenty of people struggle with them even with teams of experts to help them out — just see the majority of speeches given by politicians. But once in a while, a truly great speaker and a truly great speech come together to create something that stands out and withstands the test of time, carrying meaning with it through generations even to those who weren’t yet born when it was given.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Demosthenes, queen elizabeth i, george washington, abraham lincoln, chief joseph, winston churchill, john f. kennedy, barack obama, more famous speeches to inspire you.

Great speeches are more than just rhetorical flourish or impressive performance — they’re also calls to action, able to persuade and embolden the listener. These speeches can be inspiring, informative, and instructive, whether you’re interested in learning more about history or working on a speech of your own .

We’ve rounded up 10 of history’s greatest speeches, including excerpts so you can learn about how the power of a great speech can last for years.

1963 ‘I Have a Dream’ speech

The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. ‘s I Have a Dream speech, delivered on August 28, 1963, is one of the finest pieces of oratory in human history. It blended masterful, rich language with the oratorical technique of repetition and it was utterly fearless.

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King would be dead by an assassin’s bullet less than five years after delivering his most famous speech. His words were no mere rhetoric; they were an affirmation of the value of human life and the expression of a cause for which he would give his own.

“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 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 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.”

341 BCE ‘Third Philippic’

Though you may not have heard of the Athenian orator Demosthenes, consider the fact that one of history’s most famed speakers of all time, Cicero, cited his ancient forebear 300 years later. Demosthenes’ Third Philippic , so-called because it was the third speech he gave devoted to convincing his fellow Athenians to take up arms against the encroaching forces of Phillip of Macedon, literally led men to war. At the end of his speech, delivered in 341 BCE, the Athenian Assembly moved at once against their rival, spurred on by lines damning the past inaction of his fellow citizens:

“You are in your present plight because you do not do any part of your duty, small or great; for of course, if you were doing all that you should do, and were still in this evil case, you could not even hope for any improvement. As it is, Philip has conquered your indolence and your indifference; but he has not conquered Athens. You have not been vanquished, you have never even stirred.

1588 ‘Spanish Armada’ speech t o the troops at Tilbury

In 1588, English monarch Queen Elizabeth I gave one of the manliest speeches in history, even at one point, putting down her own body for being female. As the “mighty” Spanish Armada, a flotilla of some 130 ships, sailed toward Britain with plans of invasion, the queen delivered a rousing address at Tilbury, Essex, England. As it turned out, a storm and some navigational errors took care of the Spanish warships for the most part. Still, it was a bold speech that helped bolster a nation. This speech also made Queen Elizabeth famous for the armor she wore in front of her troops.

“I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm: To which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.”

1783 Resignation speech

To grasp the true power of George Washington ‘s resignation as the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military (then known as the Continental Army) on December 23, 1783, you have to go beyond the words themselves and appreciate the context. Washington was in no way obliged to resign his commission, but did so willingly and even gladly, just as he would later refuse a third term as president of the nation, establishing a precedent honored into the 1940s and thereafter enshrined in law. Despite being the most powerful man in the fledgling military and then becoming the most powerful man in the United States, the staid and humble Washington was never hungry for power for himself; he just happened to be the best man for the job(s).

Even in his last address as leader of the nation’s armed forces, Washington made it all about America, and not about himself:

“Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with satisfaction the Appointment I accepted with diffidence. A diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which however was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our Cause, the support of the Supreme Power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven.”

1863 ‘Gettysburg Address’

There’s a reason many people consider the Gettysburg Address to be the best speech in American history: It probably is. In just 275 words on November 19, 1863, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, President Abraham Lincoln managed to express the following sentiments:

• America is both a place and a concept, both of which are worth fighting.
• Fighting is horrible, but losing is worse.
• We have no intention of losing.

Ironically, one line in Lincoln’s speech proved to be laughably inaccurate. Midway through the speech, he humbly said: “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here.” In fact, the world continues to remember his brief yet very stirring address.

“In a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract …

“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 here 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.”

1877 Surrender speech

On October 5, 1877, Nez Perce tribe leader Chief Joseph delivered a short, impromptu, and wrenching speech that many see as the lamentation of the end of an era for Native Americans and the lands that were stolen from them. Overtaken by the United States Army during a desperate multi-week retreat toward Canada, Chief Joseph surrendered to General Howard with this bleak, moving message:

“I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohoolhoolzote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say, ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ He who led the young men [Olikut] is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are — perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”

1939 ‘Luckiest Man’ speech

No one wants a deadly disease named after them, but that’s what happened to baseball legend Lou Gehrig , who died at 37 after a brief battle with ALS, commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.” Following a career in which the Hall of Fame player earned many of baseball’s top honors and awards, Gehrig delivered one of the most touching speeches of the 20th century, a speech in which he brought comfort to those mourning his illness even as his health fell apart.

In essence, Gehrig told people not to worry about one dying man, but instead to celebrate all life had to offer as he listed all the wonderful things that occurred in his own life. In so doing, he brought solace to many and created a model of selflessness. Gehrig delivered this short speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939.

“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for 17  years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans … “So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.”

1940 ‘We Shall Fight on the Beaches’ speech

Winston Churchill delivered many superlative speeches in his day, including the 1946 address that created the term “Iron Curtain” to describe the boundary of Britain’s recent ally, the Soviet Union, and a 1940 speech praising the heroism of the British Royal Air Force in which he uttered the line: “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”

But it was his bold and bolstering speech delivered on June 4, 1940, to the British Parliament’s House of Commons — commonly referred to as We Shall Fight on the Beaches — that most exemplifies the famed leader. These were more than just words — these were a promise to his nation that they were all in the fight wholeheartedly together and it was a heads-up to the Axis powers that attacking the Brits had been a bad idea.

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, 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.”

1961 inaugural address

Much of President John F. Kennedy ‘s pithy 1,366-word inaugural address, delivered on January 20, 1961, was well-written and meaningful, but as often happens, his speech has stood the test of time thanks to one perfect phrase. Amidst an address filled with both hope and dire warnings (“Man holds in his hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life,” the latter being a clear reference to atomic weapons), he issued a direct appeal to Americans everywhere to stand up for their country. You know the line:

“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.”

2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address

When our future president – then a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois – Barack Obama delivered a 17-minute speech on the evening of July 27, 2004, at the Democratic National Convention endorsing presidential candidate John Kerry, the personal trajectory of one man and the history of an entire nation shifted dramatically. Already an up-and-coming politician gaining traction in his home state of Illinois, Obama’s keynote address that night transformed him into a national figure and paved the way for his journey to becoming the first POTUS of color. What was it about the speech that so moved the country?

Partly, it was simply the excellent writing, most of which Obama handled himself. Perhaps more so, it was the message of the speech, which spoke to the “abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation.” In short, Obama reminded us of who we were supposed to be as citizens of this nation. And for a flickering moment, many of us heard him.

“There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America. There’s not a Black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America … “We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope?”

While we’ve taken an in-depth look at some of history’s most famous speeches, the list goes much further than those 10. Here are a few more great speeches that helped shape history that still have the power to inspire.

• 1941 – President Franklin Delano Roosevelt – Day of Infamy speech – Roosevelt’s address to Congress on December 8, 1941, came the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It’s best known for its opening line: “Yesterday, December 7, 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 speech spurred Congress to declare war on Japan and thrust the U.S. into World War II.
• 1933 – President Franklin Delano Roosevelt – First Inaugural Address – Considering FDR served four terms during the end of the Great Depression and through World War II, it stands to reason that he would have some pretty famous speeches. His first inaugural address from 1933 is also remembered for one powerful line. As he discussed his plan to pull the country out of the Great Depression, he uttered this iconic line: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself.”
• 1986 – President Ronald Reagan – Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger – when Reagan addressed the country on the night of January 28, 1986, the U.S. was reeling from seeing the Space Shuttle Challenger explode, just seconds after launch, killing the crew, which included Christa McAuliffe, who was to be NASA’s first teacher in space. Reagan was to have delivered his State of the Union speech to Congress that night but canceled it in the wake of the Challenger disaster. The speech included these memorable words of condolence: “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.'”
• 2001 – President George W. Bush – Address to the nation after 9/11 –  The morning of September 11, 2001, Bush was at a Florida elementary school to meet with children. He would have no idea that the day would end with him addressing the country after the horrific terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon. That night, Bush gave the country words of hope, saying that the attacks did nothing to damage the American spirit. “Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts,” Bush said. “The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.”

We hope you’re feeling more inspired and determined to make your own history after perusing this list. For more historical inspiration, check out ten of our favorite Black History films , a list of fantastic history books to read , a group of iconic photographs of people who changed history , and seven amazing books documenting LGBTQ+ history — not to mention the importance of historical heroes who have been often overlooked . However you intend to change your present and future, we wish you nothing but the best of luck.

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There's animation, then there's Pixar. The animation studio owned by Disney revolutionized computer-generated entertainment in the late 1990s, and it has never looked back since. While Disney is known for bringing magic to the movie screen, Pixar's thematically rich stories and ultra-fleshed-out characters transcend the medium, making critics aware of the greatness that lies within CGI imagery. Pixar's reputation relied more on creativity and abstract, yet relatable concepts in its early years, while it's resided on the sequel content more in recent times. Whether you like one of the company's franchises or its standalone films more, you've surely been touched by the ethereal and effervescent style of Pixar. Here are the 10 best Pixar movies, ranked.

What makes a great thriller? It can be hard to put your finger on an answer, in part because the definition of a thriller is always changing. Some thrillers are also great action movies, while others could be defined as great horror movies, or at least horror adjacent. Thrillers exist in a nebulous zone in the middle; they're often fun to watch, but not the same joyride many action movies are, and they're also unsettling without being outright terrifying. The best thrillers are actively helping to define the genre, and that's what makes them so special.

What unites thrillers, though, is that great ones are riveting from their opening moments. They often tell stories of seedy underworlds or criminal enterprises, and they're often unafraid of being racy when they need to be. A great thriller should entertain you, but it should also leave you asking questions when you exit the theater. The thrillers we've assembled for this list all fit that bill to a tee, and have also stood the test of time as greats of the genre. These are the best thriller movies to watch, and helpful streaming information to make sure you can check them out.

Many people try to live in the present in order to obtain happiness. Worrying about the past or the future is pointless since we can't travel back or forward in time. That doesn't mean movies haven't tried to grapple with time's continuum, though. Sci-fi films have used time travel to explore themes and storylines in post-apocalyptic wastelands and high-tech dystopian futures. Fantasy plots revolve around using magic to navigate the passage of time. And even comedies use time travel to put forth social experiments and hilarious hypotheticals. Whatever subject time travel movies focus on, they often make us think about the world in a brand new way. These are the 10 best time travel movies, ranked.

© Copyright 2001-Present. American Rhetoric by Michael E. Eidenmuller All rights reserved.

100 of the greatest speeches of the 20th century

100 greatest speeches of the 20th century.

The 20th century was one of the most varied, hopeful, and tumultuous in world history. From the Gilded Age to the beginning of the Internet Age—with plenty of stops along the way—it was a century punctuated by conflicts including two World Wars, the Cold War, the War in Vietnam, and the development of nuclear warfare. At the same time, the 20th century was characterized by a push for equality: Women in the United States received the right to vote after decades of activism, while the civil rights movement here ended the era of Jim Crow, inspired marginalized groups to take action, and introduced this country to great leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

Hundreds of people have used their voices along the way to heal, inspire, and enact change with speeches that helped to define these poignant moments in world history. Stacker has curated a list of 100 of the greatest speeches from the 20th century, drawing from research into great American speeches as determined by 137 scholars of American public address , as well as other historical sources. What follows is a gallery of speeches from around the U.S. and the world dealing with the most pressing issues of the day. Not all images show the speech event itself, but do feature the people who gave them.

Read on to discover which American author accepted his Nobel prize under protest and whether an American president accidentally called himself a jelly donut in German.

You may also like:  50 essential civil rights speeches

#100. Maya Angelou's "On the Pulse of Morning"

Delivered Jan. 20, 1993, in Washington D.C.

Maya Angelou, a longtime supporter of the Clinton family , became the second poet (after Robert Frost in 1961), and the first African American poet, to read at a presidential inauguration. She delivered "On the Pulse of Morning" directly after President Bill Clinton gave his first address, a poem that spanned the entire history of America and ended with a hopeful "Good morning." She won the Best Spoken Word Grammy for her performance, and a new audience was introduced to her previous work with the recognition she'd gained from the performance.

#99. Robert M. La Follette's "Free Speech in Wartime"

Delivered Oct. 6, 1917, in Washington D.C.

Wisconsin Senator Robert La Follette was one of just six Senators to oppose U.S. entry into World War I and, after war was declared, an antiwar speech he gave was misleadingly portrayed in the media. As Senators threatened to expel him from the legislative body, he launched a lengthy filibuster that concluded with his rousing defense of "Free Speech in Wartime." He decisively stated that free speech during times of war was not only necessary, but that "the first step toward the prevention of war and the establishment of peace, permanent peace, is to give the people who must bear the brunt of war's awful burden more to say about it." Not everyone in the Senate was convinced, and La Follette was under investigation for treason until the end of the war.

#98. Yasser Arafat's "Gun and Olive Branch"

Delivered Nov. 13, 1974, at the UN General Assembly, New York City, N.Y.

A divisive historical figure at the center of one of the most controversial conflicts, Yasser Arafat served as the Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization for nearly half a century. In 1974, he became the first non-voting member to speak in front of a plenary session of the United Nations. He declared, " Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun . Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand." His "olive branch" appeal to peace in the long-running conflict affected the audience, slightly boosted public support for the Palestinians, and PLO  was granted observer status in the international body .

#97. Audre Lorde's "Uses of Anger" keynote address

Delivered June 1981, in Storrs, Conn.

Well-known as a poet, writer, feminist, and civil rights activist, Audre Lorde wasn't afraid to critique the second-wave feminism movement for its disregard for the different ways women of color, particularly black women, suffered under the patriarchy. "Uses of Anger" was her keynote speech at the National Women's Studies Association Conference, but in it, Lorde doesn't only express rage at men and the white feminists who silence those marginalized voices. She also declares , "And I am not free as long as one person of color remains chained. Nor is anyone of you." Here and throughout she echoes the language of more inclusive intersectional feminism but also portends the modern solidarity movements between minority groups we see today.

#96. Charles de Gaulle's "Appeal of June 18"

Broadcast June 18, 19, and 22, 1940, via BBC radio

By 1940, things weren't looking great for Allied powers fighting in Europe, and in June 1940, France, one of the last remaining military powers on the continent, fell to the Nazi army. Escaping the country before a complete Nazi takeover, General Charles de Gaulle declared himself the leader of Free France (based in London), and broadcast several messages calling for resistance in his home country. He knew that "the flame of French resistance must not and shall not die," and ultimately he was proved correct four years later when France was liberated from the Nazi party. He would later become President of the French Republic.

#95. Margaret Sanger's "The Children's Era"

Delivered March 30, 1925, in New York City, N.Y.

The founder of what today is Planned Parenthood, and one of America's most famous birth control advocates, has both the reason and experience to be concerned with the plight of the country's children. In this speech at the Sixth International Neo-Malthusian and Birth Control Conference, Margaret Sanger uses the powerful imagery of turning the world into "a beautiful garden of children." This garden, she suggests, must be cultivated from a fetus' conception and lays out several criteria she thinks parents should be forced to meet before having children—echoing several eugenicist talking points popular before World War II.

#94. George C. Marshall's "Marshall Plan"

Delivered June 5, 1947, at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

Following World War II, the European continent was in shambles, and after failing to negotiate German reconstruction with the Soviet Union, the United States decided it couldn't wait for the USSR to get involved before stepping in. Secretary of State George Marshall doesn't necessarily outline the specifics of the plan that today bears his name, instead calling on European leaders to accept U.S. help to rebuild (and of course, stop the spread of Communism). American journalists were kept as far away from the speech as possible because the Truman administration feared Americans wouldn't like the plan. But it was delivered and later accepted by Europe.

#93. Corazon Aquino's "Speech Before the Joint Session of the United States Congress"

Delivered: Sept. 18, 1986, in Washington D.C.

Corazon Aquino transformed from a self-described "plain housewife" to the presidency of the Philippines after the assassination of her husband Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. He was outspoken about the dictatorial rule of President Ferdinand Marcos, and Corazon took up the mantle, becoming the face of the People Power Revolution that ultimately ousted Marcos and elevated Aquino to the presidency. In this speech, the newly installed president eloquently recalls her journey thus far and reaffirms her commitment to bringing democracy and prosperity to the Filipino people.

#92. Jimmy Carter's "Energy and National Goals: Address to the Nation"

Delivered: July 15, 1979, in Washington D.C.

Energy policy is one of the signature domestic achievements of the Carter administration , reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil and improving nuclear power in the U.S. However, President Carter's address on energy policy ended up being about more than those policies. Energy is the jumping-off point for those who have lost faith in government—who feel hopeless and fragmented. He tells these frightened people to "have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, and faith in the future of this nation," and that his energy policy is a start in the right direction for healing the nation.

#91. Eva Perón's "Renunciation of the Vice Presidency of Argentina"

Delivered Aug. 31, 1951, on Argentine radio

Immortalized by the people of Argentina, a Broadway musical, and a movie starring Madonna, Eva "Evita" Perón climbed from a childhood of poverty to First Lady when her husband Juan Perón became president in 1946 with the help of her campaigning. She was active as First Lady, helping women earn the right to vote, furthering her husband's Perónist movement, and meeting with the poor. She became something of a celebrity in the country, and in 1951 she announced her candidacy for the vice presidency alongside her husband, to the delight of the poor and working-class citizens she dedicated her time to. Their joy was short-lived; cancer left Perón unable to run for office, as she announces in this speech .

#90. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn's "Statement at the Smith Act Trial"

Delivered April 24, 1952, in New York City, N.Y.

The Smith Act Trial swept up huge numbers of Communist Party members and put them on trial for allegedly trying to overthrow the U.S. government. American Communist Party leader and co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, was one of those. She represented herself, made an impassioned statement to the court about her communist beliefs, and argued that she was not, as a communist, advocating for the fall of the government. Despite her remarks, she was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.

#89. Ronald Reagan's "Speech on the Challenger Disaster"

Delivered: Jan. 28, 1986, via TV broadcast

The explosion of the Challenger Shuttle just seconds after took  off into the sky left seven people dead, including a civilian school teacher, on the same day that President Reagan was to give the State of the Union. Instead, he called in a young speechwriter, Peggy Noonan , to write a new speech that would help the nation process the tragedy they had seen broadcast on live TV. Reagan's speech is lauded even today for its careful balance between honoring the dead while reminding listeners of the importance of exploring the vast and unknown reaches of space, a quest for exploration for which the Challenger astronauts died.

#88. Elizabeth Glaser's "Address at the 1992 Democratic National Convention"

Delivered July 14, 1992, in New York City

Elizabeth Glaser contracted HIV early in the AIDS epidemic after receiving a contaminated transfusion while giving birth; she passed it on to both her children either through breastmilk or in utero. After her daughter passed away at age seven from AIDS, Glasner and two friends started the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and this activism led to her invitation to speak at the DNC in 1992. There, she described the issue as "not politics" but a "crisis of caring" that led the Republican administration to fail to tackle the AIDS crisis, and she called out Democrats as well to do better. She passed away from complications of the disease two years later.

#87. Theodore Roosevelt's "The Man with the Muckrake"

Delivered April 14, 1906, in Washington D.C.

Investigative journalism was booming in the first decade of the 20th century, as Progressive Era muckraking writers continued to publicize injustices to the country. These journalists had one powerful enemy: President Theodore Roosevelt, as he disliked writers who focused on bad things at the exclusion of all the good that was happening. His speech didn't call for these journalists to stop their practices of uncovering corrupt businessmen but reminded writers that their work affects public outlook and opinion, so only focusing on the worst moments could have a negative impact on the fabric of the nation.

#86. Richard Nixon's "The Great Silent Majority"

Delivered Nov. 3, 1969, in Washington D.C.

Richard Nixon was sworn into office in January 1969 after a wave of anti-Vietnam protests across the country left opposition to the war at a peak. Eleven months after he took office, Nixon gave an Oval Office speech that made clear he believed those protesting the war didn't demonstrate what most Americans actually thought about Vietnam—their opinions were just louder. He called on "the great silent majority of Americans" watching to support him in his decision. It was a gamble, but it paid off as Nixon's approval ratings shot up overnight and popularized the use of the term "silent majority," which is still used in politics today .

#85. John F. Kennedy's "Ich Bin Ein Berliner"

Delivered June 26, 1963, in West Berlin, Germany

Huge crowds thronged around the stage where President John F. Kennedy threw away the speech written by his advisers designed not to offend the Soviet Union and instead read one he'd written himself. The president demonstrated his solidarity with the citizens of the divided city by declaring, "Ich bin ein Berliner," or essentially, "I'm a citizen of Berlin in spirit." (For those who may be wondering, it's a popular myth, but JFK did not accidentally call himself a jelly donut when he called himself a Berliner.) Those who saw the speech in West Berlin, as well as those who watched it around the globe, were inspired.

#84. Rachel Carson's "A New Chapter in Silent Spring"

Delivered Jan. 8, 1963, in New York City, N.Y.

In the '60s and '70s, environmentalism sprang up as a social justice organization inspired by the civil rights movement. A seminal text was Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," which detailed the effects of the harmful pesticide DDT. In a speech to the Garden Club of America after her book's publication, Carson discusses the importance of raising public awareness of environmental issues, the next steps for those against pesticides, and new environmental dangers emerging on the horizon.

#83. Dwight Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace"

Delivered Dec. 8, 1953, at the UN General Assembly, New York City, N.Y.

The development of nuclear warfare gave the Cold War higher stakes and led to fears of a potential nuclear holocaust should something go wrong. In his "Atoms for Peace" speech before the UN, Eisenhower admitted that he needed to speak in a " new language...the language of atomic warfare ," and for the first time let the public know what the atomic age actually meant. Ultimately, the speech demonstrated the need for nuclear disarmament due to its destructive power; at the same time, the huge danger offered the U.S. an excuse to continue the arms race with the USSR after the Soviets refused to disarm.

#82. Eugene V. Debs' "Statement to the Court"

Delivered Sept. 18, 1918, in Girard, Kan.

Eugene V. Debs ran for president five times as a candidate for the Socialist Party but ran his final campaign in 1920 from a prison cell. Debs made an enemy of President Woodrow Wilson for his repeated speeches denouncing U.S. entry into World War I and was arrested on 10 charges of sedition. At his trial, Debs was granted permission to testify on his own behalf; the two-hour speech is remembered for its beautiful passages that moved even people who did not support him, such as in his concluding call for listeners everywhere to "take heart of hope, for the cross is bending, the midnight is passing, and joy cometh with the morning." He was sentenced to a decade in prison but only served a few years before his sentence was commuted.

#81. Margaret Chase Smith's "Declaration of Conscience"

Delivered June 1, 1950, in Washington D.C.

Joseph Welch ultimately took down Joseph McCarthy during a 1953 trial investigating communism in the Army, but he was far from the first person to attempt to end the Senator's red-scare fearmongering. Senator Margaret Chase of Maine took aim at him from the Senate to the House floor four months after he became a national figure, with a speech that endorsed " the right to criticize, the right to hold unpopular beliefs, the right to protest, [and] the right of independent thought " as fundamental to American democracy. She was joined by six other moderate Republican Senators in her rebuke, and some publications praised her for taking a stand while others dismissed her concerns. It wasn't until 1954 that the rest of the Senate took her side and formally censured McCarthy .

#80. Gloria Steinem's "Testimony Before Senate Hearings on the Equal Rights Amendment"

Delivered May 6, 1970, in Washington D.C.

While Shirley Chisholm's speech on the Equal Rights Amendment emphasized all the change its passage would bring, Gloria Steinem—a feminist, activist, and journalist—focused on the sex-based myths that she saw as the root of these problems. Among other myths she took down during her testimony, Steinem cited science that proves men aren't biologically superior to women, points out that discrimination keeps women and African Americans from pursuing their dreams as fully as possible, and noted that men, women, and children all benefit when women are treated more equally in the family.

#79. Barbara Bush's "Choices and Change" commencement address

Delivered June 1, 1990, at Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.

Unlike most commencement addresses, all three major news networks interrupted their coverage to carry First Lady Barbara Bush's speech to Wellesley College live. Students were unhappy after Bush had replaced author Alice Walker after she withdrew as the speaker, but the First Lady silenced even her most fervent protestors when she showed up with the First Lady of the USSR, Raisa Gorbachev. The speech itself addressed student criticism head-on and exhorted all students, no matter their goals, to prioritize relationships above all .

#78. Lyndon B. Johnson's "The Great Society"

Delivered May 22, 1964, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.

This speech launched President Lyndon Johnson's ambitious domestic policy agenda and outlined exactly what he meant by a "Great Society." He defined it as "[demanding] an end to poverty and racial injustice," a place where all children can be educated, and "a challenge constantly renewed." Though the rhetoric in the speech is so sweeping it seems impossible to live up to, Johnson's list of accomplishments is long . He signed the Civil Rights Act, integrated schools, started Medicare, gave federal aid to K-12 schools and created federally backed college loans.

#77. Ronald Reagan's "Address at the U.S. Ranger Monument on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day"

Delivered June 6, 1984, in Pointe du Hoc, France

The title of Ronald Reagan's eloquent D-Day memorial address provides a bland package for the stirring—and at times chilling—speech he gave in honor of the storming of Normandy four decades prior. Reagan spoke of the Rangers that climbed the cliffs, remarking that "when one...fell, another would take his place." The focus, however, did not remain on how the men who died there passed away, but rather on the convictions that drove them; speaking directly to the men who died, Reagan praised them : "You all knew that some things are worth dying for...democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man."

#76. Emma Goldman's "Address to the Jury"

Delivered July 9, 1917, in New York City, N.Y.

A Russian-born feminist and anarchist , Emma Goldman went around the country delivering speeches supporting free speech, birth control, women's rights, labor's right to organize, and other progressive causes. In 1917, she and fellow radical Alexander Berkman were arrested for organizing the anti-war No Conscription League because it encouraged men not to register for a draft. At her trial, Goldman invoked the First Amendment , and like many other free speech advocates at the time, pointed out that "if America has entered the war to make the world safe for democracy, she must first make democracy safe in America" by safeguarding free speech protections. The jury was not convinced, and both were found guilty.

#75. Edward Kennedy's "Eulogy for Robert F. Kennedy"

Delivered June 8, 1968, at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City, N.Y.

Within a decade, Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy lost both his brothers to assassination, first President John F. Kennedy in 1963, then Robert "Bobby" Kennedy in 1968, whom he eulogized three days later. His heart-wrenching speech pulled together the past, present, and future , deftly weaving together Bobby's writings, the grief of his family and the nation over his brother's death, and his own vision for the future.

#74. Mario Savio's "Bodies Upon the Gears"

Delivered Dec. 2, 1964, in Berkeley, Calif.

Mario Savio was a student leader during the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, which worked to end the school's restriction on students' political speech. Known for his fiery speeches, Savio delivered his most famous one during a sit-in at Sprout Hall, advocating for civil disobedience: "There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part! ... And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels...and you've got to make it stop." This inspired hundreds to occupy an administrative building overnight , and they continue to inspire countercultural and anti-government movements around the world.

#73. Jesse Jackson's "1984 Democratic National Convention"

Delivered July 18, 1984, in San Francisco, Calif.

Perhaps one of the biggest shifts in 20th-century politics was the "great reversal" of each political party's key constituencies: White Southerners became overwhelmingly Republican while black voters abandoned the party of Lincoln in favor of the Democratic presidents who worked to pass civil rights legislation. In the '80s, Democrats thought they should pivot back to the whites who'd abandoned the party, but civil rights leader Jesse Jackson's 1984 DNC address proposed an alternative: build a "rainbow coalition" that "makes room" for diversity, including black, Latino, young, Native American, environmentalist, activist, union, and LGBTQ+ voters. The strategy seems to have worked, if the diversity of the candidates for the 2020 Democratic nomination is any indication.

#72. John L. Lewis, "Labor and the Nation"

Delivered Sept. 2, 1937, in Washington D.C.

Powerful unions like the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations—whose founding president was John L. Lewis —emerged in the 1920s and '30s. Lewis' speech lays out the long, occasionally bloody history of unions that brought them to this point and argues that the labor movement's fight for "peace with justice" shouldn't be seen as communist and should be supported by the people. It seems his speech fell on deaf ears, as unions were  significantly weakened in the 1970s and have been on the decline since .

#71. Margaret Sanger's "The Morality of Birth Control"

Delivered Nov. 18, 1921, at Park Theatre, New York

Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was one of the most outspoken advocates for every man and woman's right to access birth control and take control of their own family planning. In this speech, she argues that it is not immoral, as some claim, but rather that it's moral for children to be desired and that motherhood should " be the function of dignity and choice ." (She also argues that disabled and impoverished people might not be fit parents, echoing eugenicist ideas of the time , but her fundamental argument is a woman's right to choose.) Open access to birth control for married and unmarried couples wouldn't be realized until the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court decision established a constitutional right to privacy over reproductive choices.

#70. Shirley Chisholm, "For the Equal Rights Amendment"

Delivered Aug. 10, 1970, in Washington D.C.

Versions of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would enshrine women's equality into the Constitution, have been proposed since women earned the right to vote, but it didn't take off until the second-wave feminist movement began to push for its passage. Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman in Congress, delivered an eloquent defense of the ERA in the face of arguments that its passage would do nothing to change sexist attitudes. It passed the Senate two years later but was never ratified by enough states—just one more state needs to do so for it to become law .

#69. Edward Kennedy's "Faith, Truth, and Tolerance in America"

Delivered Oct. 3, 1983, at Liberty Baptist College, Lynchburg, Va.

Polls from the 2018 midterms stuck to a trend that's been evident for decades: White Christians, particularly evangelical Protestants, overwhelmingly vote Republican. The rise of the evangelical or "religious" right in the 1970s, and America's increasing polarization, led to this point, but Senator Edward Kennedy's address at the evangelical Liberty University suggested it didn't have to be this way. The devoutly Catholic Kennedy argued that no one's "convictions about religion should command any greater respect than any other faith in this pluralistic society," leading to a robust separation of church and state . The connection between Americans is not, he suggests, a shared faith but rather " individual freedom and mutual respect ."

#68. Mary Church Terrell's "What It Means to Be Colored in the Capital of the United States"

Delivered Oct. 10, 1906, in Washington D.C.

A trailblazer half a century before the full force of the civil rights movement, Mary Church Terrell was one of the first African American women to earn a college degree. She spent her life working in the D.C. education system and the fight for black women's rights. Her hallmark speech detailed the discrimination and racism she and other African Americans experienced in the nation's capital and called on white listeners to realize the impact this oppression has on the future of black people living in D.C. and across the country.

#67. Winston Churchill's "Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat"

Delivered May 13, 1940, at the House of Commons, London, England

Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister following Chamberlain's failed attempts to prevent war with Nazi Germany through appeasement. Churchill wasn't an immediately obvious choice as his successor , as his reputation left him with few friends in Parliament, but he was the only man with enough experience willing to take on the job in the middle of a war. In his first speech to Parliament , he offered only his "blood, toil, tears, and sweat...to wage war against [the] monstrous tyranny" that was Nazi Germany. The sentiment won him the support of skeptics in Parliament and was the first in a trio of speeches that unified the country in the early years of the war.

#66. Wilma Mankiller's "On Rebuilding the Cherokee Nation"

Delivered April 2, 1993, in Sweet Briar, Va.

An activist from her early days, Wilma Mankiller became the first woman to be Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation after decades of community organizing. In her speech at Sweet Briar , Mankiller infuses her story with wry humor and keen insight while at the same time, with gravity, narrating the history of the Cherokee tribe and the deadly removals they faced at the hands of the U.S. government. Mankiller emphasizes trying to rebuild the community that endured within the Cherokee Nation despite all the removals. This theme was made all the more powerful when you remember that Native American children  were separated from their communities and forced into assimilationist boarding schools up through the 1970s.

#65. Russell Conwell's "Acres of Diamonds"

Delivered from 1900 to 1925, in multiple locations across the U.S.

The American Dream and the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" school of thought were  popularized in the Gilded Age , creating an ideology of success that proposes any person in the country can succeed, no matter their circumstance, as long as they work hard. Russell Conwell, a former minister, ushered this school of thought into the 20th century with the "Acres of Diamonds" speech, which claims it is "your duty to get rich," and, in general, that impoverished people are unsympathetic because it was their own shortcomings that got them there.

#64. Ellen DeGeneres' "Vigil for Matthew Shepard"

Delivered Oct. 14, 1998, in Washington D.C.

In 1997, Ellen DeGeneres came out, as did the character on her sitcom (becoming the first LGBTQ+ lead on a TV show), paving the way for more LGBTQ+ representation in Hollywood. The following year, Matthew Shepard's murder sent shock waves through the LGBTQ+ community, evident in the angry, tearful speech DeGeneres gave at a celebrity vigil. She called out the hypocrisy of the church and framed Shepard's murder as "a wake-up call" for straight allies "to help us end the hate" and "raise your children with love and non-judgment." Already emerging as a spokesperson for LGBTQ+ rights, she gave voice to the rage and heartbreak many in the community, and across the nation, felt in the wake of the brutal anti-gay hate crime.

#63. Harry Truman's "Statement by the President Announcing the Use of the A-Bomb at Hiroshima"

Delivered Aug. 6, 1945, via radio address

On Aug. 6, 1945, modern warfare changed forever when the atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. In a radio address to the nation announcing both the development of atomic-bomb technology and the attack, President Harry Truman announced "let there be no mistake; we shall completely destroy Japan's power to make war" using the atomic bomb. Three days later, a bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, decisively ending the war in the Pacific.

#62. Harold Ickes' "What Is an American?"

Delivered May 1941, in Central Park, New York City, N.Y.

In this speech, Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior during the Roosevelt Administration, asks a question that we're still grappling with in one way or another today . Here, Ickes answers the question to advocate for American involvement in World War II, bemoaning the loss of America's "vaunted idealism" . He characterizes an American as someone who "loves justice," "will fight for his freedom" and "in whose heart is engraved the immortal second sentence of the Declaration of Independence." Ickes appeals to these ideals to establish the necessity of fighting the Nazi threat to democracy; however, the bombing of Pearl Harbor a few months later is ultimately what pulled the U.S. into the war.

#61. Golda Meir's "Speech That Made Possible a Jewish State"

Delivered Jan. 2, 1948, in Chicago, Ill.

As the fight between Israelis and Palestinians intensified over the land to form the Jewish state of Israel, David Ben-Gurion (who would become Israel's first Prime Minister) sent Golda Meir (who would become the third) to America to ask for money to finance the fighting from the American Jewish community. The speech, first delivered in Chicago , then across the U.S., appealed to a sense of unity within the community, suggesting that "if you were in Palestine and we were in the United States," the American Jewish community would do the same thing they did. She then asked for between $25 and $30 million to continue the fight; she returned home with $50 million to finance the effort.

#60. Rigoberta Menchú's "Nobel Peace Prize Lecture"

Delivered Dec. 10, 1992, in Oslo, Norway

Rigoberta Menchú is a fierce advocate for the rights of indigenous people, stemming from racism she's experienced in her home country and the violence that caused her to flee her home. She told her story that resulted in the book, "I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala," which shaped her into a spokeswoman for indigenous rights in the Western Hemisphere. She makes her universal message clear  in her Nobel Lecture , in which she declares her prize "constitutes a sign of hope in the struggle of the indigenous people in the entire Continent."

#59. Robert F. Kennedy's "On the Death of Martin Luther King"

Delivered April 4, 1968, in Indianapolis, Ind.

Brother to John F. Kennedy and candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, Robert F. Kennedy was at a campaign stop in Indiana when news came that Martin Luther King had been shot while marching with striking sanitation workers. His death would lead to marches and protests across the country but when RFK announced the death in Indianapolis, no violence broke out . Instead, in this short and powerful speech, Kennedy empathizes with those hurt by King's death, connecting it with his own brother's murder, and calls for unity and compassion in honor of King's legacy.

#58. Indira Gandhi's "What Educated Women Can Do"

Delivered Nov. 23, 1973, in New Delhi, India

Daughter of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the world's longest-serving female PM, Indira Gandhi had the kind of education that most Indian girls would never dream of receiving, especially in the 1930s and 40s. However, her own story doesn't figure into her famous speech on women's education, instead focusing on the need for more scientifically educated people , both men and women, so the country could achieve great things and become truly modern.

#57. Tony Blair's "Address to the Irish Parliament"

Delivered Nov. 26, 1998, in Dublin, Ireland

The relationship between Britain and Ireland had been characterized by centuries of colonialism and violence, culminating in the partition of Ireland and later the Troubles, decades of intense violence between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The two sides had made peace with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. British Prime Minister Tony Blair's address to the Irish Parliament a few months later marked the first time a British PM addressed an Irish parliament and affirmed that healing had begun and more could be accomplished by both nations when "our voices speak in harmony."

#56. Richard Nixon's "Checkers"

Delivered Sept. 23, 1952, via television broadcast

This speech, delivered when Nixon was a candidate for Vice President, might be named after the Nixon family dog, but the actual subject proves slightly less adorable. In it, Nixon used a television broadcast to directly answer accusations that he'd used political contributions to pay for personal expenses. He denied the allegations, laid out his financial history and proved his political intelligence by turning the question to the Democrats, asking their candidate to do the same. But what about Checkers the dog? Apparently, she was the only political contribution the Nixon's kept.

#55. Nelson Mandela's "Free at Last"

Delivered May 2, 1994, in Pretoria, South Africa

Decades earlier, Nelson Mandela made a name for himself for his anti-apartheid speech while on trial in Pretoria; now, after 27 years in prison, apartheid had officially ended and Mandela had become South Africa's first democratically elected president. "Free at last" is a reference to a Dr. Martin Luther King speech , showing how closely connected the anti-apartheid and civil rights movement were, though the two leaders never met. The speech emphasizes both the joy of the moment and continued work needed to build " a better life for all South Africans ."

#54. Nikita Khrushchev's "The Cult of the Individual"

Delivered Dec. 5, 1956, in Moscow, Russia

Very few men in the Soviet Union dared insult or question Joseph Stalin, a man who ordered the deaths of millions of his own people , including political rivals. It wasn't until after his death that his successor, Nikita Khrushchev, was willing to say that elevating an individual and worshiping a cult of personality went against the kind of communism that Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin espoused—the communism that formed the foundation of the Soviet Union's political philosophy. Khrushchev's denunciation of his predecessor shocked the world and offered the first thorough account of Stalin's crimes, but his motivations for giving the speech remain unclear.

#53. Franklin D. Roosevelt's "First Inaugural Address"

Delivered March 4, 1933, in Washington D.C.

President Franklin Roosevelt is lauded for guiding the United States through the thick of World War II, but upon first taking office, he was facing down a different kind of war: the one against the Great Depression. When FDR assumed office, the Depression was at its peak, with almost a quarter of the working population unemployed . His inauguration address emphasizes the enormous scale of the project it would take to rebuild the nation; still, he famously invigorated everyone listening by declaring that "  the only thing we have to fear is fear itself ."

#52. Betty Friedan's "Farewell to the National Organization of Women"

Delivered Mar. 20, 1970, in Chicago, Ill.

Betty Friedan's best-selling book, "The Feminine Mystique," got women talking about "the problem with no name" and is often credited with helping spark second-wave feminism. Her voice continued to have power even as she stepped down as president from the National Organization of Women. That day, she called for a general women's strike to be held on Aug. 26, 1970. Despite skepticism from media outlets, thousands of women heeded Friedan's call and took to the street that day—a physical manifestation of the feminist movement's enduring power.

#51. Malcolm X's "Message to the Grassroots"

Delivered on Nov. 10, 1963, in Detroit, Mich.

The divisions between the civil rights movement become obvious in "Message to the Grassroots," which contrasted the "Negro revolution" which was nonviolent and ineffectual, and the "black revolution," which was necessarily violent and had proved itself effective across Africa . This stands alongside the powerful but historically flawed distinction he makes between the self-hating "house slaves" loyal their white owners and "field slaves" as illustrative of X's criticism of black activists whom he thought were too eager to acquiesce to the white people whose oppression the movement was trying to overcome.

#50. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam: Breaking the Silence"

Delivered on April 4, 1967, in New York City, N.Y.

Though today Martin Luther King is revered by nearly all Americans as a powerful spokesman for equal rights and integration, not every political opinion was popular among the American public. Exactly one year before he was assassinated, King spoke out against the Vietnam War. He accused America of ignoring conflicts at home in favor of war abroad, pointing out the "cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools." Delivered several years before popular opinion on the war changed, King lost many of the powerful allies in government and media due to this speech .

#49. Bill Clinton's "Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Prayer Service Address"

Delivered April 23, 1992, in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Before President Bill Clinton became the nation's "consoler-in-chief" during Columbine, he had to face a nation mourning the 168 people killed in the Oklahoma City Bombing by two domestic terrorists angry about the FBI raid in Waco, Texas. The speech he gave at the memorial service reminded those who had lost loved ones that they "have not lost everything" because they "have certainly not lost America, for we will stand with you for as many tomorrows as it takes" to heal from the tragedy. The sentiment struck a chord with the American public, evident in the boosting of Clinton's poll numbers after the speech.

#48. Nora Ephron's "Commencement Address to the Wellesley Class of 1996"

Delivered June 3, 1996, in Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.

Commencement speeches are usually uplifting addresses to graduating seniors looking to inspire them before they begin the next chapter of their lives. Journalist, filmmaker, and writer Nora Ephron returned to her alma mater, Wellesley College, to discuss all the ways the world had changed for the better since she graduated but also offered a note of warning for the grads. "Don't underestimate how much antagonism there is toward women and how many people wish we could turn the clock back," she remarked , listing off current events that reminded the Wellesley graduates that feminism was still urgently needed at the close of the 20th century.

#47. Barbara C. Jordan's "Statement on the Articles of Impeachment"

Delivered: July 25, 1974, in Washington D.C.

As a newly minted State Senator in Texas, Barbara Jordan won over segregationists to pass an equal rights amendment in the state and became a hugely popular political figure in her state. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 1973 just as the Watergate investigation was heating up, and there she gave a rousing political speech subtly advocating for the president's impeachment. Grounding her argument in the Constitution, she called on her fellow House members to use "reason, and not passion" to "guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision" as she just adeptly demonstrated.

#46. General Douglas MacArthur's "Farewell Address to Congress"

Delivered April 19, 1951, in Washington D.C.

President Harry Truman and five-star general Douglas MacArthur had a combative relationship, which heated up after the President relieved him of command of UN forces in the Korean War for insubordination. General MacArthur's speech before a joint session of Congress questioned Truman's decision not to take on China in the war, commenting that "War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision." He received 50 standing ovations during the address while Truman's approval rating plummeted after firing a popular general and World War II hero.

#45. Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" lectures

Delivered October 20 and 26, 1928, at Cambridge University, Cambridge, England

English author Virginia Woolf's lectures at the women's college at Cambridge are not remembered as stirring works of oratory, but rather as a book. "A Room of One's Own" is a foundational piece of feminist literary theory adapted from this pair of lectures that examines the different types of marginalization women have faced throughout history and the impact on their creative productivity. Among other things,  she posits that in order for women to write literature , they need a "room of one's own" or a private space and financial independence in order to write well—a revolutionary claim in late-1920s Europe.

#44. Joseph Welch's "Have You No Sense of Decency?" testimony

Delivered June 9, 1953, in Washington D.C.

Though not technically a speech, the exchange between Senator Joseph McCarthy and Joseph Welch, a lawyer hired by the U.S. Army, proved to be the final blow in the Wisconsin Senator's fall from grace . McCarthy had been conducting trials of suspected Communists since 1950 and everyone was beginning to tire of his methods. A heated back-and-forth erupted between the two men when McCarthy questioned whether one of the lawyers at Welch's firm had Communist ties, leading Welch to ask heatedly McCarthy, "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" With these famous lines, Senator McCarthy saw the last of his power evaporate and died three years later.

#43. Carrie Chapman Catt's "The Crisis"

Delivered Sept. 7, 1916, in Atlantic City, N.J.

Carrie Chapman Catt was a leading figure in the late stages of the American women's suffrage movement, founding the International Women's Suffrage Alliance and serving as president of the National American Women's Suffrage Association during the final push to pass the 19th Amendment. In "The Crisis," Catt outlines her plan to make pushing for a federal amendment to the Constitution NAWSA's priority. At the same time, she tied their fight for the vote to World War I in Europe and the broader fight for women's rights around the world. Ultimately, her instinct to focus on federal legislation instead of working state-by-state proved correct; white women gained the right to vote just three years after this address.

#42. Lyndon B. Johnson's "We Shall Overcome"

Delivered March 15, 1965, in Washington D.C.

One of the most stirring pieces of American rhetoric was written  by a hungover speechwriter in just eight hours , after President Lyndon B. Johnson decided he wanted to address Congress about the "Bloody Sunday" attacks against protestors in Selma, Ala. In it, Johnson called on all of America to join him in the cause of civil rights. He appealed specifically to white Americans, noting that "it's not just Negroes, but really it's all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome." The speech was interrupted for applause 40 times and brought civil rights activists to tears. And overcome they did; five months later, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.

#41. Geraldine Ferraro's "Vice Presidential Nomination Acceptance Address"

Delivered July 19, 1984, in San Francisco, Calif.

In her concession speech in 2016, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton noted that women have yet to shatter the "highest and hardest glass ceiling" of the American presidency or vice presidency. Very few have come close, the first being Geraldine Ferraro, Walter Mondale's VP pick in the 1984 campaign. In her acceptance speech, Ferraro demonstrates her adeptness as a politician, weaving critiques of the Reagan administration together with her career as an avid activist for women's rights. Though they would ultimately lose to the Republicans, Ferraro cemented her place as a prominent voice in the Democratic party and a trailblazer for women in politics .

#40. Richard Nixon's "Resignation Address to the Nation"

Delivered: Aug. 8, 1974, from Washington D.C.

The case against President Richard Nixon had been growing for years as more details about the Watergate scandal emerged. By August 1974, The Supreme Court ordered the release of tapes he made in the Oval Office, articles of impeachment were being drawn up, and Nixon had lost the support of members of his own party. Rather than suffer the shame of being the first president to be removed from office, Nixon opted to be the first president to resign in a speech highlighting his successes and the work that would need to be continued by his successor.

#39. Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation"

Delivered Dec. 8, 1941, via radio broadcast

World War II had been raging since 1939 across the Atlantic but America's historic reluctance to enter global conflict barred President Franklin Roosevelt from taking the direct action he wanted to support U.S. allies in Europe. That changed after the Japanese military bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, killing thousands of Americans. The next day, FDR took to the radio to report what had happened on this "date which will live in infamy" and called on Congress to declare war on Japan, which they did shortly after.

#38. Huey P. Long's "Share the Wealth"

Delivered Feb. 23, 1934, via radio broadcast

Also called the "Every Man a King" speech, Louisiana Senator Huey P. Long addressed the nation and laid out his radical plan to redistribute wealth between the richest and poorest Americans by capping fortunes and guaranteeing a basic income, among other radical policy proposals . This was a break from the Democratic Party's New Deal policies, which Long felt did not address wealth discrepancies that he believed caused the Great Depression. His embrace of radio to speak directly to the people won him many supporters to his cause; though he was assassinated the following year.

#37. Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points"

Delivered Jan. 8, 1918, in Washington D.C.

Woodrow Wilson and many others who lived through World War I wanted the deadly global conflict to be "the war to end all wars." The idealistic, progressive Wilson turned this desire into his Fourteen Points for world peace, which he later laid out before Congress after other combatants failed to articulate their aims in the war. Cornerstones of Wilson's peace plan included self-determination , free trade, open seas, and a League of Nations to enforce peace around the world—a plan that was ultimately hampered by Congress' refusal to join the League.

#36. Margaret Thatcher's "The Lady's Not for Turning"

Delivered Oct. 10, 1980, in Brighton, England

Margaret Thatcher took over as Prime Minister and leader of the Tory Party at a time when conservatism was becoming politically popular in much of the Western world (Ronald Reagan would be elected a month after this speech was given). In it, Thatcher lays out her opposition to changing the conservative economic policies she'd instituted, one that focuses on curbing inflation and removing economic regulations. It's most famous line, "'You turn [U-turn the economy] if you want to. The lady's not for turning!" fed into her formidable reputation as the Iron Lady of British politics.

#35. Ursula K. Le Guin's "A Left-Handed Commencement Address"

Delivered in 1983, at Mills College, Oakland, Calif.

Feminist science-fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin wasn't shy about interrogating the complexities of gender in her work, featuring everything from strong female characters to genderfluid aliens. Her famous commencement address  is shaped around some of her concerns regarding gender, pointing out that "women as women are largely excluded from, alien to, the self-declared male norms of this society," and that language itself is centered around men. Citing many famous feminists and women leaders of the era, Le Guin's speech provides a powerful call to action for women (and men) to "grow human souls" and work toward gender equality in their own lives.

#34. Harold Macmillan's "Wind of Change"

Delivered Feb. 3, 1960, in Cape Town, South Africa

The list of countries that have never been invaded by the British is shorter than the list of those that have, but by 1960, the British Empire no longer stretched around the world. British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan signaled this by visiting several British colonies in southern Africa before giving a speech to the South African Parliament announcing that England would no longer stand in the way of colonies wishing to become independent. In his opinion, the emergence of these new nations were the result  of "the wind of change...blowing through this continent," and there was nothing Parliament could do to stop them.

#33. Mikhail Gorbachev's resignation

Delivered Dec. 25, 1991, in Moscow, Russia

The fall of the Soviet Union marked the end of the Cold War, the conflict which defined almost every aspect of the post-World War II era. The Cold War didn't end with nuclear holocaust, as many had feared during the conflict's peak, but rather the resignation of executive President Mikhail Gorbachev after several Soviet bloc countries broke away from the USSR behind his back. In the speech he warned that though the country had acquired freedom, "we haven't learned to use freedom yet," so it was important to tread carefully—a warning that has a new salience as the country slides back into authoritarian rule under President Vladimir Putin.

#32. Frank James' "Suppressed Speech"

Delivered Nov. 1970, in Plymouth, Mass.

Wampanoag elder Frank James was invited to speak at a celebration at Plymouth in honor of the 350th Thanksgiving. Organizers objected to his portrayal of the Puritan Pilgrims and white settlers as people who "sought to tame the 'savage' and convert him," but James had refused to read the more PR-friendly speech they gave him. James instead held a protest nearby that has since become the annual Day of Mourning , in which indigenous Americans come to protest and speak out about their experiences.

#31. Jawaharlal Nehru's "Tryst with Destiny"

Delivered Aug. 14–15, 1947, in New Delhi, India

The struggle against the British Empire on the Indian subcontinent finally came to a triumphant finish with Jawaharlal Nehru's "Tryst with Destiny" speech just before midnight on the eve of India's independence. He honors Gandhi as the leader of the movement, as well as the victory they achieved. He also alludes to the Partition that split India and Pakistan into two countries, as well as the sectarian divides between Hindus and Muslims—problems that still plague the country today.

#30. Sacheen Littlefeather's speech at the 1972 Academy Award ceremony

Delivered March 27, 1973, in Los Angeles, Calif.

Marlon Brando shocked the Academy Awards when he refused his Oscar for mobster classic "The Godfather." Instead, he sent indigenous activist Sacheen Littlefeather to refuse the award and give her a platform to protest the treatment of Native Americans in Hollywood, and more importantly, bring attention to the standoff between federal agents and Native Americans at Wounded Knee that was under a media blackout. Littlefeather delivered a shortened version of his message amid boos; The New York Times later printed Brando's letter in its entirety , and the media blackout at Wounded Knee was lifted.

#29. Bill Clinton's "Presidential Address to Columbine High School"

Delivered May 20, 1999, at Dakota Ridge High School, Littleton, Colo.

One of the most difficult jobs of the U.S. President is to act as "consoler-in-chief" when tragedy strikes the nation. President Bill Clinton found himself in that position—and, in the eyes of many, set the standard for future American leaders —after the shooting at Columbine High School left 12 students and one teacher dead. In the speech given a month after the tragedy, Clinton traveled to Colorado to offer support to grieving families and try to come to terms with an event that " pierced the soul of America ."

#28. Eleanor Roosevelt's "On the Adoption of the Declaration of Human Rights"

Delivered Dec. 9, 1948, in Paris, France

Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated her life to human rights around the world, serving as the chair of the United Nations Human Rights Commission after World War II. In that position, she pushed for creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which lays out 30 articles affirming " that man must have freedom in which to develop his full stature and through common effort to raise the level of human dignity."

#27. Stokely Carmichael's "Black Power"

Delivered Oct. 29, 1966, in Berkeley, Calif.

Stokely Carmichael firmly believed in nonviolent protest in the early days of the civil rights movement, but as the years wore on, he became convinced that "black power for black people" was needed to jump-start the next phase of the civil rights project. Black power, later adopted by groups like the Black Panther Party, required a sense of solidarity between black people and the election of black representatives. As his speech demonstrates , this wasn't an inherently violent concept, but rather questions the notion of nonviolence because, as Carmichael points out, "white people beat up black people every day—don't nobody talk about nonviolence."

#26. Aung San Suu Kyi's "Freedom from Fear"

Delivered Jan. 1 1990, in Myanmar (formerly Burma)

Daughter of the founder of the modern Burmese military and a key figure in Burmese independence, Aung San Suu Kyi followed in her father's footsteps to become a leader in the push for democratic government in the country. The military placed her under house arrest on-and-off for over 20 years while she continued to push for democracy, including in this speech, which calls for "a united determination to persevere in the struggle, to make sacrifices in the name of enduring truths, to resist the corrupting influences of desire, ill will, ignorance and fear." She ascended to governmental power in 2010 with global praise and hope for change, but the recent ethnic cleansing of a minority group in the country threatens her legacy as an advocate for freedom .

#25. Emmeline Pankhurst's "Freedom or Death"

Delivered Nov. 13, 1913, in Hartford, Conn.

The early decades of the 1900s brought new energy and activism to the push for women's suffrage in England, just as it did in the United States and Canada. Emmeline Pankhurst delivered this speech on a fundraising tour of the U.S. after a long period of hunger striking and arrests, using imagery from the American Revolution and other powerful metaphors to justify militant tactics adopted by her group in the push for the vote.

#24. Severn Cullis-Suzuki's "Speech to the UN Summit in Rio"

Delivered in 1992, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Twelve-year-old Severn Cullis-Suzuki became "The Girl Who Silenced the World for Five Minutes" after she stunned the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development with a plea for older generations to work to improve the environment. Her demand that "If [adults] don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!" echoes those of modern child climate activists like Greta Thunberg, who has led a worldwide movement of school strikes pushing for action on the climate crisis.

#23. Nellie McClung's "Should Men Vote?"

Delivered Jan. 29, 1914, in Winnipeg, Canada

The Canadian women's suffrage movement was kicked into high gear when prominent activist Nellie McClung turned a rejection of the request for the vote into a piece of theater. Drawing on humor and showmanship, she presented a mock trial of men asking women legislators for suffrage, arguing that "manhood suffrage has not been a success in the unhappy countries where it has been tried," among other satirical moments. McClung later campaigned against the party that previously denied her the right to vote, finally winning suffrage for white Manitoban women in 1916.

#22. Ronald Reagan's "Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate"

Delivered June 12, 1987, in West Berlin, Germany

It might be hard to believe, but, coming just a few short years before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union, President Ronald Reagan's cry of "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" didn't make much of a splash when he first gave his speech. It didn't reach its status as a famous piece of American political rhetoric until the wall actually began to come down in 1989. While some scholars claim it helped Reagan build support for his plans to work with the Soviet Union, others believe the Wall's destruction had far more to do with reforms going on inside the USSR.

#21. William Faulkner's Nobel lecture

Delivered Jan. 10, 1950, in Stockholm, Sweden

Author of stories rooted in the American South, William Faulkner's Nobel lecture ( for a prize he didn't even want! ) spoke to deeply American concerns. He addresses the difficulty in creating art in an age of anxiety over atomic destruction, noting that until a writer relearns their craft under this condition, " he will write as though he stood among and watched the end of man ." He ends the address rejecting this possibility, offering a surprisingly hopeful view in an age characterized by fear of a nuclear holocaust.

#20. John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address

Delivered Jan. 20, 1961, in Washington D.C.

One line from President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address has endured in the American imagination for nearly half a century: "My fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country." However, Kennedy's call to public service has overshadowed the fact that most of the speech focused on global issues. As Kennedy was elected near the height of tensions in the Cold War, he felt the need to address both the Soviet Union and allies abroad to reassure them of his competency and desire for global peace.

#19. Lou Gehrig's "Farewell to Baseball Address"

Delivered July 4, 1939, at Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, N.Y.

The crowd at Yankee Stadium sat silent as Lou "The Iron Horse" Gehrig addressed his retirement from baseball after being diagnosed with a disease that would later be named after him. Declaring himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth," he spoke briefly of the "awful lot [of things] to live for," including his fans, his teammates, and his family members. Following the address, he received a two-minute standing ovation and was showered with gifts and praise.

#18. Winston Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches"

Delivered: June 4, 1940, in London, England

In the first five weeks after he took over as Prime Minister, Winston Churchill gave three major speeches addressing the worsening war in France. The second of these dealt with the intensifying situation in France. Implying that battle might come to Britain, he declared that "we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets" and never surrender. Parliament praised the rousing address, but the public didn't hear it in Churchill's own words until after the war had ended and caused public pessimism after it was read by broadcasters .

#17. Mahatma Gandhi's "Quit India"

Delivered Aug. 8, 1942, in Bombay (now Mumbai), India

Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi became the face of Indian independence as he organized the "Quit India" movement, which, as he laid out in the speech to fellow leaders , would coerce the British to voluntarily leave India using nonviolent protest. His fellow leaders agreed, passing a resolution to that effect, but thousands of arrests followed and Gandhi's speech was suppressed. Underground presses published his speech, and his call to "either free India or die in the attempt" became a rallying point for the movement.

#16. Nelson Mandela's "I am prepared to die"

Delivered April 20, 1964, in Pretoria, South Africa

The address Nelson Mandela gave instead of testimony at his trial for alleged sabotage became the defining speech of the anti-apartheid movement—and of his legacy as an advocate for equality in South Africa. In it, he argues that his cause is correct and explains his views, before launching into his famous conclusion, in which he states a free and equal state is "an ideal for which I am prepared to die." Mandela was sentenced to life in prison but did not die there, instead continuing his advocacy from prison before his release 27 years later.

#15. William Jennings Bryan's "Against Imperialism"

Delivered Aug. 8, 1900, in Indianapolis, Ind.

Perennial presidential candidate (but never winner) William Jennings Bryan advocated against American imperialism shortly after U.S. victory in the Spanish-American War allowed the country to begin building an empire. He appealed to American ideals, pointing out the lack of "full citizenship" offered to Puerto Ricans and Filipinos, and decried the "gun-powder gospel" that argued imperial wars should be fought due to Christianity. Unfortunately, his status as perennial presidential loser continued into the early 1900s and none of his proposed reforms were taken into consideration.

#14. Dolores Huerta's speech at the NFWA march and rally

Delivered April 10, 1966, in Sacramento, Calif.

Dolores Huerta worked alongside César Chávez to establish the National Farm Workers Association and direct the Delano grape strike, where she quickly emerged as a leading feminist figure. Her speech at the NFWA march illustrates her dedication and zeal , exclaiming "La huelga [the strike] and la causa is our cry, and everyone must listen. Viva la huelga!" Huerta's success with the Delano strike led to continued labor organizing and support for feminist causes, activities which she continues today.

#13. Gabriel García Márquez's "The Solitude of Latin America"

Delivered Dec. 8, 1982, in Stockholm, Sweden

Gabriel García Márquez, storied Colombian author whose books "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera" helped fuel the Latin American literature boom, used his Nobel acceptance speech to make a political statement . In it, he spoke of Latin America's isolation in the world, despite decades of imperialism and outside influence in the region. However, with the same magical realism for which his writing was famous, he envisioned " a new and sweeping utopia of life ...where the races condemned to one hundred years of solitude will have, at last and forever, a second opportunity on earth."

#12. Ryan White's "Testimony before the President's Commission on AIDS"

Delivered: March 3, 1988, in Washington D.C.

Born with a rare blood disorder, Ryan White became infected with HIV as a young child because of the factor 8 used for his treatment, which was collected using untested, anonymous blood donors. After his diagnosis in 1984, White attempted to return to school but faced huge stigma and attempts to bar him from the classroom, experiences which formed the basis of his testimony before the commission. This speech, and the court battles over his schooling, led to his becoming a leading HIV/AIDS activist, dispelling myths about the disease for the American public before his death in 1990 at 18.

#11. Elie Wiesel's "The Perils of Indifference"

Delivered April 12, 1999, in Washington D.C.

Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel survived the Holocaust as a teenager, losing his family in the process. The experience fueled his lifelong activism ; he became an educator about the Holocaust and advocate of victims of other atrocities, such as apartheid in South Africa and genocides around the world. His "Perils of Indifference" speech criticized those who ignored the horrors of the Holocaust and reminded listeners that " indifference is not a response " and "in denying [victims] their humanity we betray our own."

#10. Anita Hill's Opening Statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee

Delivered Oct. 11, 1991, in Washington D.C.

Anita Hill's testimony at the Supreme Court confirmation of Clarence Thomas, alleging that he sexually harassed her, proved to be a powerful and occasionally painful day in Washington D.C. Hill, a black woman, shared her experience staring down a Senate Judiciary Committee composed entirely of white men, who have since admitted to mishandling Hill's testimony . Thomas was confirmed to the bench despite Hill's allegations, but her testimony in part spurred record-breaking numbers of women to run for elected office and is seen by some as a precursor to the modern #MeToo movement.

#9. Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Women's Rights are Human Rights"

Delivered Sept. 5, 1995, in Beijing, China

Advisors to then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton advised her to soften her rhetoric in her speech at the United Nations Fourth World Congress on Women , but Clinton refused, seizing the opportunity to shine a spotlight on the abuse of women in China and around the world. Though she is not the first person to declare " human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, once and for all," she popularized use of the phrase on that day, in a speech that defined Clinton's career apart from her husband's. Since then, it's become a rallying cry in the fight for women's rights and became a focal point in Clinton's 2016 bid for president.

#8. Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address

Delivered Jan. 6, 1941, in Washington D.C.

Delivered just under a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union emphasized the value of democracy in a world embroiled in a devastating war. It's most famous for FDR's declaration of the four freedoms : freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want (meaning economic security), and freedom from fear (meaning global disarmament and prevention of wars).

#7. César Chávez's "The Mexican American and the Church"

Delivered: March 10, 1968, in Delano, Calif.

César Chávez is an iconic figure in movements for labor rights and Latino rights due to his organization and leadership of the National Farm Workers Association (alongside colleague Dolores Huerta), particularly during the five-year Delano grape strike. Chávez adopted historical tactics of nonviolence and resistance, such as fasting; after breaking a 25-day fast, the religious Chávez spoke at a conference about the relationship between Mexican Americans and the church, calling on the ministry to use their " tremendous spiritual and economic power " to support the striking farm workers. His work with the NFWA formed a cornerstone of the Chicano Movement that pushed for Mexican American rights in the 1960s and beyond.

#6. Harvey Milk's "Hope Speech"

Delivered June 25, 1978, in San Francisco, Calif.

Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, used his "Hope Speech" as his stump speech during his 1977 run for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; he expanded on it for its final delivery at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade the following year. The rousing speech emphasizes the importance of electing LGBTQ+ leaders so that young LGBTQ+ people across the country surrounded by homophobia can have those to look up to and regain their hope. Milk's life was cut short when he was assassinated only months later, but he continued to inspire hope as a martyr for the LGBTQ+ movement.

#5. Malcom X's "The Ballot or the Bullet"

Delivered April 12, 1964, at King Solomon Baptist Church, Detroit, Mich. (also delivered nine days earlier in Cleveland)

Malcolm X stands alongside Martin Luther King as one of the leading figures of the civil rights movement, but X's advocacy for black nationalism and defeating racism by "any means necessary" often conflicted with King's support for integration and nonviolent protest. "The Ballot or the Bullet," considered by many to be one of Malcolm X's best orations, urges African Americans to exercise their power at the ballot box in the 1964 election and select leaders who will pass civil rights legislation and care about issues affecting black communities.

#4. Dennis Shepard's "Statement to the Court"

Delivered Nov. 4, 1999, in Laramie, Wyo.

Matthew Shepard, a young gay man attending college in Laramie, Wyo., was beaten to death in an apparent hate crime in October 1998. His father gave an emotional impact statement to the court (since excerpted in several movies and plays about the crime), emphasizing the effect of his son's life and death on his family and the world. After their son's death, Dennis Shepard and his wife, Judy, helped to fulfill the promise he made "to see that this never, ever happens to another person or another family again" by advocating for the passage of hate crime legislation that became the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.

#3. Sylvia Rivera's "Y'all Better Quiet Down"

Delivered in 1973, at Washington Square Park, New York City, N.Y.

On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, and the riots that resulted jumpstarted the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Sylvia Rivera participated in the riots that day (she's said to have thrown one of the first bottles at police) and began a storied career as an activist . Rivera, a transgender Puerto Rican woman, wasn't afraid to call out what she saw as shortcomings in the movement; she delivered her "Y'all Better Quiet Down" to the crowd at the Christopher Street Liberation Rally, decrying white, middle-class gay men and lesbians for ignoring transgender people and other marginalized voices in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

#2. John F. Kennedy's "We choose to go to the moon"

Delivered Sept. 12, 1962, at Rice Stadium, Houston, Texas

In 1962, the U.S. and Soviet Union were in the thick of the Space Race, and the U.S. government was fighting over how much money to put into the project to put a man on the moon. With this speech , President Kennedy put an end to the squabbling; he laid out why it was important for the U.S. to lead the way to the stars and famously declared, " We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." This speech inspired the American people, and the Apollo mission was made a priority, leading to Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon on July 20, 1969.

#1. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream"

Delivered Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington D.C.

While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was giving a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, gospel singer (and King's close friend) Mahalia Jackson spurred him to go off-script , calling out, "Tell them about the dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!" He did, and today, King's dream that his four children "live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" is one of the most lauded pieces of American rhetoric. It cemented King's place as the face of the civil rights movement, for which he's still celebrated today. Pictured here is Martin Luther King (center) leading the "March on Washington" the day he gave the speech. 

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Martin Luther King Jr. – “I Have a Dream”

Barack obama – “against going to war with iraq”, winston churchill – “we shall fight on the beaches”, abraham lincoln – “the gettysburg address”, hillary clinton – “women’s rights are human rights”.

A speech about ending racism and segregation, and coming together as one society, in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. addressed over 250,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial. King’s speech would later become one of the most famous persuasive orations ever given. Known for his charismatic and passionate style of communication, King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is frequently epitomized as the ideal example of expressing one’s values and convictions. King’s use of vivid language and imagery immediately captured the audience’s attention making this historical speech a memorable one.

Throughout history, war has been a common topic of persuasive speeches. Likewise, today in an age where wars and conflict continue to be rampant, war is the perennial topic for public addresses. One of the most famous present day declamations is president Barack Obama’s speech, “Against Going to War With Iraq.” In this 2002 speech, Obama expresses his views on the war with Iraq using both logistical arguments and engaging rhetorical devices.

At a time when the world was entering into a crisis, Churchill speech was not only about persuading mankind to fight, but about instilling hope and strength. At a point when all seem bleak, Churchill delivered an impassioned speech to the people, offering them a much needed sense of guidance and confidence. Delivered in 1940, Churchill would subsequently give several other well known persuasive speeches during World War II including, “This Was Their Finest Hour.”

Although given in a somewhat unconventional style, Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Adress” is one of the most well known persuasive speeches in American history. Spoken rather hastily, totaling just under three minutes, Lincoln nevertheless convincingly imparted his love and dedication to the freedom and the American country.

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Women’s rights issues have frequently been the focus of many rhetorical declarations. As women have fought to earn equality and matching human rights, persuasive speeches have played a vital role. Although the process has not been without setbacks, impassioned speeches such as Clinton’s “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” help instill in society the need for change and social action.

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The 15 most inspiring presidential speeches in american history.

• By Tara Kibler
• February 15, 2021
• History , Political Science

Over the centuries, millions upon millions of words have been used by U.S. presidents to motivate, caution, reassure, and guide the American people. Whether written in the news, spoken at a podium, or shared on Twitter, all of these words have carried weight, each with the potential to impact the trajectory of our nation. Only a handful of times, however, has the particular arrangement and context of these words been considered truly inspiring.

This Presidents’ Day, join HeinOnline in rediscovering some of the greatest presidential speeches in American history using our   U.S. Presidential Library  and other sources.

1. Washington’s Farewell Address

Date:  September 17th, 1796

Context:  Toward the end of his second term as the first U.S. president, George Washington announced his retirement from office in a letter addressed to the American people. Though many feared for a United States without Washington, the address reassured the young nation that it no longer required his leadership. Washington also used the opportunity to offer advice for the prosperity of the country. After witnessing the growing division between the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, much of his advice was to warn against political parties, factions, and other animosities (domestic and foreign) that would eventually undermine the integrity and efficacy of the American government.

Notable Quote:  “This spirit [of party], unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind … [but] the disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.

“Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions … A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.”

2. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Date:  November 19, 1863

Context:  Four months after Union armies defeated Confederates at Gettysburg during the American Civil War, President Lincoln visited the site to dedicate the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. In what were intended to be brief, appropriate remarks for the situation, Lincoln used the moment to offer his take on the war and its meaning. The ten sentences he spoke would ultimately become one of the most famous speeches in American history, an inspiration for notable remarks centuries later, and even a foundation for the wording of other countries’ constitutions.

Notable Quote:  “… from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they heregave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain; that the Nation shall under God have a new birth of freedom, and that Governments of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

3. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Inaugural Address

Date:  March 4, 1933

Context:  The inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt was held as the country was in the throes of the Great Depression, and as such, America anxiously awaited what he had to say. Roosevelt did not disappoint, offering 20 minutes of reassurance, hope, and promises for urgent action.

Notable Quote:  “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.”

4. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Fireside Chat

Date:  March 12, 1933

Context:  Just a few days after his inauguration, Roosevelt instituted what he called “fireside chats,” using the relatively new technology of radio to enter the living rooms of Americans and discuss current issues. In these moments, he could speak at length, unfiltered and uninterrupted by the press, while also offering a reassuring, optimistic tone that might otherwise have been lost in the written word. In this first fireside chat, he crafted a message to explain the American banking process (and its current difficulties) in a way that the average listener could understand.

Notable Quote:  “Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith. You must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system, and it is up to you to support and make it work. It is your problem, my friends. Your problem no less than it is mine. Together, we cannot fail.”

5. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” Speech

Date:  January 6, 1941

Context:  By 1941, many affected by the Great Depression had experienced economic recovery, but another world-changing phenomenon had reared its head—Hitler and his Nazi regime. World War II was raging in Europe and the Pacific, but the United States had thus far remained largely neutral. In light of the atrocities occurring overseas, Roosevelt sought to change that. He crafted his State of the Union address that January to highlight four freedoms which are deserved by all humans everywhere. The “Four Freedoms” speech, as it was ultimately known, later became the basis for  America’s intervention in World War II  and significantly influenced American values, life, and politics moving forward.

Notable Quote:  “In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peace of time life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction, armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.”

6. Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” Speech

Date:  December 8, 1953

Context:  During World War II, Roosevelt formally authorized the Manhattan Project, a top-secret U.S. effort to weaponize nuclear energy. By 1945,  America had successfully created the atomic bomb , and President Truman had authorized its detonation in Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leveling the two cities and killing hundreds of thousands of people. Following the end of World War II, political and economic differences between the United States and Soviet Union drove the two countries to another war soon after, but this time, the Soviet Union had their own atomic bomb as well. The world was teetering on a frightening ledge built by access to nuclear power, causing President Eisenhower to launch an “emotion management” campaign with this speech to the United Nations about the very real risks but also peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Notable Quote:  “… the whole book of history reveals mankind’s never-ending quest for peace and mankind’s God-given capacity to build. It is with the book of history, and not with isolated pages, that the United States will ever wish to be identified. My country wants to be constructive, not destructive. It wants agreements, not wars, among nations. It wants itself to live in freedom and in the confidence that the peoples of every other nation enjoy equally the right of choosing their own way of life. … The United States knows that if the fearful trend of atomic military build-up can be reversed, this greatest of destructive forces can be developed into a great boon, for the benefit of all mankind.”

7. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address

Date:  January 17, 1961

Context:  As he came to the end of his term, President Eisenhower found himself in a nation much stronger, much richer, and much more advanced than when he began. Prepared as early as two years in advance, his farewell address acknowledged the pride all should have in these achievements, but also served to ground the American people in sobering reality—that how the United States uses this power and standing will ultimately determine its fate. Like Washington, his address was one of caution against dangers such as massive spending, an overpowered military industry, and Federal domination of scientific progress (or vice versa, the scientific-technological domination of public policy). In all things, he stressed the need to maintain balance as the country moves forward, for the preservation of liberty.

Notable Quote:  “Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.”

8. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address

Date:  January 20, 1961

Context:  A few days after Eisenhower’s farewell speech, he turned over his office to the youngest-ever elected president, John F. Kennedy. Kennedy now found himself faced with the monumental task of strengthening the United States while also quelling American anxieties about the Cold War and avoiding nuclear warfare. His speech thus focused on unity, togetherness, and collaboration both domestically and abroad.

Notable Quote:  “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.”

9. Kennedy’s “We Choose to Go to the Moon” Speech

Date:  September 12, 1962

Context:  In the name of national security, the United States and USSR set their sights on spaceflight as a top priority during the Cold War. To the surprise (and fear) of people around the globe, the Soviet Union launched the first-ever artificial satellite in 1957, then sent the first human being into space in 1961, signaling to onlookers that its nation was a technological force to be reckoned with. Kennedy was determined to come up with a challenge in space technology that the United States actually stood a chance to win. In the early ’60s, he proposed that America focus on putting a man on the moon. In an uplifting speech at Rice University, Kennedy reminded his listeners of the country’s technological progress so far and of his administration’s determination to continue the pioneering spirit of early America into the new frontier of space.

Notable Quote:  “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

Read about America’s successful moon landing in this blog post.

10. Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” Speech

Date:  May 22, 1964

Context:  Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President in 1963, immediately following  Kennedy’s assassination . Johnson vowed to continue the former president’s work on poverty, civil rights, and other issues. Inspired in part by FDR’s New Deal, he devised a set of programs intended to completely eliminate poverty and racial injustice. In 1964, he formally proposed some specific goals in a speech to the University of Michigan, where he coined the lofty ideal of a “Great Society.”

Notable Quote:  “Your imagination, your initiative, and your indignation will determine whether we build a society where progress is the servant of our needs, or a society where old values and new visions are buried under unbridled growth. For in your time we have the opportunity to move not only toward the rich society and the powerful society, but upward to the Great Society.”

11. Lyndon B. Johnson’s “We Shall Overcome” Speech

Date:  March 15, 1965

Context:  By the 1960s, blacks in areas of the Deep South found themselves disenfranchised by state voting laws, such as those requiring a poll tax, literacy tests, or knowledge of the U.S. constitution. Furthermore, these laws were sometimes applied subjectively, leading to the prevention of even educated blacks from voting or registering to vote. Inspired (and sometimes joined) by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., protests were planned throughout the region. Eight days after racial violence erupted around one of these protests in Selma, Alabama, President Johnson addressed Congress to declare that “every American citizen must have an equal right to vote” and that discriminatory policies were denying African-Americans that right.

Notable Quote:  “What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and State of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life. Their cause must be our cause too. Because it’s not just Negroes, but really it’s all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome …

“This great, rich, restless country can offer opportunity and education and hope to all, all black and white, all North and South, sharecropper and city dweller. These are the enemies: poverty, ignorance, disease. They’re our enemies, not our fellow man, not our neighbor. And these enemies too—poverty, disease, and ignorance: we shall overcome.”

12. Reagan’s D-Day Anniversary Address

Date:  June 6, 1984

Context:  During World War II, the Allied forces attacked German troops on the coast of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944. A turning point for the war, the day came to be known as D-Day, and its anniversary is forever acknowledged. On its 40th anniversary, President Ronald Reagan honored the heroes of that day in a speech that also invoked a comparison of World War II’s Axis dictators to the Soviet Union during the ongoing Cold War. This reminder to the Allies that they once fought together against totalitarianism and must continue the fight now helped contribute to the ultimate dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Notable Quote:  “We look for some sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward, that they share our desire and love for peace, and that they will give up the ways of conquest. There must be a changing there that will allow us to turn our hope into action. We will pray forever that some day that changing will come. But for now, particularly today, it is good and fitting to renew our commitment to each other, to our freedom, and to the alliance that protects it. We are bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We’re bound by reality. The strength of America’s allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe’s democracies. We were with you then; we are with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.”

13. Reagan’s Berlin Wall Speech

Date:  June 12, 1987

Context:  With the fall of Nazi Germany at the end of World War II, Western powers and the Soviet Union sought to establish systems of government in their respective occupied regions. West Germany developed into a Western capitalist country, with a democratic parliamentary government, while East Germany became a socialist workers’ state (though it was often referred to as communist in the English-speaking world). Many experiencing hunger, poverty, and repression in the Soviet-influenced East Germany attempted to move west, with the City of Berlin their main point of crossing. Ultimately, the Soviet Union advised East Germany to build a wall on the inner German border, restricting movement and emigration by threat of execution for attempted emigrants. Seen as a symbol of Communist tyranny by Western nations, the Berlin Wall persisted for nearly three decades. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan visited West Berlin and called upon Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to take down the wall as a symbol of moving forward.

Notable Quote:  “We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

14. George W. Bush’s Post-9/11 Speech

Date:  September 11, 2001

Context:  On September 11, 2001, the United States experienced  the single worst terrorist attack in human history , where four American planes were hijacked and flown into American buildings, killing nearly 3,000 people. Viewers around the world watched the news as five stories of the Pentagon fell and the World Trade Center buildings collapsed entirely. Later that evening, President George W. Bush addressed the nation with a brief but powerful message that chose to focus not on fear, but on America’s strength in unity.

Notable Quote:

“These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.”

15. Obama’s “More Perfect Union” Speech

Date:  March 18, 2008

Context:  While campaigning for the presidency in 2008, Barack Obama came under fire for his relationship with pastor Jeremiah Wright, who had been heard to denounce the United States and accuse the government of racial crimes. To officially address the relationship and condemn Wright’s inflammatory remarks, Obama crafted a speech that discussed the history of racial inequality in America as well as the dissonance between that history and America’s ideals of human liberty. Importantly, however, he also highlighted the necessity for a unified American people to effectively combat those issues, rather than more racial division.

Notable Quote:  “[T]he remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country—a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America ….

“[These] comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems—two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all ….

“The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through—a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.”

Read about Barack Obama’s presidency in this blog post.

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Research the impact of each president with HeinOnline’s  U.S. Presidential Library , a database of nearly 2,000 titles and more than a million pages dedicated to presidential documents. The database includes messages and papers of the presidents, daily and weekly compilations of presidential documents, public papers of the presidents, documents relating to impeachment, Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and a host of other related works.

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History Books » Contemporary History (1945-)

The best speeches of all time, recommended by clarence b jones.

Behind the Dream by Clarence B Jones

Which were the best speeches ever made? Clarence B Jones , lawyer, friend and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr—and contributor to the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech—chooses his top five, and explains what is that makes these famous speeches so good.

Interview by Anna Blundy

Franklin D Roosevelt’s inaugural address, 4 March 1933 by Various authors

John F Kennedy’s inaugural address, 20 January 1961 by Various authors

Laurence Olivier’s Oscar Acceptance Speech (1979) by YouTube video

Dr Martin Luther King, Jr’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, 28 August 1963 by Martin Luther King Jr

Nelson Mandela’s inaugural address as President of South Africa, 10 May 1994 by David Elliot Cohen

1 Franklin D Roosevelt’s inaugural address, 4 March 1933 by Various authors

2 john f kennedy’s inaugural address, 20 january 1961 by various authors, 3 laurence olivier’s oscar acceptance speech (1979) by youtube video, 4 dr martin luther king, jr’s ‘i have a dream’ speech, 28 august 1963 by martin luther king jr, 5 nelson mandela’s inaugural address as president of south africa, 10 may 1994 by david elliot cohen.

You’ve chosen what you regard as the best speeches of all time for us and Roosevelt’s Inaugural Address is your first choice. Tell me about this speech.

This was made at a very critical period in our country’s history. It was a speech that every American who had a radio was listening to. I thought it gave the country a sense of hope, when all around them there seemed to be nothing but hopelessness. There were 25 million people out of work and the stock market had collapsed two or three years before, so this speech summoned the country to a sense of hope.

What is it about the actual speech, about the way it’s written, that is so brilliant?

Well, what impressed me about the speech was that, to me, the measure of or index of a good speech is not merely the words that are festooned together and spoken – presumably by someone who has a good delivery or even an exceptional delivery – but the extent to which the text of speech, the substance of the speech, is responsive and addresses the major issues of the time. I wasn’t so concerned about Roosevelt’s delivery, but I measured the text against the magnitude of the problem to which it was addressed.

The famous line is: ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’

The country was in great fear. The country was in great despair, so that phrase was trying to speak to the Everyperson, to address the issue that was on everyone’s mind.

Tell me about JFK’s inaugural address.

Well, JFK , as you know, or maybe you don’t know, won the presidential election by merely 120,000 popular votes over Richard Nixon. The country was clearly divided; we were in the apex of what one would now describe as the Cold War, the great competition between ourselves and the Soviet Union, and here this younger man had taken over from Eisenhower, a World War II hero. This young man, whose inauguration day was relatively cold, some would say freezing cold, gave the address with no hat on, no scarf on, signalling the health and vitality of the new younger generation. He enumerated the problems that the country was confronted with, and then, of course, came the classic line: ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.’

“In my judgement, the measure of a speech is not merely the text or words, or even the person who delivers the speech, but the context of the speech.”

Just recently we had the passing of Sargent Shriver, who was the architect of the Peace Corps, the most celebrated form of government volunteer service that this country has ever had. The Peace Corps came out of the Kennedy administration. What came out of the address was that we could indeed be competitive with the Soviet Union, that this was a new generation coming into power and he wanted to say to the people that this new generation was ready – professionally ready, managerially ready, morally ready, militarily ready. It was up to the task.

Who wrote it?

Well, Theodore Sorensen contributed to it.

Did he write most of JFK’s speeches or help write them?

Yes, he helped write most of them.

Tell me about Laurence Olivier’s Oscar acceptance speech (which I’ll quote for our readers, since it’s not very long).

“Mr President and governors of the Academy, committee members, fellows, my very noble and approved good masters, my colleagues, my friends, my fellow students: In the great wealth, the great firmament of your nation’s generosities this particular choice may perhaps be found by future generations as a trifle eccentric, but the mere fact of it – the prodigal, pure, human kindness of it – must be seen as a beautiful star in that firmament which shines upon me at this moment dazzling me a little, but filling me with the warmth of the extraordinary elation, the euphoria that happens to so many of us at the first breath of the majestic glow of a new tomorrow. From the top of this moment, in the solace, in the kindly emotion that is charging my soul and my heart at this moment, I thank you for this great gift which lends me such a very splendid part in this, your glorious occasion. Thank you.”

It was a very short speech, and its power was in its spontaneity and its erudition. I don’t have to tell you that he was one of the great actors of the 20th century. A number of people who get Academy Awards come up and read from a written text or they say something that is kind of banal, but Olivier quoted some Shakespeare. It was very eloquent. It really spoke about the fact that he was honoured and humble – but it was just the way he spoke to this group of actors and actresses, and an example of the magnificent use of language.

What did he win for?

I think it was a Lifetime Achievement Award.

So, now we’re moving on to your speech. The Martin Luther King .

Well, the Martin Luther King speech, of course… To understand it, you have to see it within the historical context. It was made three months after a very successful and very searing campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, in April of 1963, when the country and the world saw pictures of young negro girls and boys being pummelled against a wall with fire hoses and police dogs nipping at their ankles as they were peacefully marching in opposition to racial segregation. So that was April 63, and then, in August, some four months later, King was speaking at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial to more than 250,000 people. He was speaking to celebrate and to validate the success of the civil rights movement at that point, but also speaking prophetically about his hope for a better America. The ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, the portion that is most talked about, was totally spontaneous and extemporaneous. It wasn’t written.

You didn’t write that bit?

No. The contribution I made was in the first nine paragraphs. What happened was that as he got through reading the first nine paragraphs of prepared texts to which I contributed some language and concepts, he was interrupted by his favourite gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, who was on the podium with him, and he paused in the middle of his speaking and she shouted: ‘Tell them about the dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!’ At which point he put aside the written text. I was standing about 15 yards behind him, and I saw him, I read his body language and I said to the person standing next to me: ‘The people assembled here, they don’t know it, but they’re about ready to go to church.’ It appeared to me that he had gone into his preacher’s body mode.

What did that mean?

Well, before, he stood at the podium reading the text and looking up, but once he decided to speak extemporaneously he assumed a pose I had seen so many times when he was preaching a sermon from a pulpit, being a Baptist minister. He was no longer just a speaker at a public assembly, it was like he was speaking to a massive congregation in a church. And that’s when he went off into this extraordinary ‘I have a dream…’

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What did you think? Did you think, ‘Oh no! What’s he doing to my speech?’

No! First of all, I didn’t consider it ‘my’ speech. I didn’t even know if he was going to incorporate and use the material in the first nine paragraphs. I didn’t know that until I heard it for the first time. I just thought it was rather bold and extraordinary for him to cast aside the written text, but Martin Luther King, Jr was a master orator. He didn’t need a written text to speak eloquently. Using contemporary parlance, I say to people that Martin Luther King, Jr was the only person I have ever observed or known – and I’ve never ever seen or heard anyone do it since – who could compose a speech extemporaneously in real time and while he was speaking. Like we use computer skills, he could cut and paste in his mind from previous speeches or writings and he could insert those excerpts into his real time speech. It was an extraordinary ability. It was a transcendental experience to be there. It was like watching lightning captured in a bottle.

I’m fascinated by what you say about him getting carried away and going into preacher mode, because I saw Bill Clinton speak at the London School of Economics, and he is a captivating speaker…

Yes, he is.

He got everyone in the room to fall in love with him, including an 80-year-old Republican oil magnate sitting next to me, but what he did was, he read slowly and falteringly for the first few paragraphs and then he put the speech aside and leant forward to go into preacher mode. He was probably trying to look like Martin Luther King.

That would be a very challenging task. I am frequently asked, since Dr King’s assassination on 4 April 1968: ‘Who today is most like Martin Luther King, Jr?’ I answer the question very quickly. I say: ‘Who today is most like Shakespeare, like Leonardo Da Vinci, like Michelangelo, like Beethoven, like Mozart? Who? No one.’

But they’re trying!

They try. Some people foolishly try, I believe.

I was just thinking about the wonderful oratorical techniques…

Well, Martin Luther King, Jr was a fourth-generation Baptist preacher, and I spent a good part of the 1960s not only around him but around a lot of other preachers. I would say during that period that there is a style, there is an inside way in which they talk about how they preach, and when you go and preach, they say, you have to be capable of telling them the story. You have to tell the story. The story is going to be whatever your text is going to be that day, but you have to tell it, in eloquent words, using various techniques, such as repetition. Some preachers will repeat a key phrase two or three times to make their point. Martin Luther King was the most gifted orator I had ever heard and that I can ever remember hearing in my lifetime. No one, no person I have ever heard, any place, any time, anywhere on this earth can speak as eloquently as Martin Luther King, Jr.

You sound as if you did know, while you were standing there, what kind of impact the speech was having. Do you think everybody did? Did it seem as momentous then as it does now, or did it seem more momentous then than it does now?

Well, when Dr King was introduced, he was the last speaker of the formal programme, and everyone had been waiting. So when A Philip Randolph said, in this deep sonorous voice, ‘And now, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, the man and the voice that we have been waiting for, the unquestioned moral leader of this nation – I am pleased to introduce the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, Jr,’ the place exploded. The place was electrified; it was like he had dropped a match and more than 250,000 people exploded in public adulation and acclaim for the person who was about to address them. And then, while he was speaking, particularly when he began to speak extemporaneously in his Baptist preacher mode, it was transcendental. I had heard and seen Martin Luther King give many speeches, under many different circumstances, but this speech was extraordinary.

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Tell me, lastly, about the Nelson Mandela. It’s not going to compare at all – I’m feeling sorry for Nelson now!

Well, you should not. Remember what I said earlier? In my judgement, the measure of a speech is not merely the text or words, or even the person who delivers the speech, but the context of the speech. And here the power of Nelson Mandela’s speech is not merely the words he has put together, but the power of the context. Here is a man who was in prison for 27 years, and now he is addressing the country on his inauguration as its president after a period of painful governance, a period of rigid, brutal apartheid. This former political prisoner is now president of the country, and he gives a speech in an effort to guide the country through a peaceful transition to a multiracial society. I mean, what a circumstance! The power, even the pomp and circumstance of the parliament and legislature, and you have President Nelson Mandela of South Africa addressing his country for the first time as president of the republic of South Africa. It’s the context! It’s the power of the moment!

Is it a good speech, though, in itself?

Yes. It’s a good speech. It’s a speech that is responsive and relevant to the particular historical moment in time. If you know anything about South Africa… When did he give the speech?

If you know anything about the preceding 25 years, that has to be an amazing speech. If I just say to you: ‘The former prisoner of Robben Island who was incarcerated for 27 years is now speaking as President of South Africa,’ that says it all.

It does. If you’re only allowed one of these speeches, I assume you’re taking Dr King’s?

If I’m only allowed one of the speeches…

Or you’re only allowed one line from one of the speeches.

Oh, then no question, Martin Luther King. There are two lines. First of all the beginning – and this is a paraphrase, it’s not exact: ‘We’ve come here to the foot of this great monument to redeem a promissory note that has been returned unpaid for insufficient funds.’ The promissory note is the guarantee of negroes’ freedom under the Declaration of Independence, and he says: ‘I refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the vaults of justice.’ That’s language that I crafted. And the other part I think is so moving if you know something about the history of the United States of America. ‘I have a dream that one day the great-great-grandsons of slaves and the great-great-grandsons and granddaughters of slave owners will sit down at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream, one day…’ Think about it. He dreams that the country will become one America, that it will become so reconciled that the descendents of former slave masters and former slaves will sit down at the table of brotherhood in our country. If you look at the speech or listen to it carefully, it’s all in the future tense. ‘One day I will…’ It’s always prophetic, always in the future. He reflected a more prophetic confidence in America than America had in itself.

This interview was published in 2011.

December 13, 2012

Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected]

Clarence B Jones

Clarence B Jones is the former personal counsel, adviser, draft speech writer and close friend of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. He is Scholar in Residence at the Martin Luther King Jr Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

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10 Famous Speeches That Shaped History

These powerful speeches continue to linger in the public imagination.

• Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The best speeches have left a mark on society for generations. They reshaped our world, held us accountable, and inspired us to rise against all odds and achieve great things. These speeches transcend time and place, offering wisdom that stirs souls long after the original speakers have been silenced.

A speech can be charismatic and still lack true meaning, but truly great oratories appeal to the audience's hearts, minds, and values. These speeches rise above the rest both because of the passion with which they were delivered, and the very words themselves. Here, we’ve rounded up eight powerful speeches that captured important historical moments and have proven unforgettable.

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“Ain’t I a Woman?”

Sojourner truth, 1851.

Born into slavery in 1797, Sojourner Truth became a well-known abolitionist and women’s rights activist. She delivered this powerful speech at the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention held in Akron, Ohio. In it, she laid bare the double standards facing Black women, who were often pushed to the side when it came to conversations about racism and sexism. Her speech received greater publicity during the Civil War, when several different versions were circulated by feminists and abolitionists.

Related: Deepen Your Knowledge of the Past With 8 of the Most Influential Books in History

“That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman?”

“When They Go Low, We Go High”

Michelle obama, 2016.

Michelle Obama uttered her now-famous catchphrase at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, when speaking in support of Hillary Clinton’s bid for the presidency. She was referring to the importance of setting a good example for your children and the next generation by staying true to your values and not stooping to the level of those who would demean you. It's a message that's more important than ever in the age of Internet mud-slinging.

“Our motto is: when they go low, we go high. With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. We as parents are their most important role models. Let me tell you, Barack and I take that same approach to our jobs as President and First Lady because we know that our words and actions matter, not just to our girls but the children across this country.”

"I Have a Dream"

Dr. martin luther king jr., 1963.

One of the greatest speeches in American history is Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which was delivered on August 28, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In it, he advocated for an end to racism in prose that continues to strike people’s hearts to this day.

Related: 16 Books About MLK That Reveal the Man Behind the Civil Rights Icon

King—a staunch social activist and Baptist minister—was arguably the most prominent leader of the American Civil Rights Movement of the 50s and 60s. King's speech brought into focus the injustice of racial inequality and police brutality in America. He delivered this speech to over 250,000 civil rights supporters. By the mid-1960s, both the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were enacted in part due to King's words and actions.

"I have a dream that my four 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."

The Farewell Address

George washington, 1796.

During George Washington’s time as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and later as the first president of the United States, he wielded a lot of power. He could have managed to overtake control of the nation, much like the king from whom the fledgling nation was determined to break free, and the world was watching to see what would happen.

Related: General George Washington: Before the Presidency

Instead, his modest resignation from his post as the commander-in-chief of the American military in 1783 strengthened the foundation of the republic, and his refusal to accept a third term as president of the nation established a precedent that was later enshrined into law. In the now-famous farewell address that he penned when he stepped down from the presidency, Washington discussed the importance of unity and checks and balances, and warned against the dangers of political factions and despotism.

"However [political factions] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government..."

"Tear down this wall!"

Ronald reagan, 1987.

The Berlin Wall divided East and West Germany into two different nations; one ruled by democracy and one by communism. Echoing many leaders in the international community, President Ronald Reagan demanded that General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev aid in reunifying Germany.

Related: The Best Presidential Biographies For History Buffs

Reagan delivered his speech when the Cold War was at its peak, and his advisors feared his address would anger the Soviet leader. But the President gave his speech nonetheless. Reagan’s words received little attention at the time, but when the Cold War ended a few years later it became one of the most well-known speeches by an American president.

“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

"I Am Prepared to Die"

Nelson mandela, 1964.

Nelson Mandela is one of the most controversial and loved figures in history. His speech " I Am Prepared to Die" defined South African democracy. Mandela delivered his three-hour-long address from the defendant dock to testify while addressing the charges that faced him as a result of his fight against South Africa's apartheid. Although his words did not save him from being convicted, his powerful speech struck the minds of the people listening, and it stimulated unrest in the South African people. 

Related: Recharge with 10 Books About Inspirational People

Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, but his speech and courage were vital in demolishing the apartheid system in his country. He was later released in 1990, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and became the country's first black head of state and the first leader to be elected in a fully representative democratic election.

"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Address to The United Nations On the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Eleanor roosevelt, 1948.

As the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt was America's First Lady for 12 years. She was described as a dedicated humanitarian and activist throughout her life. After the death of her husband, she was appointed the first U.S delegate to the United Nations by President Harry S. Truman. Eleanor Roosevelt achieved her life's most remarkable work when she drafted and presented the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Related: The Fascinating Platforms of 10 First Ladies

The cruelties of World War II inspired the declaration, whose purpose was to ensure that such tragic human rights abuses would not happen again. The most translated document globally, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights lays out the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Roosevelt was instrumental in the adoption of the document, and she explained its significance in a passionate 1948 address to the United Nations.

“At a time when there are so many issues on which we find it difficult to reach a common basis of agreement, it is a significant fact that 58 states have found such a large measure of agreement in the complex field of human rights. This must be taken as testimony of our common aspiration...to lift men everywhere to a higher standard of life and to a greater enjoyment of freedom. Man’s desire for peace lies behind this Declaration.”

Inaugural Address

John f. kennedy, 1961.

On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president of the United States. His pithy inaugural address on that day was well-written and meaningful, and it has become one of the most famous speeches by an American leader. JFK's speech was a call to service for the "new generation Americans - born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage." He issued a direct appeal to American citizens to stand up for their nation at the height of the Cold War and a time of great social change.

"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."

"We Shall Fight On The Beaches"

Winston churchill, 1940.

"We shall fight on the beaches" is the popular title given to the speech delivered by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the UK’s Parliament on June 4, 1940. He gave this speech around the time when Nazi Germany was invading many countries in Europe. In it, Churchill declared that British troops “shall go on to the end” in the face of Nazi aggression.

Related: Inspiring Winston Churchill Quotes That Will Help You Maintain a Stiff Upper Lip

With the threat of a Nazi invasion forthcoming, Churchill promised his nation would fight, alone if need be, and remain resilient. His words were designed to prompt a sense of security in the British people and inspire British troops, without which history would have been different. This strong speech was not just crucial for Churchill but also for the international stage, with America yet to enter the war.

“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...”

Democratic National Convention Keynote Address

Barack obama, 2004.

Rising political star Barack Obama was just a candidate for the United States Senate when he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention on July 27, 2004. However, his speech left a mark in the history of America. At the time, Obama was an upcoming politician gaining popularity in the state of Illinois.  His speech that day paved the way for him to become the first Black President of the United States. But why did his address have so much significance?

First of all, it was the quality of the writing, which Obama himself handled. Secondly, it was the message of the keynote address; he reminded Americans of what they had in common rather than their differences.

"Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us...Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America. There's not a Black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America."

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Top 10 Greatest Speeches

As the political season heats up, TIME takes a tour of history's best rhetoric

John F. Kennedy

click here for part 2

Inaugural Address, 1961

In a relatively brief address that he spent two months crafting, Kennedy —at 43, the youngest president elected to the office and the first Roman Catholic — stressed the importance of national service.

Best Line : "My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."

Next Martin Luther King, Jr.

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What Are the Three Greatest Speeches of All Time?

COMMENTARY: Look to St. Ignatius of Antioch for the answer.

It is a daunting task to come up with the three greatest speeches of all time. But people love such lists, and I have my own. 

My choice for the three greatest speeches, in order, is Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” Winston Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat,” and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream.” I did not include the Sermon on the Mount despite its monumental significance because I regard it as a “sermon” rather than as a “speech.” This list will not meet with universal agreement, but it may be a good starting point for animated discussion. Nonetheless, we may ask, what three speeches were more influential than the triad that I propose? I rest my case.

On second thought, however, and as the result of doing some investigative research, I must defer to that supreme list maker, Ignatius, the third bishop of Antioch, who was born in Syria around the year A.D. 35 and is believed to have been a student of St. John the Apostle. If there is any quarreling about the three greatest speeches, Ignatius has put the issue to rest for all time. The good bishop of Antioch has proposed that the three greatest speeches of all time belong to the same orator, namely, God.

Now, if God is the “Word,” we should expect that he would speak. Furthermore, his speaking would be arranged as speeches. And what are his three greatest speeches? The first speech was delivered on Day One and was rather lengthy both in time and in space. In fact, it is perpetually available to us. In a word, for Bishop Ignatius, it is Creation .

To listen to this speech, we must be silent. Creation is an unusual form of speech because we do not hear it directly, but through the animals, plants, stars and planets, in their various modes of limited expression. We hear the Speech of Creation indirectly through God’s creatures and everything else he created. 

The besetting sin of the modern world is the reduction of Creation to mere nature. This effectively shuts out God’s voice. Best-selling author Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion , contends that at bottom, the universe is “nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.” Philosopher Daniel Dennett, author of Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, calls DNA a “mindless scrap of molecular machinery” that is “the ultimate basis of all agency, and hence meaning, and hence consciousness, in the universe.”

The second of the three greatest speeches for Ignatius is Scripture, in which God speaks directly to man. However, certain scholars have reduced the Word of God to a mere collection of historical texts that are no longer relevant in today’s world. Scripture, then, is liberally re-interpreted, revised and de-constructed. The Bible, for many, is out of date and its adherents may face fines or even imprisonment for quoting specific passages that do not square with contemporary preferences.

The Bible, consequently, is reduced to literature and is regarded as having no more authority than anyone’s opinion. And so, the modern world is blind to the fact that the Bible is a speech that is offered to us by God.

Finally, the third of the greatest speeches is the Incarnation . Here, the Word is given flesh in the form of Christ as a human being. It is the culmination of God’s speaking to us and responds to our deepest hunger. 

Unfortunately, those who understand this third speech are criticized as backward, illiberal and irrelevant. The “liberal” view of the Incarnation welcomes a remodeled Christ who emphasizes the importance of this world while downplaying the next.

God’s first speech speaks to man’s senses, the second to his intellect, the third to his heart. The rejection of each of these speeches is tantamount to a rejection of one’s self. Without the proper operation of his senses, intellect and heart, man ceases to be man. 

The three speeches affirm man in his wholeness. Willful blindness or deafness to any of these speeches is a rejection of both man and God. Here is the great tragedy of the modern world. “We are no longer able to hear God,” commented Pope Benedict XVI. “There are too many different frequencies filling our ears.” The only frequency to which we should tune our ears is the one that is broadcast from heaven.

God’s three speeches are important forms of communication. In ascending order, the first elicits reverence, the recognition that the created world is majestic and inspires awe. The second, in accord with the Ten Commandments, commands obedience to God’s law. The third speech directs us to love God and neighbor. Together they provide all that is needed for human beings to fulfill themselves and, at the same time, be united with their Creator.

Creative listening is our surest road to personal happiness. And yet, we persist in listening to the voice of the world urging us to be independent and do things “our way.”

In the silence that comes from humility, we begin to see the God-given beauty of nature, the wisdom of Scripture, and the love of Jesus Christ. We may begin listening to God by first listening to the wisdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch.  

• free speech
• divine revelation
• god's will
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Donald DeMarco Donald DeMarco, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow of Human Life International. He is professor emeritus at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario, an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College in Cromwell, Connecticut, and a regular columnist for St. Austin Review. His latest works, How to Remain Sane in a World That is Going Mad ; Poetry that Enters the Mind and Warms the Heart ; and How to Flourish in a Fallen World are available through Amazon.com. Some of his recent writings may be found at Human Life International’s Truth and Charity Forum. He is the 2015 Catholic Civil Rights League recipient of the prestigious Exner Award.

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“I’d Like to Thank…”: The Most Memorable Oscars Speeches of All Time

From the empowering to the hilarious to the downright controversial.

It’s nearly time for the 96th Academy Awards, and we’re all excited to see which of the 2024 nominees will end up bringing home the gold . But aside from judging looks on the red carpet and anticipating who’ll win big, there’s plenty of fun to be had in watching the actual speeches. After all, when a star delivers an Oscars speech, they’ve got the undivided attention of the film industry (and a hefty slice of the viewing public). And there’s no telling exactly what an actor will do with that power… 

If you think the acceptances are a snoozefest, allow us to remind you of some pretty game-changing Oscars speeches. Some include empowering words from trailblazing performers who want you to know that they’ve made history. Other actors use their time onstage to promote a political cause that needs more exposure. Then there are the total hams, who add some levity to a sometimes-dreary ceremony. And of course, there are the outliers that are just plain weird . So take a walk down memory lane and remember — at the Oscars, anything can happen.

The Most Memorable Oscars Acceptance Speeches

Shirley maclaine.

When Shirley MacLaine accepted the 1984 Best Actress Oscar for Terms of Endearment , she opened her tearful, heartfelt, and sassy speech with, “I’m going to cry because this [ceremony] has been as long as my career.” (An iconic line, to say the least.) “I have wondered for 26 years what this would feel like,” she continued. “Thank you so much for terminating the suspense.” 

Continuing her hilarious and bitingly honest repartee, she explained her take on manifestation (she was ahead of her time!), success, and her “middle-aged joy” at being able to do a raunchy scene with Jack Nicholson. She wrapped it up by saying, “I deserve this. Thank you.” We just can’t get enough of that confidence.

Marlon Brando

At the 45th Academy Awards, silver screen legend Marlon Brando won Best Actor for his performance in The Godfather. Unlike most actors, however, Brando wasn’t thrilled to receive the trophy. He was so ambivalent, in fact, that he sent Sacheen Littlefeather — an Apache woman and president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee — in his stead. Littlefeather refused the award at Brando’s request because of “the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry.” The speech was controversial at the time — she was both booed and applauded as she spoke. Plus, her words have remained contentious in the 21st Century, thanks to Littlefeather’s disputed Native ancestry . 

If you know anything about actress and activist Jane Fonda , then you know that she doesn’t shy away from controversy . In her 1979 acceptance speech for Best Actress (she won for her performance in Coming Home ), Fonda spoke while delivering her entire speech in sign language. “I’m signing part of what I’m saying tonight because while we were making the movie, we all became more aware of the problems of the handicapped. Over 14 million people are deaf. They are the invisible handicapped and can’t share this evening. So this is my way of acknowledging them.” The Academy Awards lacked closed captioning back then, so Fonda’s gesture was inclusionary and forward-thinking for the time. 

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

Though they’re both famous actors, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won Best Original Screenplay together in 1997 (to jog your memory, they penned Good Will Hunting ). Their speech was an immediate mess of chaos, as the pair shouted out thank yous, talking over each other and yelling at an increasingly quick pace. After thanking the whole city of Boston, the pair stumbled over one another to scream, “Whoever we forgot, we love you!” Hey, we admire their awareness of those infamous speech time limits. 

Halle Berry

In 2002, Halle Berry accepted the Best Actress award for her performance in Monster’s Ball . She was the first Black woman to win this prize; in her gripping speech, she tearfully acknowledged the rich history of the Black actresses who had come before her. “’This moment is so much bigger than me,” she said, before listing Black screen icons who’d paved the way for her success. “It’s for every faceless, nameless, woman of color who now has the chance because this door tonight has been opened,” she sobbed. 

Hattie McDaniel

Speaking of groundbreaking actresses, in 1940, Hattie McDaniel won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Gone with the Wind . She was the first Black actor to win an Academy Award. “This is one of the happiest moments of my life,” McDaniel said while accepting the trophy. 

It’s notable, however, that McDaniel’s presence in the room wasn’t necessarily exemplary of Hollywood’s progressive values: The ceremony was held at a segregated hotel, and producer David O. Selznick had to request that McDaniel be allowed into the hotel’s nightclub to receive her hard-won award . And at the event, McDaniel was seated separately from her co-stars. The film industry clearly had a long way to go — and remains troubled by a legacy of discrimination in the 21st Century . 

Roberto Benigni

When most performers win an Oscar, they try to ascend to the stage with stoic grace. When Roberto Benigni won the Best Actor award for Life is Beautiful in 1999, he did not stick to the program. The Italian performer enthusiastically hugged whoever was in reach, a beaming grin plastered to his face (a momentary, light bout of jogging was also involved). 

Once onstage, Benigni effused, “This is a terrible mistake because I used up all my English!” He then proceeded to stammer a heavily accented deluge of joyful exclamations that include something about the planet Jupiter and “a mountain of snow.” If you want to experience true gratitude in its purest form, look no further than this speech.

Michelle Yeoh

In 2023, Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once . She was the first Asian woman to win it — a full 96 years after the first Academy Award ceremony (which, wow ). Given the historic moment, Yeoh fittingly proclaimed that her win was bigger than herself: “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities.” As a 60 year-old actress, she also added, “Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you’re past your prime.” Hear, hear!

Ke Huy Quan

Also at the 95th Oscars, Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor —  also for his role in Everything Everywhere All at Once . A sobbing Quan ascended the stage and delivered a rousing speech, proclaiming that “My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp. And somehow, I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage. They say stories like this only happen in the movies, I cannot believe that it’s happening to me. This is the American dream.” If your family has its own American dream story, you’ll appreciate this one. 

Olivia Colman

In 2019, Olivia Colman nabbed the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in The Favourite . She started her speech with a cheeky line: “It’s genuinely quite stressful. This is hilarious. I’ve got an Oscar.” She rattled off a long list of thank yous — and when signaled to “wrap it up,” she stuck her tongue out at the teleprompter and blew a raspberry. Overwhelmed, she then pointed into the crowd and sputtered, “Lady Gaga!” at the songstress herself. If you think you’d dither under the pressure onstage at the Oscars, you’ll definitely relate. 

Daniel Kaluuya

If you love a mix of heartfelt emotion and slightly sordid comedy, look no further than Daniel Kaluuya accepting the Best Supporting Actor award for Judas and the Black Messiah . In his speech, he thanked his mother — a classic, no? Well, Kaluuya took a…different spin on that expected sentiment when he mused, “My mum and my dad…they had sex. It’s amazing! I’m here!” Well, you can’t say he’s wrong about the logistics. 

Heath Ledger

Here’s a sad one: In 2009, Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for his star turn in The Dark Knight . But the actor had passed away the year prior. The award was received on Ledger’s behalf by his father, mother, and sister. The trio, understandably, ascended the stage very stoically. Ledger’s mother said, “Tonight we are choosing to celebrate and be happy for what he has achieved.” They accepted the award on behalf of Matilda, the daughter Ledger shared with actress Michelle Williams.

Barry Jenkins

Here’s a pick that isn’t awarding a particular performer — that said, it included an emotional speech given truly on the fly. The year was 2017, and the Best Picture award was clearly either going to the upbeat and fun musical, La La Land , or the very serious and touching Moonlight . Presenter Faye Dunaway announced that La La Land had won — but a couple of minutes (and a bit of commotion) later, producer Jordan Horowitz corrected the mistake: “ Moonlight , you guys won Best Picture. This is not a joke.”

Moonlight director and writer Barry Jenkins took to the stage and proclaimed, “Very clearly, even in my dreams this could not be true. But to hell with dreams, I’m done with it, because this is true. Oh my goodness.” It was a cinematic moment — and one that still inspires talk of conspiracies (though that’s a whole separate article).

Tilda Swinton

Very few acceptance speeches mention nipples, but at least one does. In 2008, Tilda Swinton accepted the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Michael Clayton . After wryly comparing the “buttocks” of her new statue to those of her American agent, she thanked George Clooney for “the seriousness and the dedication to your art. Seeing you climb into that rubber bat suit from Batman & Robin , the one with the nipples, every morning under your costume, on the set, off the set, hanging upside-down at lunch. You rock, man.” Well, that’s one way to accept a once-in-a-lifetime award. 

Viola Davis

Can you really assemble an awards show speech list without including Viola Davis? (It feels both immoral and illegal.) In 2017, Davis won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Fences . She started her speech by saying, “There is one place that all the people with the greatest potential are gathered. One place. And that’s the graveyard.” 

She went on to clarify her desire to tell the stories of those people who had passed away without seeing their dreams come to fruition. “People ask me all the time, ‘What kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola?’ And I say, ‘Exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories.’” Davis explained that part of the joy of being an actor is getting to enact the lives of ordinary people. Since these speeches usually revolve around the honorees, it’s amazing that someone of Davis’ reputation and talent drew attention to those we don’t see on Hollywood stages. 

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The best Oscar acceptance speeches of all time, from Meryl Streep to Olivia Colman

What makes an exemplary Oscar speech?

That’s the million-dollar question facing each new crop of winners , who are frequently tasked with finding new things to say at the Academy Awards ( airing Sunday on ABC ) after a monthslong parade of awards shows. Brad Pitt , Ke Huy Quan and Daniel Kaluuya nailed the assignment in recent years, giving speeches that struck an endearing balance of humor and sincerity, but always with a dash of the unexpected.  

Many winners opt for a timely message, while others resort to rattling off a list of names. But after years of watching innumerable speeches, here are those in a category all their own:

10. Meryl Streep (2012)

Did Meryl Streep really need her third Oscar win for, of all films, “The Iron Lady?” Not really. She was the weakest contender for best actress that year, and her earlier nods for “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Doubt” and “Julie & Julia” were more deserving. But her pitch-perfect speech made up for it: She’s at once self-deprecating, joking that “half of America” groaned when her name was called. Streep then gets sentimental, reflecting on the community she has cultivated over 40 years in Hollywood. “I look out here, and I see my life before my eyes,” she said. “My friends, thank you, all of you – departed and here – for this inexplicably wonderful career.”

9. Joe Pesci (1991)

Patty Duke (“T he Miracle Worker”) and Rita Moreno (“West Side Story”) memorably delivered some of the shortest speeches in Oscar history. But it’s hard to top Joe Pesci, who charmingly maintained his tough-guy persona with a five-word address as he accepted best supporting actor for “Goodfellas.” “It’s my privilege. Thank you,” he said, flashing a sheepish grin before ducking offstage.

8. Anna Paquin (1994)

Rule of thumb: Every Oscar speech should start with at least 20 seconds of gleeful hyperventilating. Taking best supporting actress for “The Piano,” 11-year-old Anna Paquin spent most of her time onstage in stunned excitement , wide-eyed and gulping before letting out a quick “thank you” to the motion picture academy. Her iconic outfit – a purple vest and bejeweled beanie – is the cherry on top of an already adorable moment.

7. Hattie McDaniel (1940)

Sixty years before Halle Berry’s emotional win for best actress , Hattie McDaniel made Oscar history as the first Black honoree, earning best supporting actress for “Gone With the Wind.” The moment’s weight was not lost on the ever-poised McDaniel, who was seated in a far corner of the room away from the event’s white guests. “I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry. My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel ,” she said, burying her face in a handkerchief as she exited the stage.

6. Michael Caine (2000)

Winners often acknowledge their fellow nominees with a few obligatory words. But accepting best supporting actor for “The Cider House Rules,” Michael Caine graciously spent his whole speech fêting the young men in his category , including Tom Cruise (“Magnolia”), Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile”), Jude Law (“The Talented Mr. Ripley”) and 11-year-old Haley Joel Osment (“The Sixth Sense”). “Haley, when I saw you, I thought, ‘Well, that's me out of it,’ ” Caine said, earning laughs. “I'm basically up here, guys, to represent you as what I hope you will all be: a survivor.”

5. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (1997)

Tinseltown’s favorite bros were delightfully unbridled as they accepted the statuette for best original screenplay for “Good Will Hunting.” “I just said to Matt, 'Losing would suck and winning would be really scary ,' ” Affleck quipped. They proceeded to ping-pong names back and forth, shouting and pointing at their families like an impromptu wedding toast. “And thank you so much to the city of Boston!” Affleck breathlessly concluded, a hilarious chef’s kiss from Beantown's unofficial spokesman .

4. Ruth Gordon (1969)

Ruth Gordon is deliciously unsettling in “Rosemary’s Baby,” which makes her warm and scintillating speech that much more amusing. “I can’t tell you how encouraging a thing like this is!” the supporting actress winner exclaimed, looking back on her 50-year career and wondering why “it took me so long.” “Thank all of you who voted for me,” she said with a smile. “And all of you who didn’t, please excuse me!”

3. Cuba Gooding Jr. (1997)

Accepting the award for best supporting actor for “Jerry Maguire,” Cuba Gooding summoned the sort of TV magic that we all tune in for but rarely get . What begins as your standard feel-good speech soon becomes a race against the playoff music to thank as many people as possible. “Oh, my goodness! Here we are!” Gooding yells giddily, triumphantly jumping and fist-pumping the air. His palpable joy is infectious, bringing the entire crowd to its feet by his dozenth proclamation of “I love you!”

2. Louise Fletcher (1976)

With just 22 minutes of screen time, Louise Fletcher won best actress for playing the venomous Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” She began by thanking voters with a joke about her chilling performance: “All I can say is I've loved being hated by you.” But what makes this speech an all-timer is Fletcher’s moving pivot to sign language, choking up as she pays tribute to her deaf parents : “I want to say thank you for teaching me to have a dream. You are seeing my dream come true.”

1. Olivia Colman (2019)

Accepting best actress for “The Favourite,” Olivia Colman gave us everything we could want in an Oscar win: tears, laughter, amazement and a frenzied air-kiss to Lady Gaga. “It’s genuinely quite stressful,” Colman said as she took the stage, beaming as she pointed to her statue. “This is hilarious!” The beloved Brit zigzags through a marathon of emotions: crying as she thanks her husband and kids, and recalling her humble start as a cleaner. She also takes a beat to recognize Glenn Close, the award’s presumed front-runner and an eight-time Oscar nominee. ( “You’ve been my idol for so long and this is not how I wanted it to be!” ) Cheeky, heartfelt and endlessly rewatchable, Colman delivered the kind of speech that reminds us why we love awards season so much.

21 Of The Most Iconic And Memorable Oscars Acceptance Speeches Of All Time

From the hilarious to the tear-jerkers, here's a list of the best speeches of all time.

Let's not forget that these are actors and therefore people who make money from being dramatic or creating drama for a living.

So, is it really any surprise that when these actors win the highest honour in their field, things get very intense very quickly?

From Gwyneth Paltrow sobbing in a pink princess dress to Michael Moore berating George Bush, in celebration of the 96th Academy Awards (March 10), let's take a look back at some of the most memorable Oscars speeches from throughout the years ...

The Most Empowering Oscars Speeches

Michelle yeoh - best actress in a leading role, 2023.

Michelle Yeoh became the first asian woman to win the Best Actress In A Leading Role accolade for her part in Everything Everywhere All at Once at the 95th Academy Awards.

In a rousing speech the 60 year-old star told the audience: 'Thank you for all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities.'

Holding up her gold Oscar she exclaimed: 'This is proof that dream big and dreams do come true, and ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you’re past your prime.'

'This is history in the making,' Yeoh rightly said.

Ariana DeBose - Best Supporting Actress, 2022

West Side Story star Ariana DeBose gave an empowering and heartfelt speech when accepting her 'Best Supporting Actress' accolade at the 94th Academy Awards.

She spoke proudly of being an 'openly queer woman of colour' and told the audience 'there is indeed a place for us'.

Referring to her early days as a performer, she said: 'Imagine this little girl in the back seat of a white Ford Focus, look into her eyes.

'You see an openly queer woman of colour, an Afro-Latina, who found her strength in life through art. And that is, I think, what we’re here to celebrate.'

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste - Best Original Score, 2021

Zendaya presented the trio with the Oscar for Best Original Score for their animated film Soul at the 93rd Oscars.

'You know what’s deep is God gave us 12 notes, it’s the same 12 notes that Duke Ellington had, that Bach had, Nina Simone,' Ross began.

'I want to point out that every gift is special. Every contribution with music that comes from the divine into the instruments into the film, into the minds, hearts and souls of every person who hears it, the stories that happen when you listen to it and watch it and the stories you share, the moments you make, the memories you create, man, it’s just so incredibly special. It’s just so incredibly special… we’re incredibly humbled and thankful. I’m thankful to God for those 12 notes.'

Lupita Nyong'o - Best Supporting Actress Oscars Speech, 2014

Nyong'o glided up to accept her award for her role in the harrowing Steve McQueen movie 12 Years A Slave, looking radiant wearing a Prada dress and headband which only added to the angelic nature of the speech. Nyong'o thanked McQueen and her co-stars so authentically before paying tribute to her brother and best friend and ending with a message to the audience, 'May this remind you that no matter where you are from, your dreams are valid.'

John Legend and Common - Best Original Song Oscars Speech, 2015

After a searing performance of their song 'Glory', which accompanied Ava DuVernay's Martin Luther King Jr. drama Selma , John Legend and Common took to the stage to accept their Oscar. The duo spoke about the parallels between the march for equal rights and justice acknowledged in the film and song and the people who continue fighting for their rights today. Legend used his platform to highlight the injustices in the American judicial system and urge for criminal justice reform.

Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney - Best Adapted Screenplay, 2017

The Moonlight director and writer gave an impassioned acceptance speech, encouraging young Black and LGBTQ+ people watching to have the confidence to tell their stories.

'This goes out to all those Black and brown boys and girls and non-gender conforming who don't see themselves, we're trying to show you, you and us. So thank you, this is for you,' said McCraney.

While Jenkins reminded viewers that the Academy and ACLU - America's biggest civil rights organisation - were there for them saying, 'All those people out there who feel like there's no mirror for you and your life is not reflected... we have your back and for the next four years we will not leave you alone and will not forget you.' Later on in the night, the two returned to the stage to accept the award for Best Picture, though were ultimately and understandably caught off guard after La La Land was announced as the wrong winner.

Frances McDormand - Best Actress Oscar Speech, 2018

'I'm hyperventilating a little bit, if I fall over pick me up because I've got some things to say,' began McDormand before paying tribute to her Three Billboards colleagues, her husband Joel Cohen and son Pedro McDormand Cohen before asking all the female nominees from every category in the room to stand with her. 'Meryl if you do it, everyone else will,' she said to Streep in the front row.

She then proceeded to educate ask the men in the room to meet with all the women they see standing to listen to their career ambitions and projects before mentioning two words, and subsequently enticing the audience at home to Google rapidly, 'inclusion rider' - a clause in an actor/filmmaker's contract that ensures a certain level of diversity in the cast and crew on a production.

The Most Entertaining Oscars Speeches

Ben affleck and matt damon - best original screenplay oscars speech, 1997.

Aged just 25 and 27, childhood friends Affleck and Damon won an Oscar for writing their film, Good Will Hunting. The pair shouted their speech, as they reeled off people to thank from Minnie Driver to Robin Williams to their mothers, escalated in volume as they became more excitable and aware of the time limit.

Julia Roberts - Best Actress Oscars Speech, 2001

The actress won the Best Actress Academy Award for portraying environmental lawyer Erin Brockovich in 2001 and accepted it with a hilarious speech which alternated between thanking everyone Roberts has ever met (she literally thanks 'anyone I've ever met in my whole life') at one point and battling with the behind the scenes Oscars crew keeping time on her speech: 'Man with the stick I see you!'

Olivia Colman - Best Actress Oscars Speech, 2019

When Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell announced the former Peep Show star as the winner and she was stunned into the backs of her seat, while being embraced and kissed by her husband, Ed on one side and a weeping Emma Stone on the other, we knew this was going to be a great speech.

Colman did not disappoint, starting her speech with, 'It's genuinely quite stressful, this is hilarious, I've got an Oscar', before poking her tongue out at the teleprompter when she was told to wrap up and simply pointing and saying 'Lady Gaga' at the star and her fellow nominee in the front row.

Daniel Kaluuya - Best Supporting Actor Speech, 2021

During the ceremony, the British actor won the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah. In his speech he paid tribute to Chairman Fred Hampton, who he portrayed in the film, and his work in civil rights.

But he then thanked his parents in what could quite possibly be the funniest shoutout in Oscars' history.

‘I’d like to thank my mum,’ he said. ‘You gave me everything. You gave me your factory settings. So I could stand at my fullest height. Thank you so much for showing me myself, and there’s so much work to do. That’s on everyone in this room. This ain’t no single man job. I look at every single one of you. We’ve got work to do.'

At the end of his speech, the star thanked his parents for bringing him into the world, much to his family's shock, who were watching the ceremony live in London.

‘My mum and my dad...they had sex. It's amazing! I'm here!’ he said, before the crowd went wild with applause.

The Most Emotional Oscars Speeches

Troy kotsur - best supporting actor, 2022.

The actor collected his award for Coda , and made history as the first male deaf actor to win an Academy Award.

'It’s a tough journey as a Deaf actor,' he said during his speech. 'There’s so few opportunities out there, and [Marlee Matlin, his Coda co-star] kept on going. She was persistent. And then so was I with my own career as a stage actor. So here I am today.”

The actor continued, paying tribute to his father: 'My dad, he was the best signer in our family. But he was in a car accident, and he became paralysed from the neck down. And he no longer was able to sign. Dad, I learned so much from you. I’ll always love you. You are my hero.'

Gwyneth Paltrow - Best Actress Oscars Speech, 1999

Paltrow was famously tearful when she won an Oscar for her role in Shakespeare In Love in 1999. The star became the most emotional when paying tribute to her father Bruce Paltrow, who was in the audience with her mother Blythe Danner, and who was diagnosed with oral cancer in 1999. Paltrow passed away from cancer complications in 2002 aged 58.

Halle Berry - Best Actress Oscars Speech, 2002

Berry had tears running down her face when she reached the stage to accept her Academy Award for Monster's Ball , becoming the first Black woman to win the Best Actress award in the process. 'This moment is so much bigger than me,' Berry said as she struggled to speak through tears while recounting her acting heroes. 'It's for every faceless, nameless, woman of colour who now has the chance because this door tonight has been opened.'

Jamie Foxx - Best Actor Oscar Speech, 2005

Starting with some Ray Charles vocals in homage to the singer he portrayed in the Oscar-winning film, Foxx then thanked his daughter (who he brought to the Oscars that night) for telling him just before the award, 'If you don't win Dad, you're still good', before a heartfelt tribute to his grandmother, Marie, where Foxx struggled to hold back tears.

Heath Ledger - Best Supporting Actors Oscars Speech, 2009

In 2009, Ledger was posthumously awarded an Oscar for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight , a year after his death. The award was received on his behalf by his family, who said they had been 'truly overwhelmed' by the honour and respect attributed to Ledger and accepted it on behalf of his daughter with Michelle Williams, Matilda.

Viola Davis - Best Supporting Actress Oscar Speech, 2017

Davis was overcome with emotion as she delivered her Oscars speech for her role in Fences in 2017, especially when talking about the impact of her parents on her life and career. Emma Stone looked particularly teary-eyed at the end when Davis paid tribute to her husband Julius Tennon and their children. 'I'm so glad you are the foundation of my life,' Davis said as she wrapped up her speech.

The Most Political Oscars Speeches

Marlon brando - best actor oscars speech, 1973.

The actor won his award for The Godfather in 1973 however declined his award and gave the opportunity for a speech to actress Sacheen Littlefeather, who used the platform to criticise the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood. She passed on the message that Brando couldn't accept the award because of the 'treatment of American Indians today by the film industry and on television and movie reruns'.

Michael Moore - Best Documentary Oscars Speech, 2003

Accepting his award for gun-control documentary Bowling for Columbine, director Michael Moore used his time on stage to criticise the George Bush presidency and Iraq War.

An impassioned Moore raised his voice as he said, 'Shame on you Mr Bush' while the audience roundly booed (though some applause was had) and high-profile celebrities like Adrien Brody looked on awkwardly.

Writing about his Oscars speech for The Hollywood Reporter, in 2017, Moore said: ' Later, my wife and I walked over to the Governors Ball. When I walked in, it was like the Red Sea parting. No one there wanted to be anywhere near the guy who got booed off the stage. One board member told me, "Wow, you really know how to ruin a standing ovation."'

However, he caveated that over the years he has a lot more of a positive reception to his speech than on the night in 2003.

Leonardo DiCaprio - Best Actor Oscar Speech, 2016

In 2016, the world waited with baited breath to see if The Revenant star would finally win an Oscar many thought he should have received years before. He did and nailed his speech in the process, using the platform to eloquently pay tribute to and urge protection of indigenous people while also asking for action on Climate Change, which he called 'the most urgent threat facing our entire species'.

Oh, we can't wait for the Oscars this weekend.

The Sweetest Oscars Speech

Brendan fraser - best actor oscar speech, 2023.

Brendan Fraser won the Oscar for Best Actor for his leading role in The Whale at the 95th Academy Awards. The actor came to the podium with tears in his eyes, and relayed a moving, whale and water themed speech that had everyone in the audience moved, telling his co-workers for the film: 'you laid your whale-sized hearts bare so we could see into your souls like no one else.'

Fraser found success in the late 1990s and 2000s, but after 20 years Fraser has experienced something of a comeback, telling the audience at the Oscars: ' Things they didn’t come easily to me...I just want to say thank you for this acknowledgement.'

Emerald Fennell - Best Original Screenplay Oscar Speech, 2021

Emerald Fennell won the Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay for Promising Young Woman at the 93 rd Oscars, and adorably began her acceptance speech by revealing that she hadn’t actually written anything to say.

‘They said write a speech and I didn’t, because I just didn’t think this would happen, and I’m going to be in trouble with [producer] Stephen Soderbergh,’ she admitted.

‘He’s so heavy and he’s so cold!’ she joked about her Oscar on picking it up, adding: ‘So, the only speech I ever wrote was when I was 10, soI had a look to see if there was anything useful from it, but it mostly thanked Zack Morris from Saved By The Bell , my very supportive husband. ‘Unfortunately, he hasn’t been as much a part of my life as I’d hoped, and so that speech is not that useful.’

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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Remarks by President   Biden in State of the Union   Address

U.S. Capitol Washington, D.C. (March 7, 2024)

9:26 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT:  (The President presents his prepared remarks to Speaker Johnson.)  Your bedtime reading.  Tony!  (Applause.)  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Looking for Jill.  (Applause.) Good evening.  (Applause.)  Good evening.  If I were smart, I’d go home now.  (Laughter and applause.) Mr. Speaker, Madam Vice President, members of Congress, my fellow Americans. In January 1941, Franklin Roosevelt came to this chamber to speak to the nation.  And he said, “I address you at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union”.  Hitler was on the march.  War was raging in Europe. President Roosevelt’s purpose was to wake up Congress and alert the American people that this was no ordinary time.  Freedom and democracy were under assault in the world. Tonight, I come to the same chamber to address the nation.  Now it’s we who face an unprecedented moment in the history of the Union.  And, yes, my purpose tonight is to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this is no ordinary moment either.  Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today. What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack at — both at home and overseas at the very same time.  Overseas, Putin of Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond. If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you: He will not.  (Applause.)  But Ukraine — Ukraine can stop Putin.  (Applause.)  Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons that it needs to defend itself.  (Applause.)  That is all — that is all Ukraine is asking.  They’re not asking for American soldiers.  In fact, there are no American soldiers at war in Ukraine, and I’m determined to keep it that way.  (Applause.)  But now assistance to Ukraine is being blocked by those who want to walk away from our world leadership. It wasn’t long ago when a Republican president named Ronald Reagan thundered, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”  (Applause.)  Now — now my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, quote, “Do whatever the hell you want.”  AUDIENCE:  Booo — THE PRESIDENT:  That’s a quote. A former president actually said that — bowing down to a Russian leader.  I think it’s outrageous, it’s dangerous, and it’s unacceptable.  (Applause.)  America is a founding member of NATO, the military alliance of democratic nations created after World War Two prevent — to prevent war and keep the peace. And today, we’ve made NATO stronger than ever.  We welcomed Finland to the Alliance last year.  (Applause.)  And just this morning, Sweden officially joined, and their minister is here tonight.  Stand up.  (Applause.)  Welcome.  Welcome, welcome, welcome.  (Applause.)  And they know how to fight. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to NATO, the strongest military alliance the world has ever seen. I say this to Congress: We have to stand up to Putin.  (Applause.)  Send me a bipartisan national security bill.  History is literally watching.  History is watching. If the United States walks away, it will put Ukraine at risk.  Europe is at risk.  The free world will be at risk, emboldening others to do what they wish to do us harm. My message to President Putin, who I’ve known for a long time, is simple: We will not walk away.  (Applause.)  We will not bow down.  (Applause.)  I will not bow down.  (Applause.)  In a literal sense, history is watching.  History is watching — just like history watched three years ago on January 6th — (applause) — when insurrectionists stormed this very Capitol and placed a dagger to the throat of American democracy. Many of you were here on that darkest of days.  We all saw with our own eyes the insurrectionists were not patriots.  They had come to stop the peaceful transfer of power, to overturn the will of the people. January 6th lies about the 2020 election and the plots to steal the election posed a great — gravest threat to U.S. democracy since the Civil War.  But they failed.  (Applause.)  America stood — (applause) — America stood strong and democracy prevailed.  We must be honest: The threat to democracy must be defended [defeated]. My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th.  I will not do that. This is a moment to speak the truth and to bury the lies.  Here’s the simple truth: You can’t love your country only when you win.  (Applause.) As I’ve done ever since being elected to office, I ask all of you, without regard to party, to join together and defend democracy.  Remember your oath of office to defend against all threats foreign and domestic.  (Applause.)  Respect — respect free and fair elections, restore trust in our institutions, and make clear political violence has absolutely no place — no place in America.  Zero place.  (Applause.) Again, it’s not — it’s not hyperbole to suggest history is watching.  They’re watching.  Your children and grandchildren will read about this day and what we do.  History is watching another assault on freedom.  Joining us tolight [tonight] is Latorya Beasley, a social worker from Birmingham, Alabama.  Fourteen months ago — fourteen months ago, she and her husband welcomed a baby girl thanks to the miracle of IVF.  (Applause.)  She scheduled treatments to have that second child, but the Alabama Supreme Court shut down IVF treatments across the state, unleashed by a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.  She was told her dream would have to wait. What her family had gone through should never have happened.  Unless Congress acts, it could happen again.  So, tonight, let’s stand up for families like hers.  To my friends across the aisle — (applause) — don’t keep this waiting any longer.  Guarantee the right to IVF.  (Applause.)  Guarantee it nationwide. Like most Americans, I believe Roe v. Wade got it right. I thank Vice President Harris for being an incredible leader defending reproductive freedom and so much more.  (Applause.)  Thank you. My predecessor came to office determined to see Roe v. Wade overturned.  He’s the reason it was overturned, and he brags about it.  Look at the chaos that has resulted. Joining us tonight is Kate Cox, a wife and mother from Dallas.  She’d become pregnant again and had a fetus with a fatal condition.  Her doctor told Kate that her own life and her ability to have future in the fil- — children in the future were at risk if she didn’t act.  Because Texas law banned her ability to act, Kate and her husband had to leave the state to get what she needed. What her family had gone through should have never happened as well.  But it’s happening to too many others. There are state laws banning the freedom to choose, criminalizing doctors, forcing survivors of rape and incest to leave their states to get the treatment they need. Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom. AUDIENCE:  Booo — THE PRESIDENT:  My God, what freedom else would you take away? Look, its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court majority wrote the following — and with all due respect, Justices — “Women are not without electoral — electoral power” — excuse me — “electoral or political power.” You’re about to realize just how much you were right about that.  (Applause.) Clearly — (applause) — clearly, those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women. But they found out.  When reproductive freedom was on the ballot, we won in 2022 and 2023.  And we’ll win again in 2024.  (Applause.) If you — if you, the American people, send me a Congress that supports the right to choose, I promise you I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again.  (Applause.) Folks, America cannot go back. I am here to- — tonight to show what I believe is the way forward, because I know how far we’ve come.  Four years ago next week, before I came to office, the country was hit by the worst pandemic and the worst economic crisis in a century.  Remember the fear, record losses?  Remember the spikes in crime and the murder rate?  A raging virus that took more than 1 million American lives of loved ones, millions left behind.  A mental health crisis of isolation and loneliness.  A president, my predecessor, failed in the most basic presidential duty that he owes to American people: the duty to care.  AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Lies! THE PRESIDENT:  I think that’s unforgivable. I came to office determined to get us through one of the toughest periods in the nation’s history.  We have. It doesn’t make new, but in a — news — in a thousand cities and towns, the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told.  (Applause.)  So, let’s tell the story here — tell it here and now. America’s comeback is building a future of American possibilities; building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down; investing in all of America, in all Americans to make every- — sure everyone has a fair shot and we leave no one — no one behind. The pandemic no longer controls our lives.  The vaccine that saved us from COVID is — are now being used to beat cancer. Turning setback into comeback.  That’s what America does.  That’s what America does.  (Applause.) Folks, I inherited an economy that was on the brink.  Now, our economy is literally the envy of the world.  Fifteen million new jobs in just three years.  A record.  A record.  (Applause.) Unemployment at 50-year lows.  (Applause.) A record 16 million Americans are starting small businesses, and each one is a literal act of hope, with historic job growth and small-business growth for Black and Hispanics and Asian Americans.  Eight hundred thousand new manufacturing jobs in America and counting.  (Applause.) Where is it written we can’t be the manufacturing capital of the world?  We are and we will.  (Applause.) More people have health insurance today — more people have health insurance today than ever before.  The racial wealth gap is the smallest it’s been in 20 years.  Wages keep going up.  Inflation keeps coming down.  Inflation has dropped from 9 percent to 3 percent — the lowest in the world and tending [trending] lower.  (Applause.) The landing is and will be soft.  And now, instead of aporting — importing foreign products and exporting American jobs, we’re exporting American products and creating American jobs — (applause) — right here in America, where they belong.  And it takes time, but the American people are beginning to feel it.  Consumer studies show consumer confidence is soaring.   “Buy America” has been the law of the land since the 1930s.  Past administrations, including my predecessor — including some Democrats, as well, in the past — failed to buy American.  Not anymore.  On my watch, federal projects that you fund — like helping build American roads, bridges, and highways — will be made with American products and built by American workers — (applause) — creating good-paying American jobs.  (Applause.)  And thanks to our CHIPS and Science Act — (applause) — the United States is investing more in research and development than ever before.  During the pandemic, a shortage of semiconductors, chips that drove up the price of everything from cell phones to automobiles — and, by the way, we invented those chips right here in America. Well, instead of having to import them, instead of — private companies are now investing billions of dollars to build new chip factories here in America — (applause) — creating tens of thousands of jobs, many of those jobs paying $100,000 a year and don’t require a college degree.  (Applause.) In fact, my policies have attracted $650 billion in private-sector investment in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, creating tens of thousands of jobs here in America.  (Applause.) And thanks — and thanks to our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 46,000 new projects have been announced all across your communities.  And, by the way, I noticed some of you who’ve strongly voted against it are there cheering on that money coming in.  (Laughter and applause.)  And I like it.  I’m with you.  I’m with you. And if any of you don’t want that money in your district, just let me know.  (Laughter.) Modernizing our roads and bridges, ports and airports, public transit systems.  Removing poi- — poisonous lead pipes so every child can drink clean water without risk of brain damage.  (Applause.)  Providing affordable — affordable high-speed Internet for every American, no matter where you live — urban, suburban, or rural communities in red states and blue states.  Record investments in Tribal communities.  Because of my investment in family farms — (applause) — because I invested in family farms — led by my Secretary of Agriculture, who knows more about this anybody I know — we’re better able to stay in the family for the — those farms so their — and their children and grandchildren won’t have to leave — leave home to make a living.  It’s transformative.  The great comeback story is Belvidere, Illinois.  Home to an auto plant for nearly 60 years.  Before I came to office, the plant was on its way to shutting down.  Thousands of workers feared for their livelihoods.  Hope was fading.  Then, I was elected to office, and we raised Belvidere repeatedly with auto companies, knowing unions would make all the difference.  The UAW worked like hell to keep the plant open and get these jobs back.  And together, we succeeded.  Instead of auto factories shutting down, auto factories are reopening and a new state-of-the-art battery factory is being built to power those cars there at the same.  (Applause.)    To the folks — to the folks of Belvidere, I’d say: Instead of your town being left behind, your community is moving forward again.  Because instead of watching auto ja- — jobs of the future go overseas, 4,000 union jobs with higher wages are building a future in Belvidere right here in America.  (Applause.) Here tonight is UAW President Shawn Fain, a great friend and a great labor leader.  Shawn, where are you?  (Applause.)  Stand up.  And — and Dawn — and Dawn Simms, a third-generation worker — UAW worker at Belvidere.  Shawn, I was proud to be the first President to stand in the picket line.  And today, Dawn has a good job in her hometown, providing stability for her family and pride and dignity as well.  Showing once again Wall Street didn’t build America.  They’re not bad guys.  They didn’t build it, though.  The middle class built the country, and unions built the middle class.  (Applause.) I say to the American people: When America gets knocked down, we get back up.  (Applause.)  We keep going.  That’s America.  (Applause.)  That’s you, the American people.  It’s because of you America is coming back.  It’s because of you our future is brighter.  It’s because of you that tonight we can proudly say the state of our Union is strong and getting stronger.  (Applause.) AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years! THE PRESIDENT:  Tonight — tonight, I want to talk about the future of possibilities that we can build together — a future where the days of trickle-down economics are over and the wealthy and the biggest corporations no longer get the — all the tax breaks.  And, by the way, I understand corporations.  I come from a state that has more corporations invested than every one of your states in the state — the United States combined.  And I represented it for 36 years.  I’m not anti-corporation. But I grew up in a home where trickle-down economics didn’t put much on my dad’s kitchen table.  That’s why I’m determined to turn things around so the middle class does well. When they do well, the poor have a way up and the wealthy still do very well.  We all do well.  And there’s more to do to make sure you’re feeling the benefits of all we’re doing.  Americans pay more for prescription drugs than anywhere in the world.  It’s wrong, and I’m ending it.  (Applause.) With a law that I proposed and signed — and not one of your Republican buddies work- — voted for it — we finally beat Big Pharma.  Instead of paying $400 a month or thereabouts for insulin with diabetes — and it only costs 10 bucks to make — they only get paid $35 a month now and still make a healthy profit.  (Applause.) And I want to — and what to do next, I want to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American who needs it — everyone.  (Applause.)  For years, people have talked about it.  But finally, we got it done and gave Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs, just like the VA is able to do for veterans.  (Applause.) That’s not just saving seniors money.  It’s saving taxpayers money.  We cut the federal deficit by $160 billion — (applause) — because Medicare will no longer have to pay those exorbitant prices to Big Pharma.  This year, Medicare is negotiating lower prices for some of the costliest drugs on the market that treat everything from heart disease to arthritis.  It’s now time to go further and give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for 500 different drugs over the next decade.  (Applause.)  They’re making a lot of money, guys.  And they’ll still be extremely profitable.  It will not only save lives; it will save taxpayers another $200 billion.  (Applause.) Starting next year, the same law caps total prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare at $200 — at $2,000 a year, even for expensive cancer drugs that cost $10-, $12-, $15,000.  Now I want to cap prescription drug costs at $2,000 a year for everyone.  (Applause.) Folks, I’m going to get in trouble for saying that, but any of you want to get in Air Force One with me and fly to Toronto, Berlin, Moscow — I mean, excuse me.  (Laughter.)  Well, even Moscow, probably.  (Laughter.)  And bring your prescription with you, and I promise you, I’ll get it for you for 40 percent the cost you’re paying now.  Same company, same drug, same place. Folks, the Affordable Care Act — the old “Obamacare” — (applause) — is still a very big deal.  (Laughter and applause.)  Over 100 million of you can no longer be denied health insurance because of a preexisting condition.  But my predecessor and many in this chamber want to take the — that prescription drug away by repealing Affordable Care Act. AUDIENCE:  Booo —   THE PRESIDENT:  I’m not going to let that happen.  (Applause.)  We stopped you 50 times before, and we’ll stop you again.  (Applause.)  In fact, I’m not only protecting it, I’m expanding it.  The — we enacted tax credits of $800 per person per year [to] reduce healthcare costs for millions of working families. That tax credit expires next year.  I want to make that savings permanent.  (Applause.) To state the obvious: Women are more than half of our population, but research on women’s health has always been underfunded.  That’s why we’re launching the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, led by Jill — (applause) — doing an incredible job as First Lady — (applause) — to pa- — to pass my plan for $12 billion to transform women’s health research and benefit millions of lives all across America. I know the cost of housing is so important to you.  Inflation keeps coming down.  Mortgage rates will come down as well, and the Fed acknowledges that.  But I’m not waiting.  I want to provide an annual tax credit that will give Americans $400 a month for the next two years as mortgage rates come down to put toward their mortgages when they buy their first home or trade up for a little more space.  (Applause.)  That’s for two years.   And my administration is also eliminating title insurance [fees] on federally backed mortgages.  (Applause.)  When you refinance your home, you can save $1,000 or more as a consequence.  (Applause.)   For millions of renters, we’re cracking down on big landlords who use antitrust law — using antitrust — who break antitrust laws — (applause) — by price-fixing and driving up rents.  (Applause.)  We’ve cut red tape so builders can get federal ly financing, which is already helping build a record 1.7 million new house u- — housing units nationwide. Now pass — now pass [my plan] and build and renovate 2 million affordable homes and bring those rents down.  (Applause.) To remain the strongest economy in the world, we need to have the best education system in the world.  (Applause.)  And I, like I suspect all of you, want to give a child — every child a good start by providing access to preschool for three- and four-years-old.  (Applause.)  You know, I think I pointed out last year — (applause) — I think I pointed out last year that children coming from broken homes where there’s no books, they’re not read to, they’re not spoken to very often start school — kindergarten or first grade hearing — having heard a million fewer words spoken.  Well, studies show that children who go to preschool are nearly 50 percent more likely to finish high school and go on to earn a two- and four-year degree no matter what their background is.  (Applause.) I met a year and a half ago with the leaders of the Business Roundtable.  They were mad that I was ever — angry — I — well, they were discussing — (laughter) — why I wanted to spend money on education.  I pointed out to them: As Vice President, I met with over 8- — I think it was 182 of those folks — don’t hold me to the exact number — and I asked them what they need most — the CEOs.  And you’ve had the same experience on both sides of the aisle.  They say, “A better-educated workforce,” right?  So, I looked at them.  And I say, “I come from Delaware.  DuPont used to be the eighth-largest corporation in the world.  And every new enter- — enterprise they bought, they educated the workforce to that enterprise.  But none of you do that anymore.  Why are you angry with me providing you the opportunity for the best-educated workforce in the world?”  And they all looked at me and said, “I think you’re right.”  (Applause.) I want to expand high-quality tutoring and summer learning to see that every child learns to read by third grade.  (Applause.)  I’m also connecting local businesses and high schools so students get hands-on experience and a path to a good-paying job whether or not they go to college.  (Applause.) And I want to make sure that college is more affordable.  Let’s continue increasing the Pell Grants to working- and middle-class families and increase record investments in HBCUs and minority-serving institutions, including Hispanic institutions.  (Applause.) When I was told I couldn’t universally just change the way in which we did — dealt with student loans, I fixed two student loan programs that already existed to reduce the burden of student debt for nearly 4 million Americans, including nurses, firefighters — (applause) — and others in public service. Like Keenan Jones, a public educator in Minnesota, who’s here with us tonight.  Keenan, where are you?  (Applause.)  Keenan, thank you. He’s educated hundreds of students so they can go to college.  Now he’s able to help, after debt forgiveness, get his own daughter to college.  (Applause.) And, folks, look, such relief is good for the economy because folks are now able to buy a home, start a business, start a family.   And while we’re at it, I want to give public school teachers a raise.  (Applause.) And, by the way, the first couple of years, we cut the deficit. Now let me speak to the question of fundamental fairness for all Americans.  I’ve been delivering real results in fiscally responsible ways.  We’ve already cut the federal deficit — we’ve already cut the federal deficit by over $1 trillion.  (Applause.)  I signed a bipartisan deal to cut another trillion dollars in the next decade.  (Applause.)  It’s my goal to cut the federal deficit another $3 trillion by making big corporations and the very wealthy finally beginning to pay their fair share.  (Applause.) Look, I’m a capitalist.  If you want to make or can make a million or millions of bucks, that’s great.  Just pay your fair share in taxes.  (Applause.)  A fair tax code is how we invest in things that make this country great: healthcare, education, defense, and so much more.  But here’s the deal.  The last administration enacted a $2 trillion tax cut overwhelmingly benefit the top 1 percent — the very wealthy — AUDIENCE:  Booo — THE PRESIDENT:  — and the biggest corporations — and exploded the federal deficit.  (Applause.)  They added more to the national debt than any presidential term in American history.  Check the numbers. Folks at home, does anybody really think the tax code is fair?  AUDIENCE:  No! THE PRESIDENT:  Do you really think the wealthy and big corporations need another $2 trillion tax break?  AUDIENCE:  No! THE PRESIDENT:  I sure don’t.  I’m going to keep fighting like hell to make it fair.  Under my plan, nobody earning less than $400,000 a year will pay an additional penny in federal taxes — (applause) — nobody — not one penny.  And they haven’t yet. In fact, the Child Tax Credit I passed during the pandemic cut taxes for millions of working families and cut child poverty in half.  (Applause.) Restore that Child Tax Credit.  No child should go hungry in this country.  (Applause.) The way to make the tax code fair is to make big corporations and the very wealthy begin to pay their share.  Remember in 2020, 55 of the biggest companies in America made $40 billion and paid zero in federal income tax.  Zero.  AUDIENCE:  Booo — THE PRESIDENT:  Not anymore. Thanks to the law I wrote and we signed, big companies now have to pay a minimum of 15 percent.  But that’s still less than working people pay in federal taxes. It’s time to raise the corporate minimum tax to at least 21 percent — (applause) — so every big corporation finally begins to pay their fair share. I also want to end tax breaks for Big Pharma, Big Oil, private jets, massive executive pay when it was only supposed to be a million bal- — a million dollars that could be deducted.  They can pay them $20 million if they want, but deduct a million. End it now.  You know, there are 1,000 billionaires in America.  You know what the average federal tax is for those billionaires? AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Zero! THE PRESIDENT:  No.  (Laughter.)  They’re making great sacrifices — 8.2 percent.  AUDIENCE:  Booo — THE PRESIDENT:  That’s far less than the vast majority of Americans pay. No billionaire should pay a lower federal tax rate than a teacher, a sanitation worker, or a nurse.  (Applause.) I proposed a minimum tax for billionaires of 25 percent — just 25 percent.  You know what that would raise?  That would raise $500 billion over the next 10 years.  (Applause.) And imagine what that could do for America.  Imagine a future with affordable childcare, millions of families can get what they need to go to work to help grow the economy.  (Applause.) Imagine a future with paid leave, because no one should have to choose between working and taking care of their sick family member.  (Applause.) Imagine — imagine a future with home care and eldercare, and people living with disabilities so they can stay in their homes and family caregivers can finally get the pay they deserve. Tonight, let’s all agree once again to stand up for seniors.  (Applause.) Many of my friends on the other side of the aisle want to put Social Security on the chopping block. If anyone here tries to cut Social Security or Medicare or raise the retirement age, I will stop you.  (Applause.) The working people — the working people who built this country pay more into Social Security than millionaires and billionaires do.  It’s not fair. We have two ways to go.  Republicans can cut Social Security and give more tax breaks to the wealthy.  I will — AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT:  That’s the proposal.  Oh, no?  You guys don’t want another $2 trillion tax cut? AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Liar! THE PRESIDENT:  I kind of thought that’s what your plan was.  (Laughter.)  Well, that’s good to hear.  You’re not going to cut another $2 trillion for the super-wealthy?  That’s good to hear. I’ll protect and strengthen Social Security and make the wealthy pay their fair share.  (Applause.) Look, too many corporations raise prices to pad their profits, charging more and more for less and less. That’s why we’re cracking down on corporations that engage in price gouging and deceptive pricing, from food to healthcare to housing. In fact, the snack companies think you won’t notice if they change the size of the bag and put a hell of a lot fewer — (laughter) — same — same size bag — put fewer chips in it.  No, I’m not joking.  It’s called “shrink-flation.” Pass Bobby Casey’s bill and stop this.  (Applause.)  I really mean it. You probably all saw that commercial on Snickers bars.  (Laughter.)  And you get — you get charged the same amount, and you got about, I don’t know, 10 percent fewer Snickers in it.  (Laughter.) Look, I’m also getting rid of junk fees — those hidden fees — (applause) — at the end of your bill that are there without your knowledge.  My administration announced we’re cutting credit card late fees from $32 to $8.  (Applause.) Banks and credit card companies are allowed to charge what it costs them to in- — to instigate the collection.  And that’s more — a hell of a lot like $8 than 30-some dollars.  But they don’t like it.  The credit card companies don’t like it, but I’m saving American families $20 billion a year with all of the junk fees I’m eliminating.  (Applause.) Folks at home, that’s why the banks are so mad.  It’s $20 billion in profit. I’m not stopping there. My administration has proposed rules to make cable, travel, utilities, and online ticket sellers tell you the total price up front so there are no surprises.  (Applause.) It matters.  It matters. And so does this.  In November, my team began serious negotiations with a bipartisan group of senators.  The result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest set of border security reforms we’ve ever seen. AUDIENCE:  Booo — THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, you don’t think so? AUDIENCE:  Booo — THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, you don’t like that bill — huh? — that conservatives got together and said was a good bill?  I’ll be darned.  That’s amazing. That bipartisan bill would hire 1,500 more security agents and officers, 100 more immigration judges to help tackle the backload of 2 million cases, 4,300 more asylum officers, and new policies so they can resolve cases in six months instead of six years now.  (Applause.)  What are you against? One hundred more high-tech drug detection machines to significantly increase the ability to screen and stop vehicles smuggling fentanyl into America that’s killing thousands of children.  (Applause.) This bill would save lives and bring order to the border.  (Applause.) It would also give me and any new president new emergency authority to temporarily shut down the border when the number of migrants at the border is overwhelming.  The Border Patrol union has endorsed this bill. (Cross-talk.) The federal Chamber of Commerce has — yeah, yeah.  You’re saying “no.”  Look at the facts.  (Laughter and applause.)  I know — I know you know how to read.  I believe that given the opportunity — for — a majority in the House and Senate would endorse the bill as well — a majority right now.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Yes! THE PRESIDENT:  But unfortunately, politics have derailed this bill so far. I’m told my predecessor called members of Congress in the Senate to demand they block the bill.  He feels political win — he viewed it as a — it would be a political win for me and a political loser for him.  It’s not about him.  It’s not about me.  I’d be a winner — not really.  I — REPRESENTATIVE GREENE:  What about Laken Riley? (Cross-talk.) AUDIENCE:  Booo — REPRESENTATIVE GREENE:  Say her name! THE PRESIDENT:  (The President holds up a pin reading “Say Her Name, Laken Riley.”)  Lanken — Lanken [Laken] Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed. REPRESENTATIVE GREENE:  By an illegal! THE PRESIDENT:  By an illegal.  That’s right.  But how many of thousands of people are being killed by legals? (Cross-talk.) To her parents, I say: My heart goes out to you.  Having lost children myself, I understand. But, look, if we change the dynamic at the border — people pay people — people pay these smugglers 8,000 bucks to get across the border because they know if they get by — if they get by and let into the country, it’s six to eight years before they have a hearing.  And it’s worth the — taking the chance of the $8,000. (Cross-talk.) But — but if it’s only six mon- — six weeks, the idea is it’s highly unlikely that people will pay that money and come all that way knowing that they’ll be — able to be kicked out quickly.  (Applause.) Folks, I would respectfully su- — suggest to my friend in — my Republican friends owe it to the American people.  Get this bill done.  We need to act now.  (Applause.) AUDIENCE:  Get it done!  Get it done!  Get it done! THE PRESIDENT:  And if my predecessor is watching: Instead of paying [playing] politics and pressuring members of Congress to block the bill, join me in telling the Congress to pass it. We can do it together. But that’s what he apparently — here’s what he will not do. I will not demonize immigrants, saying they are “poison in the blood of our country.”  (Applause.) I will not separate families.  (Applause.) I will not ban people because of their faith. Unlike my predecessor, on my first day in office, I introduced a comprehensive bill to fix our immigration system.  Take a look at it.  It has all these and more: secure the border, provide a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers, and so much more.  (Applause.) But unlike my predecessor, I know who we are as Americans.  We’re the only nation in the world with a heart and soul that draws from old and new.  Home to Native Americans whose ancestors have been here for thousands of years.  Home to people of every pla- — from every place on Earth.  They came freely.  Some came in chains.  Some came when famine struck, like my ancestral family in Ireland.  Some to flee persecution, to chase dreams that are impossible anywhere but here in America. That’s America.  (Applause.)  And we all come from somewhere, but we’re all Americans. Look, folks, we have a simple choice: We can fight about fixing the border or we can fix it.  (Applause.)  I’m ready to fix it.  Send me the border bill now. AUDIENCE:  Fix it!  Fix it!  Fix it! THE PRESIDENT:  A transformational his- — moment in history happened 58 — 59 years ago today in Selma, Alabama.  Hundreds of foot soldiers for justice marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, named after the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, to claim their fundamental right to vote. They were beaten.  They were bloodied and left for dead.  Our late friend and former colleague John Lewis was on that march.  We miss him.  (Applause.)  But joining us tonight are other marchers, both in the gallery and on the floor, including Bettie Mae Fikes, known as the “Voice of Selma.”  The daughter of gospel singers and preachers, she sang songs of prayer and protest on that Bloody Sunday to help shake the nation’s conscience.  Five months later, the Voting Rights Act passed and was signed into law.  (Applause.) Thank you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.) But 59 years later, there are forces taking us back in time: voter suppression, election subversion, unlimited dark money, extreme gerrymandering. John Lewis was a great friend to many of us here.  But if you truly want to honor him and all the heroes who marched with him, then it’s time to do more than talk.  (Applause.) Pass the Freedom to Vote Act, the John Lewis Voting Right[s] Act.  (Applause.)  And stop — stop denying another core value of America: our diversity across American life.  Banning books is wrong.  Instead of erasing history, let’s make history.  (Applause.)  I want to protect fundamental rights.  Pass the Equality Act.  (Applause.)  And my message to transgender Americans: I have your back.  (Applause.) Pass the PRO Act for workers’ rights.  (Applause.)  Raise the federal minimum wage, because every worker has the right to a decent living more than eig- — seven bucks an hour.  (Applause.) We’re also making history by confronting the climate crisis, not denying it.  I don’t think any of you think there’s no longer a climate crisis.  At least, I hope you don’t.  (Laughter.) I’m taking the most significant action ever on climate in the history of the world.  (Applause.)  I’m cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030; creating tens of thousands of clean energy jobs, like the IBEW workers building and installing 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations — (applause); conserving 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030; and taking action on environmental justice — fence-line communities smothered by the legacy of pollution. And patterned after the Peace Corps and AmericaCorps [AmeriCorps], I launched the Climate Corps — (applause) — to put 20,000 young people to work in the forefront of our clean energy future.  I’ll triple that number in a decade.  (Applause.) To state the obvious, all Americans deserve the freedom to be safe.  And America is safer today than when I took office. The year before I took office, murder rates went up 30 percent. MR. NIKOUI:  Remember Abbey Gate! THE PRESIDENT:  Thirty percent, they went up —  MR. NIKOUI:  United States Marines!  Kareem Mae’Lee Nikoui! THE PRESIDENT:  — the biggest increase in history. MR. NIKOUI:  (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT:  It was then, through no — through my American Rescue Plan — which every American [Republican] voted against, I might add — we made the largest investment in public safety ever. Last year, the murder rate saw the sharpest decrease in history.  Violent crime fell to one of its lowest levels in more than 50 years.  But we have more to do.  We have to help cities invest in more community police officers, more mental health workers, more community violence intervention. (Applause.) Give communities the tools to crack down on gun crime, retail crime, and carjacking.  Keep building trust, as I’ve been doing, by taking executive action on police reform and calling for it to be the law of the land. Directing my Cabinet to review the federal classification of marijuana and expunging thousands of convictions for the mere possession, because no one should be jailed for simply using or have it on their record.  (Applause.) Take on crimes of domestic violence.  I’m ramping up the federal enforcement of the Violence Against Women Act that I proudly wrote when I was a senator so we can finally — finally end the scourge against women in America.  (Applause.)  There are other kinds of violence I want to stop. With us tonight is Jasmine, whose nine-year-old sister Jackie was murdered with 21 classmates and teachers in her elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.  Very soon after that happened, Jill and I went to Uvalde for a couple days.  We spent hours and hours with each of the families.  We heard their message so everyone in this room, in this chamber could hear the same message. The constant refrain — and I was there for hours, meeting with every family.  They said, “Do something.”  “Do something.” Well, I did do something by establishing the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the White House, that the Vice President is leading the charge.  Thank you for doing it.  (Applause.) Meanwhile — (applause) — meanwhile, my predecessor told the NRA he’s proud he did nothing on guns when he was President. AUDIENCE:  Booo — THE PRESIDENT:  After another shooting in Iowa recently, he said — when asked what to do about it, he said, just “get over it.”  That was his quote.  Just “get over it.” I say stop it.  Stop it, stop it, stop it.  (Applause.) I’m proud we beat the NRA when I signed the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years because of this Congress.  We now must beat the NRA again. I’m demanding a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.  (Applause.)  Pass universal background checks.  (Applause.)  None of this — none of this — I taught the Second Amendment for 12 years.  None of this violates the Second Amendment or vilifies responsible gun owners. (Cross-talk.) You know, as we manage challenges at home, we’re also managing crises abroad, including in the Middle East. I know the last five months have been gut-wrenching for so many people — for the Israeli people, for the Palestinian people, and so many here in America.  This crisis began on October 7th with a massacre by a terrorist group called Hamas, as you all know.  One thousand two hundred innocent people — women and girls, men and boys — slaughtered after enduring sexual violence.  The deadliest day of the — for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.  And 250 hostages taken. Here in this chamber tonight are families whose loved ones are still being held by Hamas.  I pledge to all the families that we will not rest until we bring every one of your loved ones home. We also — (applause) — we will also work around the clock to bring home Evan and Paul — Americans being unjustly detained by the Russians — and others around the world. Israel has a right to go after Hamas.  Hamas ended this conflict by releasing the hostages, laying down arms — could end it by — by releasing the hostages, laying down arms, and s- — surrendering those responsible for October 7th. But Israel has a h- — excuse me.  Israel has a added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population like cowards — under hospitals, daycare centers, and all the like.  Israel also has a fundamental responsibility, though, to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.  (Applause.) This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined.  More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed — AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Says who? THE PRESIDENT:  — most of whom are not Hamas.  Thousands and thousands of innocents — women and children.  Girls and boys also orphaned.  Nearly 2 million more Palestinians under bombardment or displacement.  Homes destroyed, neighborhoods in rubble, cities in ruin.  Families without food, water, medicine.  It’s heartbreaking.   I’ve been working non-stop to establish an immediate ceasefire that would last for six weeks to get all the prisoners released — all the hostages released and to get the hostages home and to ease the intolerable an- — humanitarian crisis and build toward an enduring — a more — something more enduring. The United States has been leading international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance into Gaza.  Tonight, I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters.  No U.S. boots will be on the ground.  A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.  (Applause.)   And Israel must also do its part.  Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the crossfire.  (Applause.)  And they’re announcing they’re going to — they’re going to ca- — have a crossing in Northern Gaza. To the leadership of Israel, I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip.  Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.  As we look to the future, the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution over time.  (Applause.) And I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel, my entire career.  No one has a stronger record with Israel than I do.  I challenge any of you here.  I’m the only American president to visit Israel in wartime.  But there is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and democracy.  There is no other path that guarantees Pa- — that Palestinians can live in peace with po- — with peace and dignity.  And there is no other path that guarantees peace between Israel and all of its neighbors — including Saudi Arabia, with whom I’m talking.     Creating stability in the Middle East also means containing the threat posed by Iran.  That’s why I built a coalition of more than a dozen countries to defend international shipping and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.  I’ve ordered strikes to degrade the Houthi capability and defend U.S. forces in the region.  As Commander-in-Chief, I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and our military personnel.  (Applause.) For years, I’ve heard many of my Republican and Democratic friends say that China is on the rise and America is falling behind.  They’ve got it backwards.  I’ve been saying it for over four years, even when I wasn’t president.  America is rising.  We have the best economy in the world.  And since I’ve come to office, our GTB [GDP] is up, our trade deficit with China is down to the lowest point in over a decade.  (Applause.)   And we’re standing up against China’s unfair economic practices.  We’re standing up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.  I’ve revitalized our partnership and alliance in the Pacific: India, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Pacific Islands.  I’ve made sure that the most advanced American technologies can’t be used in China — not allowing to trade them there.   Frankly, for all his tough talk on China, it never occurred to my predecessor to do any of that.  (Applause.)   I want competition with China, not conflict.  And we’re in a stronger position to win the conflict [competition] of the 21st century against China than anyone else for that matter — than at any time as well. Here at home, I’ve signed over 400 bipartisan bills.  But there’s more to pass my Unity Agenda. Strengthen penalties on fentanyl trafficking.  You don’t want to do that, huh?  Pass bipartisan privacy legislation to protect our children online.  (Applause.) Harness — harness the promise of AI to protect us from peril.  Ban AI voice impersonations and more.  And keep our truly sacred obligation to train and equip those we send into harm’s way and care for them and their families when they come home and when they don’t.  (Applause.)  That’s why, with the strong support and help of Denis and the VA, I signed the PACT Act — (applause) — one of the most significant laws ever, helping millions of veterans exposed to toxins who now are battling more than 100 different cancers.   Many of them don’t come home, but we owe them and their families support.   And we owe it to ourselves to keep supporting our new health research agency called ARPA-H — (applause) — and remind us — to remind us that we can do big things, like end cancer as we know it.  And we will.  (Applause.)   Let me close with this.  (Applause.) THE PRESIDENT:  Yay!  (Applause and laughter.) I know you don’t want to hear anymore, Lindsey, but I got to say a few more things.  (Laughter.)   I know I may not look like it, but I’ve been around a while.  (Laughter and applause.)  When you get to be my age, certain things become clearer than ever.  I know the American story.  Again and again, I’ve seen the contest between competing forces in the battle for the soul of our nation, between those who want to pull America back to the past and those who want to move America into the future.  My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy, a future based on core values that have defined America — honesty, decency, dignity, and equality — (applause); to respect everyone; to give everyone a fair shot; to give hate no safe harbor.  (Applause.) Now, other people my age see it differently.  (Laughter.)  The American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me.  I was born amid World War Two, when America stood for the freedom of the world.  I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, among working-class people who built this country.   I watched in horror as two of my heroes — like many of you did — Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy, were assassinated.  And their legacies inspired me to pur- — pursue a car- — a career in service.  I left a law firm and became a public defender because my city of Wilmington was the only city in America occupied by the National Guard after Dr. King was assassinated because of the riots.  And I became a county councilman almost by accident. I got elected to the United States Senate when I had no intention of running, at age 29.  Then vice president to our first Black president.  Now a president to the first woman vice president.  (Applause.) In my career, I’ve been told I was too young.  (Laughter.)  By the way, they didn’t let me on the Senate elevators for votes sometimes.  They — not a joke.  (Laughter.) And I’ve been told I am too old.  (Laughter.)  Whether young or old, I’ve always been known — I’ve always known what endures.  I’ve known our North Star.  The very idea of America is that we’re all created equal, deserves to be treated equally throughout our lives.  We’ve never fully lived up to that idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either.  And I won’t walk away from it now.  (Applause.)  I’m optimistic.  I really am.  I’m optimistic, Nancy.  (Applause.)  AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years! THE PRESIDENT:  My fellow Americans, the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are; it’s how old are our ideas.  (Applause.)   Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are the oldest of ideas.  But you can’t lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back.  To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future and what can and should be done.  (Applause.)   Tonight, you’ve heard mine.  I see a future where [we’re] defending democracy, you don’t diminish it. I see a future where we restore the right to choose and protect our freedoms, not take them away.  (Applause.) I see a future where the middle class has — finally has a fair shot and the wealthy have to pay their fair share in taxes.  (Applause.)   I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence.  (Applause.)   Above all, I see a future for all Americans.  I see a country for all Americans.  And I will always be President for all Americans because I believe in America.  I believe in you, the American people.  (Applause.)  You’re the reason we’ve never been more optimistic about our future than I am now.  So, let’s build the future together.  Let’s remember who we are.  We are the United States of America.  (Applause.)  And there is nothing — nothing beyond our capacity when we act together.  (Applause.)  God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)

10:33 P.M. EST

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Oscars 2024: From Olivia Colman to Denzel Washington, most memorable acceptance speeches of all time

From olivia colman blowing a raspberry at the teleprompter to cuba gooding jr. saying ‘i love everybody’ on stage, here are some of our favorite oscar speeches..

Going into Oscar night, we watch to see if our favourite films will win. But when the ceremony ends, what we’re left with is how they made us feel, and that comes down to the winning speeches. Did they make us laugh or cry or cheer? Or all of the above? Giving the perfect speech is difficult, and not everyone has that skill. (Also read: Oscars 2024: From Cillian Murphy to Paul Giamatti and Bradley Cooper, a guide to Best Actor )

Here’s a list of memorable speeches that tomorrow’s winners should try and emulate.

Spielberg’s moving speech for Schindler’s List

When Schindler’s List won Best Picture in 1994, Steven Spielberg was already backstage having just received his Best Director Oscar from Clint Eastwood. In his short speech, Spielberg made an impassioned plea to educators to teach children about the horrors of the Holocaust so that it would never be forgotten. But the most moving part came later, when one of his producing partners, Branko Lustig started his speech by introducing himself and reading out the number tattooed on his arm when he was a child at Auschwitz. He proceeded to speak about his experience at the concentration camp and his speech was almost as powerful as the film itself.

Denzel Washington honors Sidney Poitier in his Best Actor speech

2002 inadvertently became the greatest year for African-American actors when both Halle Berry and Denzel Washington won for Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively. In addition, the Academy chose to give the legendary Sidney Poitier an honorary Oscar at the same ceremony. When Denzel won, he acknowledged Sidney in his speech saying he would always follow in Poitier’s footsteps. And in a touching moment, the two actors raised their Oscars to each other.

Marketa Irglova gets a second chance after being played off for Best Song

Irish musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova came out of nowhere to win Best Song for Falling Slowly from the lovely musical Once, in which they also starred. Hansard gave a lovely speech but used up all their time and the orchestra played them off before Marketa could speak. When the show returned from a commercial break, host Jon Stewart made a beautiful gesture apologizing to Irglova and calling her back onstage to give her speech. Irglova took the opportunity to talk about the power of dreaming big, a truly inspirational speech.

Olivia Colman charms everyone

The Queen (in more ways than one) Olivia Colman was stunned speechless when she won for The Favourite. Sandwiched between her beaming husband and her crying co-star Emma Stone , she took a few moments to recover before making her way onstage. She eventually found her words and in typical British fashion, gave the most charming speech ever. Highlights include apologizing to her idol Glenn Close for winning over her, blowing a raspberry at the teleprompter asking her to wrap up, and blowing a kiss at Lady Gaga before walking off to a standing ovation.

Cuba Gooding Jr. loves everybody!

Best Supporting Actor is the first award of the night and a great speech for this category can set the tone for the evening. In 1997, when Cuba Gooding Jr won for Jerry Maguire, he started by saying he was so happy to win that he wouldn’t be mad if his speech was cut off. But when the music started playing, it was like he was possessed by the spirit of Rod Tidwell, his character in the movie. He excitedly proclaimed his love for his co-stars Tom Cruise and Regina King , before yelling “I love you” to everyone involved with the movie. As the music built up to a crescendo, Cuba went all out screaming “I love everybody! I love you all”, receiving a standing ovation from the audience who could not help but be moved by his infectious joy. The best part of his speech is not even visible in the video, he ended by keeping his Oscar on the floor and doing an honest-to-god backflip on the stage in his tailored tux. Now that’s how you give a winning speech!

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2024 Oscars: The Best Moments and Most Amazing Speeches From Hollywood's Biggest Night!

Oscars 2024 recap: must-see moments and what didn't air on tv, the valley's jason and janet caperna shares valuable lessons learned from season 1 (exclusive), jason kelce's wife kylie mourns death of their family's dog winnie, cara delevingne reacts to her $7 million la home catching fire, 'the valley': michelle and jesse lally announce separation ahead of premiere (exclusive), ‘the valley’: jasmine goode’s ‘big reason’ she returned to reality tv after ‘the bachelor’, 'ghostbusters' og annie potts jokes franchise is 'biblical' on 40th anniversary (exclusive), ricky martin still feels like a sex symbol 25 years after 'livin' la vida loca' (exclusive), wendy williams’ guardian speaks out against lifetime doc in unsealed lawsuit, prince william and prince harry separately attend award ceremony dedicated to mother diana, oprah winfrey reveals why she resigned from weight watchers, jason reitman opens up about late dad ivan reitman's 'ghostbusters' legacy (exclusive), rita moreno reflects on her oscar win, 62 years later (exclusive), michael keaton praises jenna ortega’s performance in ‘beetlejuice’ sequel (exclusive), ‘arthur the king’: mark wahlberg on why he decided to continue filming despite injury, 'baywatch' alum nicole eggert shaves head with daughter as she battles breast cancer, mckenna graces tears up over 'ghostbusters: frozen empire' experience (exclusive), kristen doute's message to those questioning if she deserves a second chance with ‘the valley’, 'grey's anatomy': why ellen pompeo returned for season 20 premiere, 'mama june: family crisis’: alana’s boyfriend shocked by legal news (exclusive), carrie coon says she's read every 'white lotus' season 3 script (exclusive), check out all the highlights from hollywood's biggest night..

The stars were shining bright on Sunday! This year's  Academy Awards  brought out the biggest names in Hollywood for a night of fun and celebration.

Coming together at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, this year's Oscars was a musical performance-filled gala that also served as a celebration of cinema greatness and delivered some truly unexpected surprises and category upsets.

Hosted once again by Jimmy Kimmel  -- serving as emcee for the fourth time -- the comedian brought his deft and innate comedic talent for a memorable night of recognition and entertainment.

From some long-awaited wins to some truly touching acceptance speeches, here are all the best, biggest and most memorable highlights from Sunday's 96th Oscars ceremony!

Jimmy Kimmel Shows Union Solidarity in Opening Monologue

In his fourth time as host, Kimmel felt confident and comfortable poking gentle fun at celebs without hurting feelings. However, he also made sure to infuse some genuine meaning into his monologue by celebrating the union teamsters and crew members who worked hard to support SAG and the WGA during their strikes.

Kimmel welcomed a big group of IATSE members onto the stage and and promised, "In your upcoming negotiation, we will stand with you, too. And also, I'm going to make sure the show goes really long tonight, so you get a ton of overtime."

Cord Jefferson Delivers Rousing Call for More Small-Budget Films

After winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for American Fiction ,  Cord Jefferson used his time on stage to deliver an impassioned plea for Hollywood execs to take more risks when it comes to funding small budget projects from unknown filmmakers.

"I understand that this is a risk-averse industry, I get it, but $200 million movies are also a risk, you know? And it doesn't always work out, but you take the risk anyway," Jefferson shared. "Instead of making one $200 million movie, try making 20 $10 million movies. Or 50 $4 million movies... I feel so much joy being here, I felt so much joy making this movie, and I want other people to experience that joy, and they are out there, I promise you."

Billie Eilish Shows Exactly What She Was Made For

The Oscars are known for their over-the-top performances of the nominees for Best Song. However, Billie Eilish managed to deliver one of the most powerful performances possible with nothing more than her brother Finneas O'Connell on piano and her crooning into a microphone (and a full orchestra just off stage). The singer belted out her Barbie track, "What Was I Made For?" and earned a tearful, breathless, roaring standing ovation from the star-studded audience -- including a stunned Ariana Grande, a crying Margot Robbie and a cheering Kate McKinnon.

John Cena Strips Down to Present Best Costume

Every time he appears in anything, it seems John Cena's comedic timing gets more and more perfected -- and that all culminated with his jaw-dropping Oscars presentation for Best Costume , when he took the stage fully nude, covering his privates with nothing but the winner's envelope.

Originally planned as a joke about the infamous Oscars streaker, Cena explained he no longer wanted to do the bit, because the Oscars were too elegant for such nonsense, but he wound up baring all anyway, and was saved by Kimmel fashioning a toga for him to maintain his dignity.

Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling Bicker Over 'Barbenheimer' Rivalry

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt's hilariously caustic banter was a better promo for their upcoming action rom-com The Fall Guy than any trailer could ever be. The pair took the stage for a special spotlight honoring stunt performers, but largely featured Blunt and Gosling playfully arguing about Oppenheimer and Barbie , and came to an end when Blunt accused Gosling of painting on his abs, before he angrily grabbed the mic away and demanded that they put an end to their feud. The pair had an effortless chemistry that made their presentation banter among the best we've seen at any awards show this year.

'Godzilla Minus One' VFX Creators Celebrate Historic With With Mini-Godzillas

When Godzilla Minus One took home the Oscar, it made history as the first foreign language film and first Japanese production to ever win the honor. It's also the first Godzilla franchise film to ever win any Oscar of any kind. Additionally, director Takashi Yamazaki, who also served as the film's VFX director, became the first director to win an Oscar for Best Visual Effects since 1969, when Stanley Kubrick snagged it for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

To commemorate the monumental win, the film's VFX team took the stage to accept the award and brought along some mini Godzillas as well, to share the spotlight with the iconic monster for one of the most adorable and sweet moments of the night.

Ryan Gosling Delivers a High-Kenergy Musical Performance

Appearing on stage accompanied by more than a dozen backup singers and dancers, Ryan Gosling -- joined by Slash and several of the other Kens from Barbie including Ncuti Gatwa, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans and Simu Liu -- tapped into his inner Ken doll while wearing a pink sparkly suit and sunglasses to unleash the Kenergy on the audience members, starting out in the crowd before coming up to the front of the room.

The  La La Land  actor -- who started his career in Hollywood as a member of the Mickey Mouse Club -- gave a stunning (and comedic) rendition of the song, which peaked on the charts following the film's release. By giving it his all and then going into the audience to sing along with stars, Gosling provided one of the most memorable moments in Oscar history.

The  2024 Academy Awards , hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, airs live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 10, at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET on ABC. Follow along at  ETonline.com  for full Oscars coverage, including red carpet arrivals, the  complete winners list  and more.

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Best and Worst Moments From the 2024 Oscars

In a fairly even-keeled night, emotions still ran high, whether it was the rush of “I’m Just Ken” or heartfelt words from Rita Moreno to America Ferrera.

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By The New York Times

Fittingly for an Academy Awards celebrating 2023, the year of “Barbenheimer,” the movies that made up that phenomenon commanded our attention on Sunday night, too. None of it was a surprise, exactly — we knew Ryan Gosling was going to perform the song “I’m Just Ken,” from “Barbie.” And “Oppenheimer” had been the ceremony’s front-runner since awards season started last fall. Still, we weren’t prepared for just how much the ceremony, which for the most part ran smoothly, would get a boost from those twin blockbusters. Here are the highs and lows as we saw them.

Most Charming Performance: Ryan Gosling, ‘I’m Just Ken’

America’s No. 1 Ken, the “Barbie” star Ryan Gosling — who was also nominated for best supporting actor and presented a tribute to stunt performers with Emily Blunt — brought the house down with his performance of “I’m Just Ken,” one of two nominated “Barbie” songs. In a shimmering hot pink tuxedo, backed by some of his co-stars (Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa) and a bevy of handsome men in tuxes, he danced and sang his heart out.

Gosling roamed into the audience, getting Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, America Ferrera and Emma Stone briefly on mic. He was held aloft and spun as giant “Barbie” face cutouts twirled around him. The song’s co-writer and co-producer, Mark Ronson, played bass onstage; on guitar were Slash from Guns N’ Roses and Wolfgang Van Halen. All three had played on the original recording. If the Oscars wanted a viral video moment, they sure got it (even though it had been announced in advance). And Gosling remains the Hollywood man with perhaps the most range. — Alissa Wilkinson

Most Charmed Film: ‘Oppenheimer’

When “ Oppenheimer ,” Christopher Nolan’s hit drama about the man who helped create the atomic bomb, won best picture, the victory capped a huge night for the film: seven Oscars total, including awards for director (Nolan), actor (Cillian Murphy) and supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr.).

Released last summer to glowing reviews and a worldwide box-office total nearing $1 billion, “Oppenheimer” was considered the front-runner even before awards season began. Though some presumed favorites can’t sustain their momentum over several months, “Oppenheimer” never faltered, earning top prizes from the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, BAFTAs and every major Hollywood guild along the way.

And why shouldn’t it have had a charmed run? When it comes to awards-season voters’ typical tastes, “Oppenheimer” could have been designed in an Oscar-friendly Los Alamos lab: It’s a period drama about a great historical figure, set against the backdrop of World War II, directed by a major Hollywood auteur. The cherry on top is that audiences responded to it, too: It’s now the third-highest-grossing film to win best picture, behind only “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” — Kyle Buchanan

Most Confident Host: Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel opened the Oscars with ingratiating self-deprecation (“Thank you for that partial standing ovation”) and closed with a nod to Hollywood as a union town. In between, he did just fine, delivering a broad, conversational set, full of safe roasts (a jab at Robert De Niro dating younger, a knock on the flop “Madame Web”), a crowd-pleasing cameo by a dog and a corny joke about Robert Downey Jr.’s pants. Nothing hilarious or daring. But it was a confident and clubby set, one you’d expect from a veteran host who had been there, done that. — Jason Zinoman

Biggest Surprise: Emma Stone Wins as Her Dress Tears

It was the stuff of an Oscar winner’s nightmare. As Emma Stone walked onstage to accept the best actress award for her turn in “ Poor Things ,” she motioned to the other best actress winners onstage, including her bestie Jennifer Lawrence, to help with her Louis Vuitton gown, which seemed to be ripping. Stone handled it with grace, joking, “Oh, boy. My dress is broken. I think it happened during ‘I’m Just Ken.’” After a speech in which she paid tribute to her director, Yorgos Lanthimos, and other colleagues, she told the crowd, “Don’t look at the back of my dress,” and turned to walk offstage, one hand over the noticeable rip. — Shivani Gonzalez

Wisest Choice for Presenters

This year’s ceremony brought back a setup that was last seen at the 2009 ceremony : Instead of one sole presenter, five past Oscar winners introduced each of the nominees in the acting categories. Let’s hope it sticks this time. While it meant we didn’t get clips of the actors, well, acting, it did mean we got heartfelt tributes that had some of the winners getting emotional before even taking the stage.

This was especially true in the first category of the night, supporting actress, where there were strong personal connections between the honorees and those who had triumphed earlier. Lupita Nyong’o, for instance, told the eventual winner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph: “Your performance is tribute to those who have helped others heal in spite of their own pain. It’s also a tribute to your grandmother, whose glasses you wore in the film. What an honor to see the world through her eyes and yours.” Randolph wiped tears from her face. Later, after Ben Kingsley spoke to the “humanity” in Cillian Murphy’s winning interpretation of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Murphy smiled and bit his lip, nodding with moved affection.

Then there was Robert Downey Jr. After winning his first Oscar on his third try for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in “Oppenheimer,” he offered breezy, jocular remarks in which he variously thanked his “terrible childhood,” his stylist and a lawyer who he said spent years trying to get him insured. It all worked. — Esther Zuckerman and Matt Stevens

Most Moving Choice for a Presenter

Kudos to whoever came up with the brilliant idea of having Rita Moreno address America Ferrera (“Barbie”) during the presentation of the best supporting actress nominees. It gave Moreno the opportunity to sing “Ahh-meeeh-riii-ca,” a callback to the veteran Oscar winner’s legendary performance of the song of the same name from “West Side Story” (1961). But it was also a celebration, “from one woman to another,” of the powerful link across generations between two Latin artists who each created cinematic moments that have become cultural touchstones. — Mekado Murphy

Most Potentially Interesting Choice for a Host

When the comic John Mulaney took the stage to present the Oscar for best sound, I’d almost forgotten about another sound: that of an audience genuinely laughing instead of politely chuckling at jokes that would never hit otherwise. After a steady march of milquetoast bits that made even the host Jimmy Kimmel and hilarious actors like Melissa McCarthy seem meh, Mulaney managed to offer us a small taste of actual comedy — with quips about silent films and the 1989 Kevin Costner sports fantasy “Field of Dreams,” no less! It was a reminder that it is possible to deliver from the Oscars stage, and effortlessly at that. It wasn’t long before my colleagues were prepared to bet on when Mulaney might take the reins for the whole ceremony. As our movie critic Alissa Wilkinson put it, “I don’t root for Oscar winners, on principle, but I do root for one thing: John Mulaney to host the Oscars.” — Maya Salam

Most Political Moment, Part 1: Jonathan Glazer, ‘The Zone of Interest’

Unlike recent awards seasons when events like the war in Ukraine were fair game, little had been said at 2024 ceremonies about Israel and Hamas. One exception involved the creators of the Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest.” At the BAFTAs last month, James Wilson, one of the film’s producers, brought up the war during an acceptance speech. At the Dolby Theater on Sunday, a few hours after demonstrations took place nearby , the film’s director was more pointed. Accepting the best international feature Oscar, Jonathan Glazer said: “Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked, an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people, whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims, this dehumanization, how do we resist?” — Stephanie Goodman

Most Political Moment, Part 2: Jimmy Kimmel vs. Donald Trump

Former President Donald J. Trump couldn’t help himself, Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t resist either, and so the Oscars closed on a political note . Kimmel used some of his final stage time as host to read a post published on Truth Social by Trump. (And yes, he really did post it.) “Has there ever been a worse host than Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars,” Kimmel said, reading part of Trump’s missive. “His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be,” Kimmel added. After asking the audience, “See if you can guess which former president just posted that?” Kimmel offered one final barb, expressing surprise that Trump had stayed up to watch the telecast: “Isn’t it past your jail time?” he said. — Matt Stevens

Best Win for a Director Who’s Retired (We Think)

The great animator and director Hayao Miyazaki was a ghostly presence at the ceremony, like one of the benevolent spirits he creates for his dazzling stories of grief, adventure and growing up. He and his fellow nominee, the producer Toshio Suzuki, were not there to accept the award for best animated feature for “ The Boy and the Heron ,” Miyazaki’s fairy tale about a Japanese boy making a journey to the underworld to reconcile himself to the wartime loss of his mother. Miyazaki won the same award in 2003 for “Spirited Away” and announced his retirement 10 years later; now 83, he has announced his retirement again, saying “The Boy and the Heron” will be his last movie. It would be particularly greedy to wish that he changes his mind once more, but here’s hoping. — Mike Hale

Best Jab at Hollywood

Accepting his Oscar for best adapted screenplay for “ American Fiction ,” the writer-director Cord Jefferson gave a rousing plea for more investment in movies with modest budgets, saying, “This is a risk-averse industry — I get it. But $200 million movies are also a risk, and it doesn’t always work out, but you take the risk anyway. And instead of making one $200 million movie, try making 20, $10 million movies.” It might have made some of the big-budget nominees in the room squirm, but it was a rare, refreshing Oscars moment when a winner used their platform to get candid with Hollywood instead of lavishing it with praise. — Julia Jacobs

Best Jabs on Behalf of ‘Barbenheimer’: Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling

“I’m just happy that we can finally put this ‘Barbenheimer’ rivalry behind us,” Ryan Gosling told the “Oppenheimer” star Emily Blunt when they took the stage to extol the contributions of stunt performers. Last summer’s movie event was less of a competition and more of an unlikely but entertaining marriage of two radically different films. Hordes of moviegoers showing up in person buoyed the box office numbers for both movies, and “Barbenheimer” was said to be proof that the movie industry had finally bounced back post-pandemic. But if “Barbie” triumphed at the box office, it quickly became clear that “Oppenheimer” would be the awards favorite, and the Oscar stage proved an ideal setting for renewed combat:

Blunt: “The way this awards season turned out, it just wasn’t that much of a rivalry. Just let it go!” Gosling, explaining that the phrase wasn’t “Oppenbarbie”: “Barbie” was first because “you were riding ‘Barbie’s’ coattails all summer.” Blunt: “Thanks for Ken-splaining that to me.”

— Christopher Kuo

Boldest Fashion Trend: ‘Mermaidcore’

The red carpet wasn’t dominated by Old Hollywood glamour, as it typically is, but a newer trend some people refer to as “mermaidcore.” What that really means is sea-foam colors and piscine accents, mixed with some ethereal Botticelli “Birth of Venus” vibes. Look at the decadent fishlike scales on Anya Taylor-Joy’s dress, inspired by a 75-year-old Christian Dior design. Or the crisp mint gown worn by Emma Stone, reminiscent of seashells with its peplum top and jacquard fabric. Lupita Nyong’o wore a pale blue gown dripping in crystals and feathers. Da’Vine Joy Randolph also wore a pale blue gown with fringed oversize sleeves. The buttons on Bradley Cooper’s black double-breasted jacket were an oceanic turquoise blue. The embellishments on Florence Pugh’s silvery dress looked like juicy water droplets. (She also wore floating straps — another unexpected, and significantly more polarizing, trend .) — Jessica Testa

Sweetest Good Boy: Messi, the ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ Dog

There are few dogs who’ve been greeted with as rapturous a reception as Messi, the black-and-white Border collie who plays Snoop in the French courtroom thriller “Anatomy of a Fall.” The Dolby Theater erupted when he was spotted Sunday night in a plush seat, a big black bow tie around his neck — even if the shot was later revealed to have been recorded before the ceremony .

The academy had been toying with fans’ hearts all week. There were reports that Messi had been “banned” after some executives behind nominated films not named “Anatomy of a Fall” complained that his scene-stealing escapades at the Oscar nominees luncheon earlier in the year — including snuggling with Billie Eilish — had given the film an unfair advantage during Oscars voting. But when the camera panned to him during Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue in the opening minutes? Sorry, Jenny the donkey , there’s a new most-beloved mascot in town.

This, by the way, is a canine who knows how to pull off a grand finale: After “Oppenheimer” won best picture, the cameras cut to the Hollywood Walk of Fame outside the theater, where Messi lifted his leg over Matt Damon’s star and … well, that was it. This is a refined actor, after all! — Sarah Bahr

Barest Presentation/Worst Missed Opportunity: John Cena

When Kimmel reminded everyone of the streaker at the 1974 Oscars , it was a setup for the wrestler-actor John Cena to present the award for best costume design — in the buff but for a strategically placed winner-card envelope. “Costumes … they are so important,” Cena said to a huge laugh, before quick-changing into a toga and announcing “Poor Things” as the winner. But it was a true missed opportunity: Barry Keoghan, who was quick to strip down in “Saltburn,” should have been the presenter. — Barbara Chai

Quietest End to a Fairy-Tale Season: Lily Gladstone Loses Best Actress

Lily Gladstone was the first Native American nominated for best actress for her role as an Osage woman married to a white man involved in a murderous conspiracy in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and she was riding high coming into the Oscars. She had taken home honors from the Golden Globes and the New York Film Critics Circle — delivering moving speeches, often with a few lines from the Blackfeet language — and her closest rival, Emma Stone, had reacted with what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm to Gladstone’s Screen Actors Guild Award win. So when the time came for the academy to seal the deal and give “Killers of the Flower Moon” its only win of the night, it … gave the statuette to Stone, her second win in seven years. Credit to Stone for delivering a gracious speech in a ripped dress — “I share this with you,” she told her fellow nominees. — Sarah Bahr

Oddest End to the Awards: Al Pacino Announces (Sorta) Best Picture

Al Pacino made for a somewhat befuddling and anticlimactic best-picture presenter. He shambolically walked us through his process of opening the envelope, explaining, “Here it comes,” to laughter from the crowd. “And my eyes see ‘Oppenheimer,’” he said. The cheers that usually accompany such an announcement were at first tentative, given Pacino’s lack of declaration. It was only once music started to play that it felt like we dodged a potential “Moonlight”-“La La Land” mixup. “Oppenheimer” was indeed the winner; it was only Pacino who wasn’t so sure. — Esther Zuckerman

Why should you not thank your publicist if you win an Oscar?

The idea, some think, is that publicists work behind the scenes to promote you, so they should be kept in the background. But the Oscars are the ultimate promotion, so I agree that if they helped get you there, they are worth a thank you.

How did the award get the nickname “Oscars”?

There’s some debate. Some say the statue reminded academy librarian Margaret Herrick of her uncle Oscar. Others say Bette Davis said its derriere reminded her of her second husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson. Hollywood gossip columnist Sidney Skolsky said he gave the nickname. It’s not, as far as we know, named for the Grouch.

What’s the deal with the floating straps trend seen on the red carpet?

The working theory is that the straps were a design accent that allowed the actresses (Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh, both representing “Oppenheimer”) to safely stand out — to inject just the right amount of strangeness and direction into their look, without verging too far into risk-taking, worst-dressed territory. The futuristic floating straps were polarizing, but memorable . And at the end of the day, the gowns you remember are the gowns that won the night.

Why aren’t stunts an Oscar category?

They should be! (In my opinion.) The Screen Actors Guild Awards honor the stunt people for film and TV already. But adding a category to the Oscars is a fraught process, and has been known to go haywire. (Anyone remember the “achievement in popular film” Oscar, which was introduced in 2018 and then scrapped a week later after an outcry?) Still, there is hope: There have reportedly been talks within the academy about a stunt Oscar.

How do they choose presenters? Some folks, besides past winners, seem random.

This is part previous winners, part actors who were in some of the nominated films and part publicists working overtime. A number of presenters have projects to promote, so it’s good for them to get face time on the show for those future (and current) releases.

Do the actors announcing the nominees write their own introductions?

They usually do not. Often, their intros are put together by the show’s writers, and the actors don’t get much time with the material, which is why some read the lines so awkwardly. The exception is usually with comedian presenters, like John Mulaney, who no doubt wrote his funny/oddball bit about “Field of Dreams” that he delivered when presenting the Oscar for best sound this year.

Our Coverage of the 2024 Oscars

The 96th academy awards were presented on march 10 in los angeles..

Our Critics’ Take: The Oscars were torn between the golden past and the thorny present. But to our critics Manohla Dargis and Alissa Wilkinson, the show mostly worked .

A ‘Just Ken’ Spectacle: In one of the most anticipated and exuberant moments of Oscar night , Ryan Gosling took the stage to perform “ I’m Just Ken ” from “Barbie.”

Cillian Murphy’s Career: If you’re looking to expand your knowledge of the Irish actor’s work after his now Oscar-winning performance  as the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, here are some excellent options .

Universal’s Success: Under the leadership of the executive Donna Langley, the studio behind “Oppenheimer” has managed the rare feat of achieving creative dominance and commercial supremacy at the same time .

Inside the After Parties:  Here’s what we saw at the Governors Ball  and Vanity Fair’s party , where the famous (and the fame-adjacent) celebrated into the night.