Figures of Great Speech

Beyond patriotic inspiration, great speeches are bellwethers of American history, showing where the nation has been (snatched from the clutches of "fear itself" by FDR) and where it is going (in the visionary rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "dream").

Martin Luther King Jr. — I Have a Dream
Aug. 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.
"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!' " More >>

Franklin D. Roosevelt — First Inaugural Address
March 4, 1933. Washington, D.C.
"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." More >>

Ronald Reagan — Tear Down This Wall
June 12, 1987. West Berlin, Germany
"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!" More >>

John F. Kennedy — Inaugural Address
Jan. 20, 1961. Washington, D.C.
"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." More >>

John F. Kennedy — 'Ich Bin Ein Berliner'
June 26, 1963. West Berlin, Germany
"Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades." More >>