Speeches & Oratory, RED-“MR
I have a dream... "Four score and seven years ago..." It's not a fluke that these phrases came to be so widely known and remembered. Truly great and persuasive speeches elicit strong emotional reactions in their audiences and may have broad historical repercussions. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, quoted above, are two iconic examples of successful oratory, as are Elizabeth I's speech to the troops at Tilbury and Winston Churchill's first speech as prime minister to the House of Commons.
Speeches & Oratory Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Red Jacket
Red Jacket was a Seneca chief whose magnificent oratory masked his schemes to maintain his position despite double-dealing......
Robbins, Tony
Tony Robbins is an American motivational speaker and “life coach” who created a multifaceted business empire by......
Robertson, Frederick William
Frederick William Robertson was an Anglican clergyman who became widely popular particularly among the working......
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was the author of a Latin work on declamation, a form of rhetorical exercise. Only about......
Severian Of Gabala
Severian Of Gabala was a bishop of Gabala (now Latakia, Syria), theologian and orator, principal opponent of the......
Skarga, Piotr
Piotr Skarga was a militant Jesuit preacher and writer, the first Polish representative of the Counter-Reformation.......
Solitude of Self
On January 18, 1892, suffrage activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Isabella Beecher......
Spurgeon, C.H.
C.H. Spurgeon was an English fundamentalist Baptist minister and celebrated preacher whose sermons, which were......
State of the Union
State of the Union, in the United States, the annual address of the president of the United States to the U.S.......
Stewart, Maria
Maria Stewart was an American writer, lecturer, teacher, and activist who was the first known American woman to......
Sulpicius Rufus, Publius
Publius Sulpicius Rufus was a Roman orator and politician whose attempts, as tribune of the plebs, to enact reforms......
Symmachus, Quintus Aurelius Memmius Eusebius
Quintus Aurelius Memmius Eusebius Symmachus was a Roman statesman, a brilliant orator and writer who was a leading......
Tacitus
Tacitus was a Roman orator and public official, probably the greatest historian and one of the greatest prose stylists......
Tecumseh
Tecumseh was a Shawnee Indian chief, orator, military leader, and advocate of intertribal Indian alliance who directed......
Today in History—January 20: The Young President Spoke, and the Nation Listened
On a frigid January afternoon in 1961, U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy stood before a crowd of nearly 1 million to deliver......
Today in History—January 4: When the State of the Union Went Prime Time
“The Great Society asks not how much, but how good; not only how to create wealth but how to use it; not only how......
Today in History—May 29: The Speech’s Name Is a Misnomer
On this day in 1851, abolitionist and women’s right activist Sojourner Truth gave her most famous speech, one that......
Today in History—October 12: Nikita Khrushchev’s Shoe Speech
On this day in 1960, one of the most shocking and iconic Cold War moments unfolded when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev......
Today in History—September 26: TV Transformed Presidential Campaigns
On this day in 1960, two U.S. presidential candidates debated each other. It was a landmark event: Never before......
Vair, Guillaume du
Guillaume du Vair was a highly influential French thinker and writer of the troubled period at the end of the 16th......
Vieira, António
António Vieira was a Jesuit missionary, orator, diplomat, and master of classical Portuguese prose who played an......
Vídalín, Jón Thorkelsson
Jón Thorkelsson Vídalín was a Lutheran bishop, best known for his Húss-Postilla (1718–20; “Sermons for the Home”),......
Ward, Samuel Ringgold
Samuel Ringgold Ward was a black American abolitionist known for his oratorical power. Born a slave, Ward escaped......
Webster, Daniel
Daniel Webster was an American orator and politician who practiced prominently as a lawyer before the U.S. Supreme......
What Time of Night It Is
In 1881 National Woman Suffrage Association founders Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn......
Why is Chicago called the Windy City?
While the wind might blow off Lake Michigan, the nickname “Windy City” is rooted in Chicago’s reputation for verbose......
“Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!”: Reagan’s Berlin Speech
The Berlin Wall was erected by communist East Germany and the Soviet Union in 1961 to keep skilled East German......