Influential Speeches

The day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, FDR delivered this speech to the nation.

In 1962, the prospect of being the first nation to land on the moon was central to American exceptionalism.

With the nation in the grips of the Great Depression, our 32nd President announces "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

The President responds to the "not guilty" verdict of the Trayvon Martin murder case.

The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff.

The decorated Gen. MacArthur tells cadets they will deal with considerable challenges.

A speech outlining the plan to rebuild Europe after the devastation of WWII

The famous revolutionary speech that incited Virginia to organize a militia against British tyranny

This rousing speech, delivered just after "Bloody Sunday," led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The late Steve Jobs discusses the challenges that ultimately shaped him into a successful entrepreneur.

The president announces the "benevolent" initiative to remove Native Americans from their homelands.

During a 1924 congressional debate on immigration, a senator from South Carolina argued that we should "shut the door and breed up a pure, unadulterated American citizen."

At the height of the Great Depression, Huey P. Long, a Louisiana senator, delivered this famous speech in which he denounced the rich and argued to "scale down the big fortunes."

Carrie Chapman Catt argues in favor of granting women the right to vote.

In her speech advocating in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment, feminist Gloria Steinem seeks to dispel myths about women.

The famous ex-slave and abolitionist points out the hypocrisy of "the home of the free" on Independence Day.

Roosevelt argues that we have a moral imperative to conserve our diminishing supply of natural resources.

In this famous speech, Reagan argues for "the maximum of individual freedom."

Lincoln makes a case for free labor over "the great curse" of slavery.

FDR addresses the “Dust Bowl” problem of the 1930s — during which severe drought and erosion conditions led to a prolonged agricultural crisis.