We at US Democrazy love freedom. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to sleep until noon… you know, all the important stuff.
We also love to hear folks give rousing speeches about freedom.
In this week’s Film Festival series, we have assembled some clips from famous American speeches. The speeches use rhetorical flourishes to address important American issues particularly freedom.
Our first clip is the oldest (See above)… President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Inaugural Address to the nation in 1933.
Check out the very dated look and dress of the attendees… and listen out for the famous line from this speech “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” (4:43 in the video).
The second film takes place at the same location 28 years later.
It is President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Inaugural Address, in which he states, “United there is little we cannot do” (3:06 in the video). Kennedy’s delivery and way with words is something that many politicians today aspire to match.
Our third choice is a short clip of President Nixon. In this 1963 address, Nixon calls on the “silent majority”.
This is a term he used to describe those who he believed were silently in favor of the Vietnam War, despite the demonstrations against the war and public anti-war discourse in the media at the time.
This final clip is one of the most famous political speeches in recent US history.
This important speech by Martin Luther King Jr. is one we’ve surely all heard of before in our classrooms, but there is something powerful about watching the passionate words come from his mouth in this clip.
Keep a look out for other good speeches and share them with us. Let us know whether or not you think American political rhetoric today is on a new course!
