Greatest Speeches Ever In History

Sunday, Aug 23, 2020, 1:32 pm

By:Tony Williams

1.Franklin Roosevelt: Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation

To fully understand how great this speech was you need to picture the scene. There are families surrounding radios all over the country, they know that this terrible tragedy has happened and they are wondering what comes next. They then hear the steady voice of their President just talking to them. It was defiant, it was confident, but it also warned of hard times ahead.

2.Dwight D Eisenhower: Farewell Address

Eisenhower was a military man and as he left office he knew that too much of the budget was being spent on the military, even though it was required due to how the world was, and this speech was important as it showed another side to him. It showed that he understood things had to change and to embrace it and perhaps it did change the course of history as well.

3.Winston Churchill: Their Finest Hour

This speech came just before what became known as the Battle of Britain. It was stirring, it was passionate, it told the truth in how hard it would be, but it showed people to be resolute and that things would work out fine. He was completely accurate in everything he said.

4.Mahatma Ghandi : Quit India

Gandhi is such an important figure in recent history and this speech was designed to try to persuade Britain to quit India peacefully rather than some of the more turbulent methods used by other countries around the world. It really did show what he was all about and his love for gentle persuasion.

5.George Washington: Resignation Speech

What happens in this speech is that George Washington basically sacrifices becoming even more powerful in order to help preserve the future of this brand new country. He was apparently very emotional whilst reading it as was everybody else in the room and you only have to read excerpts to imagine how difficult it would have been to listen to it for real.

6.Socrates: Apology

When it comes to ancient speeches there are a few to choose from. This speech was made when Socrates was defending himself in court on trumped up charges and it was his attempt to explain what he believed in and not to dispute charges, but instead try to reason with the jury.

7.Charles de Gaulle: The Appeal of 18 June

Charles de Gaulle really did have to make this speech as he knew that France was being overrun by the Germans and the country was lost. He made the speech from London and it was a passionate plea for people to fight back in any way they could in order to defeat the Germans and push them back out of France.

8.William Wilberforce: Abolition Speech

This speech marked a turning point in the slave trade as this born again Christian British politician decided to speak up against it as early as 1789. He eventually managed to get the slave act passed in 1809 after bringing it up every single year until he succeeded.

9.John F Kennedy: Inauguration Speech

This speech felt as if it was bringing in a new beginning, but of course it was cut short just a couple of years later. It was all about unity and getting people to work for the country and for peace in the world even though this was a time when everything was on edge.

10.Martin Luther King: I Had A Dream

This speech is all about equality and it was also very visionary at the time. It had passion, it had a sense of just wanting something special to happen, and it was delivered in such a way that you could not fail but to stop and listen. This shows that it is often down to the person giving the speech rather than what is being said because can you imagine anybody else putting the points across with as much power?

11.Winston Churchill: We Shall Fight on the Beaches

This is a speech that you are going to at least have heard snippets of if you have ever looked at WW2. It was full of determination and a desire to win the war and there is no doubt that it galvanized support within Britain at a time when things looked very bleak indeed.

12.Theodore Roosevelt: Duties of American Citizenship

The entire idea behind this speech was to convince every day citizens that they should take an interest in politics and the government because they too can actually make a difference. It promoted the idea of freedom, which of course forms the basis of so much in the US, and this is undoubtedly a speech that shaped the country as it is today.

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