Politicians give speeches to rally support from voters. Some have a gift for oratory. Many politicians do not. In 2008, it"s election season in America and the speeches come at us from every side of the political spectrum. We can see excerpts from candidates" speeches on television commercials, in debates and, on the nightly news.
The fact is that there are many different types of political speeches. There is the standard candidate "stump" speech, a speech used in every venue that a candidate visits in the course of his campaign day. There is the convention speech where a candidate will give a major address at a party"s political convention. There is the inaugural address that a newly elected President gives to begin his/her term in office. There is the State of the Union address that a President gives to Congress each year. There are speeches after surprise events like 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. There are speeches after world events and natural disasters. Indeed there have been hundreds of thousands of political speeches given by countless politicians over the last hundred years in America.
The reality is that of all these political speeches there are very few that we can remember. There are still fewer that made a difference and had any meaningful impact. That is why given our perspective of historical hindsight that we must acknowledge a truly great political speech, a speech that was given with remarkable courage at the time, a speech with historical significance delivered with passion, moral conscience, and delivered with perfect cadence and a speech that would mark a significant turning point in American society. The " I Have a Dream" speech of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the speech which fills all this criteria and more.
Dr. Martin Luther King gave the famous speech on August 28, 1963. The speech was delivered to over two hundred thousand civil rights supporters during the March on Washington on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It would be a defining moment for the civil rights movement, a movement which represented an American cultural revolution with ammunition that consisted only of extraordinary words.
King"s address was given to advocate racial harmony. It referenced the Bible, Lincoln"s Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence. It was a call to history, moral conscience, and justice. In Dr. King"s words in 1963, "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will they be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."
Later in the speech his analogy of a "promissory note" was perfect for our capitalist society. King said, "In a sense we"ve come to our nation"s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds.""
Indeed, his speech now seems like a long time ago, but only less than five decades have passed into history. The transformation of American society in that short span of time has been remarkable. The America of 1963 was certainly a much different place than it is now. Racial discrimination and segregation were the order of the day. Voting rights for black Americans was compromised at every turn. In fact, Martin Luther King was arrested about twenty times and assaulted at least four times prior to 1963.
Society would begin to change after that speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. One year later, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would outlaw segregation in United States schools and public places. It would prohibit discrimination in schools, hiring ,and housing. In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act which effectively eliminated various states" practices of disenfranchising black voters.
Dr. King would be named Time Man of the Year in 1963. He would be awarded five honorary degrees. In 1964, at the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., would become the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
There certainly have been great political speeches in America in the last one hundred years. Franklin Roosevelt delivered two with his First Inaugural Address and his Pearl Harbor Address. John Kennedy"s Inaugural Address and Ronald Reagan"s Shuttle Disaster speech were a couple of more great speeches. I am sure you can think of others, that I may have not mentioned here.
However, when one considers the history of the time and the political change that would follow, the (Dr. Martin Luther King) "I Have a Dream" speech would be my choice for best political speech of the last century in America. If your choice lies elsewhere, then we can agree to disagree.