Just listened to Eisenhower’s Farewell Speech, which I mentioned before. Good one to listen to. The difference between a statesman and a politician, they say, is that the latter thinks of the next election while the former thinks of the next generation. Maybe it’s just because this was his farewell—so there was no “next election”—but in this speech at least, Ike acted like a statesman. He was insightful and, unfortunately, prescient. I’ll have to listen to some more of his speeches (I have “Atoms for Peace” and his First Inaugural downloaded), and see what I think. Hard to believe that I might find a recent Republican that I like, and even harder to believe it might be the man who had Richard Nixon for a running mate. But hey, gotta give the benefit of the doubt. For the farewell speech alone, I have some respect for the guy. 6 years ago
Dwight Eisenhower’s Farewell Speech to the nation.
I heard part of this on NOW, as part of their interview with Eugene Jarecki (maker of the film Why We Fight). Apparently this is where the idea of the military-industrial complex (and the term itself, for that matter) comes from. Added to which, I’m coming to have more and more respect for Eisenhower all the time. If Republicans were more like him and less like Nixon, this would be a very different country. 6 years ago
Listened to Gerald Ford’s speech about pardoning Nixon. What a yutz. He’s basically saying that famous people shouldn’t be prosecuted for things, because it’s bad for national morale and because they personally have a harder time with it than the average person would (due to all the press attention). I repeat: What a yutz.
Also listened to Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” speech. He may be right, but it’s not hard to see how this guy didn’t get re-elected. Don’t get me wrong; I think he’s an impressive thinker and really a very good man. But he’s not the greatest speaker, and in any case a speech like this is not going to win anybody any friends (or, more importantly, any votes). It is, though, a good example of what’s gone wrong with the Democratic party: he’s all over the map in that speech. Can’t decide what we should be most depressed about, it seems. Yeesh.
But I also listened to Martin Luther King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech (in honor of his birthday, sort of). Wow. What a spectacular speech. It was given one year to the day before he was shot & killed. Man, just what an impressive speech. I’ve quoted some parts of it elsewhere, if you’re interested. But I’d really recommend the entire speech. It’s a masterwork of rhetoric—he builds upon several themes, and does such a great job with the work. You have to hear it. 6 years ago
I’ve downloaded a bunch of the MP3 versions and put them on my iPod. So far I’ve listened to “The Ballot or the Bullet” (Malcolm X), “A Whisper of AIDS” (Mary Fisher, at the 1992 RNC), “The Perils of Indifference” (Elie Wiesel), Anita Hill’s statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Joseph Welch’s back-and-forth with Joe McCarthy (the “Have you no sense of decency?” thing). I’ve got quite a few more that I want to listen to. For some reason I ended up downloading quite a few from the 70s—to do with Nixon and Vietnam especially.
I did break down and glance over the “Top 100” list, though. Only downloaded about a half-dozen from it, though, so that’s not bad. 6 years ago
Just finished William Jennings Bryant’s “Cross of Gold” speech, which is very good. I’m working from the American Rhetoric site, largely. And in keeping with one of my other goals, I’m trying to ignore the “Top 100” list there. We’ll see how well that works.
Next up is to listen to some of Malcolm X’s speeches on there. I listened to “Message to the Grassroots” a while back, and found it really intriguing. Would like to hear some more.
My wife and I are thinking that if we do end up homeschooling the kids, this might be one way we approach the teaching of history. There’s a lot bound up in a great speech. 6 years ago
