A brief history of the origins and battles of the Martin Luther King federal holiday, and of the MLK monument at the Washington Mall, with full text and video of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.”
great speeches
For a Happy Saturnalian Christmas:
How To have A Good Time
Fulton J. Sheen was that rarity of Catholic sermonizers: he was witty, earthy and unfriendly to religion’s two heels : dogma and doctrine. “How to Have a Good Time” is one of his most celebrated sermons from his “Life Is Worth Living” series, from 1957.
Obama’s Speech on the Economy in Osawatomie, Kansas: Video and Text
Full text and video of Barack Obama’s speech on inequality, fairness and the economy in Osawatomie, Kansas, on Dec. 6, 2011.
The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan in Normandy
Reagan’s speech at Normandy’s Pointe du Hoc on June 6, 1984, commemorating the 40th anniversary of D-Day, is one of his noblest, especially in retrospect, for what he said about the cold war, the Soviet Union and nuclear weapons.
My Favorite Republican: A Look Back at Eisenhower’s Otherworldly Farewell Address
On the 50th anniversary of Eisenhower’s farewell address, what’s striking about the speech today, Donald Kaul argues, is its tone of balance and moderation. It sounds like a speech not merely from another era but from another planet.
Emerson: The American Scholar
Emerson’s “American Scholar,” a graduation speech to Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa, redefined the way Americans saw themselves–as intellectual individuals on their own terms. Take a second look in this season of commencements.
