Table Of ContentDemocratic Orators from JFK
to Barack Obama
Edited by
Andrew S. Crines
David S. Moon
Robert Lehrman
Democratic Orators from JFK to Barack Obama
Rhetoric,PoliticsandSociety
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Democratic Orators
from JFK to Barack Obama
Editedby
Andrew S. Crines
LecturerinPolitics,UniversityofLiverpool,UK
David S. Moon
LecturerinPolitics,UniversityofBath,UK
Robert Lehrman
ProfessorofPublicCommunication,AmericanUniversity,Washington,D.C.,USA
Selectionandeditorialmatter©AndrewS.Crines,DavidS.Moon,
RobertLehrman2016
Individualchapters©Respectiveauthors2016
Foreword©DavidE.Bonior2016
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Contents
ListofTablesandFigures vii
ForewordbyDavidE.Bonior viii
Acknowledgements xi
NotesonContributors xii
Introduction 1
AndrewS.CrinesandRobertLehrman
1 TheOratoryofJohnF.Kennedy 12
RobertLehrman
2 TheOratoryofLyndonB.Johnson 32
AndrewTaylor
3 TheOratoryofRobertF.Kennedy 54
BrendanEvans
4 TheOratoryofJimmyCarter 74
DonnaJacksonandRobertLehrman
5 TheOratoryofEdwardKennedy 94
TimothyHeppell
6 TheOratoryofBillClinton 117
JonHerbert
7 TheOratoryofAlGore 148
RobertBusby
8 TheOratoryofJohnEdwards 171
DavidS.Moon
9 TheOratoryofJohnKerry 193
JonRoper
10 TheOratoryofJesseJackson 217
FeliciaR.Stewart
v
vi Contents
11 TheOratoryofHillaryClinton 239
MarkBennister
12 TheOratoryofBarackObama 261
RobertLehrmanandAndrewS.Crines
Conclusion:OratoryandRhetoricinDemocraticPartyPolitics 283
DavidS.Moon
Bibliography 288
Index 310
List of Tables and Figures
Tables
2.1 Thejeremiad:formandcontent 35
2.2 Thecomplexityandcomprehensionofthesample
speeches 43
2.3 TheremarksatGettysburg:thejeremiadinembryo 47
2.4 TheJohnsonianjeremiad:theInauguralAddress 48
Figures
2.1 Thepoliticaljeremiad1963–65:tagcloud 46
vii
Foreword
This book makes me remember a magical dinner which stoked the
coals of hope stored in every Democrat’s heart. It was Fall, 2007. We
Democrats were in Des Moines Iowa at the Iowa Democratic Party’s
Jefferson/Jackson dinner and Democratic aspirants were trying to win
overthepressandpartyfaithful.Thearenaheldabout10,000enthused
supporters.IwasJohnEdwards’NationalCampaignManagerandwhen
he spoke early in the evening about our central themes of working
peopleandpovertyIwasconfidentthathewouldwintheday.
Hillary Clinton came onstage next and spoke better than I had ever
heard her. Later in the evening the young hopeful Barack Obama took
to the stage and gave the best speech I have ever heard him deliver.
It was better than even his 2004 Keynote Address at the Democratic
conventioninBostonwhichlaunchedhisnationalcareer.Hehad won
theday.Youcouldfeelinthatarenathathewasabouttomakehistory.
The power of oratory is an art form. Speeches like those in Iowa
change events. So I hope you will see the importance of reading what
theinsightfulcontributorstothisbadlyneededbookproduced,Iimag-
ine,inquietofficesattheircampuses.Theymakeusunderstandthatart
as they explore the often electric speeches and styles of those leading
Democraticoratorsunderreview.
ThechaptersrangefromexploringthehopeandoptimismofJFK,to
the awesome burdens of war and poverty carried by LBJ; from the pas-
sionsandempathyofRobertKennedytoJimmyCarter’sdetermination
to bring peace to the Middle East with his Camp David Accords; from
theRevdJesseJackson’scrusadesforracialandeconomicjusticetoJohn
Kerry’sdiplomaticskillsintheSenateandontheworldstage;fromBill
Clinton’s leadership in eliminating the federal deficit to Al Gore’s suc-
cessfuleffortstoawakentheworldtothechallengesofclimatechange;
andfromBarackObama’sgiftofhealthcaretomillionsofAmericansto
HillaryClinton’schampioningofgirlsandwomenbothintheUSAand
aroundtheworld.
This one volume speaks many volumes about the speeches and ora-
torical prowess of these 12 leading Democratic Party figures. It is, of
course, not just a book about the art of rhetoric or oratory. It explores
howmypartychangedand,tome,grew;howrhetoricchangedwithit;
andhowitbothexpressedandmouldedthatgrowth.Assomeonewho
viii
Foreword ix
spent30yearsinCongress,workingcloselywithsevenoftheseleaders,
youmightthinkIwascoveringfamiliarground.ButIlearnedfromthis
book,too.
The editors, Andrew S. Crines, David S. Moon, and Robert Lehrman,
havepickedanimpressivelist.Ofcourse,itcouldhavebeenlonger.Con-
gressman John Lewis of Georgia, a civil rights hero in his own right at
Selmaandsomanyotherchallengingplaces,wasbynatureapreacher.
He tells the story that when he was a young boy he preached to the
chickens in their coop. It is a very funny story but of course we know
thatJohnisleadinguptosomethingimportant.Whenhespeakswelis-
tenbecausehehasearnedourattentionandhismoralmessagealways
seemstimelyandright.
Another of the towering figures in Congress was Barbara Jordan of
Texas. Her razor-sharp mind on the House Judiciary Committee and
deep drawn-out senatorial annunciations during the Nixon impeach-
mentpropelledhertonationalprominence.Shedidnotoftenspeakon
the floor of the House but when she did she would draw a crowd. A
lawyer,shehadthemindofanethicsprofessor,whichshewas,andthe
presenceofadistinguishedstateswoman.
The first speech I remember was not political. As a boy from a
working-class Detroit family in the 1950s I recall watching the Emmy
Award-winning Catholic televangelist Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. I don’t
remember today the exact details of what he preached but I do recall
howhepreached.Hewasquitedramaticwithhiszucchettorestingupon
hisdistinguishedgreyhairandhisrighthandmanipulatinghisredand
blackcape,openingittohisaudienceandthenwrappinghimselfinit
toemphasiseapoint.
Of course, a great speech needs more than memorable delivery.
Ultimately it must contain substance, ideas, and a construct. One of
the greatest speechwriters of public discourse in American history was
also a man who could deliver his words with eloquence and often
heart-rendering sadness. We see those elements in Abraham Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address – so powerful in
their simplicity and tone that they rest today engraved in stone at his
shrineinthenation’scapitol.
Lincoln wrote that speech himself, but today, those qualities emerge
through the rise of political speechwriters. Every one of the speakers
in this book had talented ones, a fact often and regrettably concealed.
Over the course of my 30-year career as a legislator I have been fortu-
nate to have talented speechwriters, three of whom went on to write
in the White House. The White House was always calling up my best
