Speeches

Speeches and addresses — inaugural, ceremonial, and unscripted — that crystallized American purpose at decisive moments.

Ain't I a Woman?

Sojourner Truth's case for equal rights, 1851

Day of Infamy Speech

FDR asks Congress for war, December 1941

FDR's First Inaugural Address

Franklin Roosevelt declares war on the Great Depression, March 4, 1933

Gettysburg Address

Lincoln's 272-word speech that redefined the purpose of the Civil War

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

Patrick Henry's call to arms, 1775

I Have a Dream

Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963

Kennedy's Inaugural Address

Ask not what your country can do for you, 1961

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

"With Malice Toward None" — Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865

Tear Down This Wall

Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate, 1987

The Four Freedoms

FDR's vision for a world worth defending, 1941