Speaking, in These Rare and Painful Circumstances
When a US mission goes awry and the enemy prevails it falls to the president to address the situation in a speech. In these rare and painful circumstances the international …
FDR-style policy, Truman-style rhetoric
This was not a normal State of the Union Address in its middle of spring timing or, due to COVID19 and post-riot restrictions, the size of its audience. Attendance was …
Booster Shot
President Joseph R. Biden, Address to the Nation, Washington DC March 11, 2021. Joe Biden made appealing for national unity look easy in his first prime-time presidential address. He sought …
A Collection of Abstract Nouns and Colloquialisms
It’s unfair to hold Joe Biden to the oratorical standards of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, no matter how much the crisis circumstances incline us to make the comparisons. …
Rescue and recovery
The new guy has begun his job. Biden’s two speeches late last week had no frills, no flourishes, no surprises (as in departures from his published campaign plans), and, most …
Not a great speech—but a good one
Victory Speech by President-Elect Joseph Biden, November 7, 2020, Wilmington DE Joe Biden could not rely on custom to smooth his way through a victory speech. It was not safe …
Biden Gives the Violence Trump’s Name
Speech by Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden, August 31, 2020, Pittsburgh PA One reason it is never wise to label a speech the biggest of someone’s life is that bigness …
Exaggeration Wrapped in Grandiosity
Acceptance Speech by President Donald Trump, August 27, 2020. Republican National Convention, Fourth Night. Last night in a speech that ran well over an hour President Trump made his argument …
Distorted reality, distractingly delivered
Speech by Vice President Mike Pence, August 26, 2020. Ft. McHenry, Baltimore MD. Republican National Convention, Third Night. Last night Vice-President Pence spread the word about Trump, Biden, and recent …
The best speech of the night
Speeches by Nikki Haley, Donald Trump Jr., and Tim Scott August 24, 2020. Republican National Convention, First Night. Imagine a convention where two of the most prominent first night speakers …