Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th Century

The following list ranks the top 100 American speeches of the 20th century as determined in a nationwide survey of 137 communication scholars, conducted by Stephen E. Lucas (University of Wisconsin) and Martin J. Medhurst (Texas A&M University). The speeches were rated on two criteria: rhetorical artistry and historical impact. To be eligible for consideration, a speech did not need to have been presented in the United States, but the speaker had to be a U.S. resident. There were no restrictions on the genres or topics of speeches, or on the number of speeches from a single speaker.

Following the title of each speech is at least one link to a website with a transcript of that speech. In all but a few cases, the websites provide complete texts. Many also furnish historical background about the speech and/or links to additional sites with information about the speaker, speech or occasion.

  1. Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream" August 28, 1963 Washington, DC
    1. U.S. Constitution Online
    2. History and Politics Out Loud

  2. John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address January 20, 1961 Washington, DC
    1. History Place
    2. Kennedy Library

  3. Franklin D. Roosevelt First Inaugural Address March 4, 1933 Washington, DC
    1. History Place
    2. Great American Speeches
      (Speech needs to be accessed through Timeline. Go to 1930s and click on link to FDR's Inaugural.)

  4. Franklin D. Roosevelt War Message ("A Date Which Will Live in Infamy") December 8, 1941 Washington, DC
    1. History Place
    2. American Experience

  5. Barbara Jordan Keynote Speech to the Democratic National Convention July 12, 1976 New York, NY
    1. Tribute to Barbara Jordan
    2. History Channel

  6. Nixon, Nixon "My Side of the Story" ("Checkers") September 23, 1952 Los Angeles, CA
    1. History Place
    2. History Channel

  7. Malcolm X, "The Ballot or the Bullet" April 3, 1964 Cleveland, OH
    1.  Speech Transcript

  8. Ronald Reagan Address to the Nation on the Challenger Disaster January 28, 1986 Washington, DC:
    1. History Place
    2. Reagan Official Site

  9. John F. Kennedy Speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association September 12, 1960 Houston, TX
    1. Civnet
    2. Kennedy Library   

  10. Lyndon B. Johnson Address to Congress on the Voting Rights Act ("We Shall Overcome") March 15, 1965 Washington, DC
    1. History Place
    2. History and Politics Out Loud

  11. Mario Cuomo Keynote Speech to the Democratic National Convention ("A Tale of Two Cities") July 17, 1984 San Francisco, CA
    1. Great Speeches
      (Speech needs to be accessed through Timeline. Go to 1980s and click on link to Cuomo's Keynote Address.)
    2. History Channel

  12. Jesse Jackson Speech at the Democratic National Convention ("The Rainbow Coalition") July 17, 1984 San Francisco, CA
    1. Frontline
    2. History Channel

  13. Barbara Jordan Statement on the Articles of Impeachment July 25, 1974 Washington, DC
    1. Tribute to Barbara Jordan
    2. Gifts of Speech

  14. Douglas MacArthur Farewell Address to Congress ("Old Soldiers Never Die") April 19, 1951 Washington, DC
    1. American Experience
    2. History Channel

  15. Martin Luther King, Jr. "I've Been to the Mountaintop" April 3, 1968 Memphis, TN
    1. Memphis: We Remember

  16. Theodore Roosevelt "The Man with the Muck Rake" April 14, 1906 Washington, DC
    1. American Experience

  17. Robert F. Kennedy Statement on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. April 4, 1968 Indianapolis, IN
    1. History Place
    2. Kennedy Library

  18. Dwight D. Eisenhower Farewell Address January 17, 1961 Washington, DC
    1. Eisenhower Library
    2. History Channel

  19. Woodrow Wilson War Message ("The World Must Be Made Safe for Democracy") April 2, 1917 Washington, DC
    1. World War I Document Archive
    2. Foreign Policy Documents

  20. Douglas MacArthur Farewell Address at the U.S. Military Academy ("Duty, Honor, Country") May 12, 1962 West Point, NY
    1. American Experience

  21. Richard M. Nixon Address to the Nation on the War in Vietnam ("The Great Silent Majority") November 3, 1969 Washington, DC
    1. CNN
    2. American Experience

  22. John F. Kennedy "Ich bin ein Berliner" June 26, 1963 West Berlin, Germany
    1. History Place
    2. Kennedy Library

  23. Clarence Darrow Plea for Mercy at the Trial of Leopold and Loeb August 22, 23, and 25, 1924 Chicago, IL
    1. Douglass
    2. Famous American Trials

  24. Russell Conwell "Acres of Diamonds" 1900-1925 Delivered at many spots across the U.S.
    1. Temple University

  25. Ronald Reagan Televised Speech on Behalf of Barry Goldwater ("A Time for Choosing") October 27, 1964 Los Angeles, CA
    1. Reagan Official Site

  26. Huey Pierce Long "Every Man a King" February 23, 1934 Washington, DC
    1. Speech Transcript

  27. Anna Howard Shaw "The Fundamental Principle of a Republic" June 21, 1915 Ogdensburg, NY
    1. Gifts of Speech
    2. Great Speeches
      (Speech needs to be accessed through Timeline. Go to 1910s and click on link to Anna Howard Shaw's speech.)

  28. Franklin D. Roosevelt "The Arsenal of Democracy" December 29, 1940 Washington, DC
    1. Fireside Chats of Franklin D. Roosevelt
    2. Presidential Rhetoric

  29. Ronald Reagan Speech to the National Association of Evangelicals ("The Evil Empire") March 8, 1983 Orlando, FL
    1. Reagan Official Site

  30. Ronald Reagan First Inaugural Address January 20, 1981 Washington, DC
    1. Reagan Official Site
    2. American Presidency

  31. Franklin D. Roosevelt First Fireside Chat ("The Banking Crisis") March 12, 1933 Washington, DC
    1. Fireside Chats of Franklin D. Roosevelt
    2. Presidential Rhetoric

  32. Harry S. Truman Address to Congress on Greece and Turkey ("The Truman Doctrine") March 12, 1947 Washington, DC
    1. American Experience
    2. Presidential Rhetoric

  33. William Faulkner Speech Accepting the Nobel Prize in Literature December 10, 1950 Stockholm, Sweden
    1. History Place
    2. William Faulkner on the Web

  34. Eugene V. Debs Statement to the Court September 14, 1918 Cleveland, OH
    1. Speech Transcript

  35. Hillary Rodham Clinton Address to the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women ("Women's Rights Are Humans Rights") September 5, 1995 Beijing, China
    1. Douglass
    2. Gifts of Speech

  36. Dwight D. Eisenhower "Atoms for Peace" December 8, 1953 New York, NY
    1. Eisenhower Library
    2. Presidential Rhetoric

  37. John F. Kennedy American University Speech June 10,1963 Washington, DC
    1. Great Speeches
      (Speech needs to be accessed through Timeline. Go to 1960s and click on link to Kennedy's speech at American University.)
    2. Kennedy Library

  38. Ann Richards Keynote Speech to the Democratic National Convention July 18, 1988 Atlanta, GA
    1. Gifts of Speech

  39. Richard M. Nixon Address to the Nation Resigning the Presidency August 8, 1974 Washington, DC
    1. History Place
    2. American Experience

  40. Woodrow Wilson "The Fourteen Points" January 8, 1918 Washington, DC
    1. History Place
    2. World War I Document Archive

  41. Margaret Chase Smith "Declaration of Conscience" June 1, 1950 Washington, DC
    1. Smith Library
    2. Gifts of Speech

  42. Franklin D. Roosevelt "The Four Freedoms" January 6, 1941 Washington, DC
    1. American History
    2. Public Library

  43. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speech at Riverside Church ("A Time to Break Silence") April 4, 1967 New York, NY
    1. American Rhetoric

  44. Mary Church Terrell "What It Means to Be Colored in the Capital of the United States" October 10, 1906 Washington, DC
    1. Speech Transcript

  45. William Jennings Bryan Speech Accepting the Democratic Presidential Nomination ("Against Imperialism") August 8, 1900 Indianapolis, IN
    1. BoondocksNet

  46. Margaret Sanger "A Moral Necessity for Birth Control" 1921-1922 Delivered several times for the American Birth Control League
    1. Speech Transcript

  47. Barbara Bush Commencement Speech at Wellesley College ("Choices and Change") June 1, 1990 Wellesley, MA
    1. Wellesley College
    2. Gifts of Speech

  48. John F. Kennedy Address to the Nation on Civil Rights ("A Moral Issue") June 11, 1963 Washington, DC
    1. American Experience
    2. Kennedy Library

  49. John F. Kennedy Address to the Nation on the Cuban Missile Crisis October 22, 1962 Washington, DC
    1. History Place
    2. Kennedy Library

  50. Spiro Agnew "Television News Coverage" November 13, 1969 Des Moines, IA
    1. Great Speeches
      (Speech needs to be accessed through Timeline. Go to 1960s and click on link to T. Spiro Agnew's speech.)

  51. Jesse Jackson Speech to the Democratic National Convention ("Common Ground and Common Sense") July 20, 1988 Atlanta, GA
    1. Frontline

  52. Mary Fisher Speech to the Republican National Convention ("A Whisper of AIDS") August 19, 1992 Houston, TX
    1. Gifts of Speech

  53. Lyndon B. Johnson "The Great Society" May 22, 1964 Ann Arbor, MI
    1. American Experience
    2. Johnson Library

  54. George C. Marshall "The Marshall Plan" June 5, 1947 Cambridge, MA
    1. History Place
    2. History and Politics Out Loud

  55. Edward M. Kennedy "Truth and Tolerance in America" October 3, 1983 Lynchburg, VA
    1. Speech Transcript

  56. Adlai Stevenson Speech Accepting the Democratic Presidential Nomination ("Let's Talk Sense to American People") July 26, 1952 Chicago, IL
    1. Speech Transcript

  57. Eleanor Roosevelt "The Struggle for Human Rights" September 28, 1948 Paris, France
    1. Speech Transcript

  58. Geraldine Ferraro Speech Accepting the Democratic Vice-Presidential Nomination July 19, 1984 San Francisco, CA
    1. All Politics

  59. Robert M. La Follette "Free Speech in Wartime" October 6, 1917 Washington, DC
    1. Great Speeches
      (Speech needs to be accessed through Timeline. Go to 1910s and click on link to La Follette's speech for an abridged text.)

  60. Ronald Reagan Address at the U.S. Ranger Monument on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day June 6, 1984 Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France
    1. Reagan Official Site

  61. Mario Cuomo "Religious Belief and Public Morality" September 13, 1984 Notre Dame, IN
    1. Notre Dame University

  62. Edward M. Kennedy Televised Statement to the People of Massachusetts ("Chappaquiddick") July 25, 1969 Boston, MA
    1. Speech Transcript

  63. John L. Lewis "Labor and the Nation" ("The Rights of Labor") September 3, 1937 Washington, DC
    1. Speech Transcript

  64. Barry Goldwater Speech Accepting the Republican Presidential Nomination ("Extremism in the Defense of Liberty Is No Vice") July 16, 1964 San Francisco, CA
    1. Washington Post

  65. Stokely Carmichael "Black Power" October 1966 Berkeley, CA
    1. Speech Transcript

  66. Hubert H. Humphrey Speech at the Democratic National Convention ("The Sunshine of Human Rights") July 14, 1948 Philadelphia, PA
    1. Great Speeches
      (Speech needs to be accessed through Timeline. Go to 1940s and click on link to Hubert Humphrey's speech.)

  67. Emma Goldman Address to the Jury July 9, 1917 New York, NY
    1. Goldman Papers
    2. Gifts of Speech

  68. Carrie Chapman Catt "The Crisis" September 7, 1916 Atlantic City, NJ
    1. Speech Transcript

  69. Newton W. Minow "Television and the Public Interest" ("A Vast Wasteland") May 9, 1961 Washington, DC
    1. Speech Transcript
    2. History Channel

  70. Edward M. Kennedy Eulogy to Robert Kennedy June 8, 1968 New York, NY
    1. Great Speeches
      (Speech needs to be accessed through Timeline. Go to 1960s and click on link to Edward M. Kennedy's speech.)
    2. Kennedy Library

  71. Anita Hill Statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee October 11, 1991 Washington, DC
    1. Gifts of Speech
    2. History Channel

  72. Woodrow Wilson Final Address in Support of the League of Nations September 25, 1919 Pueblo, CO
    1. Presidential Rhetoric

  73. Lou Gehrig Farewell to Baseball July 4, 1939 New York, NY
    1. History Place
    2. History Channel

  74. Richard M. Nixon Address to the Nation on the Cambodian Incursion April 30, 1970 Washington, DC
    1. American Experience

  75. Carrie Chapman Catt "Address to the United States Congress" November 1917 Washington, DC
    1. Speech Transcript

  76. Edward M. Kennedy Speech at the Democratic National Convention ("The Dream Shall Never Die") August 12, 1980 New York, NY
    1. History Place
    2. Kennedy Library

  77. Lyndon B. Johnson Address to the Nation on Vietnam and the Decision Not to Seek Re-Election March 31, 1968 Washington, DC
    1. History Place
    2. Johnson Library

  78. Franklin D. Roosevelt Speech to the Commonwealth Club September 23, 1932 San Francisco, CA
    1. Speech Transcript

  79. Woodrow Wilson First Inaugural Address March 4, 1913 Washington, DC
    1. Readings in US Democracy
    2. American Presidency

  80. Mario Savio "An End to History" December 2, 1964 Berkeley, CA
    1. Free Speech Archives

  81. Elizabeth Glaser Speech at the Democratic National Convention ("AIDS: A Personal Story") July 14, 1992 New York, NY
    1. Speech Transcript
    2. Sue's Cyber Cottage

  82. Eugene V. Debs "The Issue" May 23, 1908 Girard, KS
    1. Douglass

  83. Margaret Sanger The Children's Era March 1925 New York, NY
    1. Speech Transcript

  84. Ursula Le Guin "A Left-Handed Commencement Address" May 22, 1983 Oakland, CA
    1. Gifts of Speech

  85. Crystal Eastman "Now We Can Begin" September-October 1920 New York, NY
    1. The History Net

  86. Huey Pierce Long Radio Broadcast of March 7, 1935 ("Share Our Wealth") March 7, 1935 Washington, DC
    1. Huey Long's Senate Speeches

      2. (Go to Congressional Record entry of March 12, 1935, for the complete text of Long's speech.)

  87. Gerald Ford Address on Taking the Oath of Office ("Our Long National Nightmare Is Over") August 9, 1974 Washington, DC
    1. History Place
    2. Ford Library

  88. Cesar Chavez Speech on Ending His Fast March 10, 1968 Delano, CA
    1. Viva Cesar E. Chavez

  89. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Statement at the Smith Act Trial February 2, 1953 New York, NY
    1. Speech Transcript

  90. Jimmy Carter Address to the Nation on Energy and National Goals ("A Crisis of Confidence") July 15, 1979 Washington, DC
    1. Presidential Rhetoric

  91. Malcolm X "Message to the Grassroots" November 10, 1963 Detroit, MI
    1. Speech Transcript
    2. Malcolm X Speaks

  92. Bill Clinton Speech at the Prayer Service for Victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing April 23, 1995 Oklahoma City, OK
    1. National Archives

  93. Shirley Chisholm "For the Equal Rights Amendment" August 10, 1970 Washington, DC
    1. Speech Transcript

  94. Ronald Reagan Address at the Brandenburg Gate June 12, 1987 West Berlin, Germany
    1. Reagan Official Site

  95. Elie Wiesel "The Perils of Indifference" April 12, 1999 Washington, DC
    1. History Place

  96. Gerald Ford Address to the Nation on Pardoning Richard M. Nixon September 8, 1974 Washington, DC
    1. History Place
    2. Ford Library

  97. Woodrow Wilson "For the League of Nations" September 6, 1919 Des Moines, IA
    1. Speech Transcript

  98. Lyndon B. Johnson Address to Congress after Assuming the Presidency ("Let Us Continue") November 27, 1963 Washington, DC
    1. The American Experience
    2. Johnson Library

  99. Joseph Welch Defense of Fred Fisher at the Army-McCarthy Hearings ("Have You No Sense of Decency?") June 9, 1954 Washington, DC
    1. Great Speeches
      (Speech needs to be accessed through Timeline. Go to 1950s and click on link to Joseph McCarthy and Joseph Welch spar during the Army-McCarthy hearings.)

  100. Eleanor Roosevelt "Adoption of the Declaration of Human Rights" December 9, 1948 Paris, France
    1. Speech Transcript