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10 Historical Speeches that Every Student Should Listen To

October 13th, 2009

With all of the resources available to you online today, you can visit museums, attend class, listen to college lectures, and look up documents without ever leaving home. Another convenient way to supplement your lessons and experience history is through online speech recordings and videos. You can listen to great speeches from world leaders and those who have changed our ideas and our laws about war, civil rights, space exploration, peace, progress and beyond. Here are 10 historical speeches that every student should listen to.

1. The Perils of Indifference, Elie Wiesel: Holocaust survivor, Nobel Laureate and author of 57 books including Night, Elie Wiesel gave this speech on April 12, 1999, at the White House as part of the Millennium Lecture Series, hosted by President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. In the speech, Wiesel talks about the "culture" at the concentration camp Auschwitz, his gratitude for the American people in their participation in World War II, and the legacy of the twenty-first century. He challenges his audience to refuse to live indifferently and take a stand against violence, civil wars and assassinations, and support victimized communities.
2. For a Declaration of War, FDR: On December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave this speech to Congress, asking them to declare war on Japan. This famous speech includes infamous quotes like "Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy" and "With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God." Students will get to hear first hand how the United States was initially involved in World War II.
3. The Fourteen Points, Woodrow Wilson: Woodrow Wilson, the founder of the League of Nations, which was a predecessor to the United Nations, gave this speech to Congress in January of 1918, in which he proposed fourteen points that could help resolve World War I. Wilson was a forward-thinking president whose ideas about getting involved in international affairs was controversial at the time but set a standard for American diplomacy in the future.
4. Iron Curtain Speech, Winston Churchill: Students who want to learn more about post-World War II diplomacy and the Cold War era should listen to Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech, which was given at Westminster College in Fulton, MO, on March 5, 1946. Churchill challenges the United States, a new world power, and everyday Americans, to continue to fight for freedom and progress as the United Nations Organization, UNO, was set up. He warns against "the two great dangers which menace the homes of the people: War and Tyranny" as he encourages "fraternal association" among English-speaking countries. Toward the end of his speech, Churchill addresses the iron curtain which "has descended across the Continent" of Europe, threatening the unity of Europe and democracy.
5. I Have a Dream, Martin Luther King, Jr.: One of the most famous speeches in American history is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech, which was delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. Students will get an overview of African American history from slavery to Abraham Lincoln to the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement and should recognize that while the United States has progressed in terms of initiating social reform, the threat of racism is still present and needs to be addressed.
6. JFK Sets Space Challenge, John F. Kennedy: In this speech, President John F. Kennedy makes the case for U.S. space exploration, inspiring children, students, and adults alike as he encourages NASA to go to the moon. He explains the challenge, or space race, as one "we are willing to win."
7. We Shall Overcome, Lyndon Baines Johnson: President LBJ was instrumental in passing legislation during the Civil Rights movement that ensured equal rights for black Americans. This speech was delivered to Congress on March 15, 1965, and includes famous quotes like "There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem," as LBJ referred to "the issue of equal rights" and prepared to "send to Congress a law designed to eliminate illegal barriers to the right to vote."
8. Ich bin ein Berliner, John F. Kennedy: Another one of JFK’s most famous and impassioned speeches is the one he delivered at Rathaus Schoneberg on June 26, 1963, in West Berlin. Kennedy’s visit and this speech displayed the American support of West Berlin and its disapproval of the Berlin Wall and Soviet Europe. During the speech, JFK says that he is proud of West Berliners who stood up to Communism and points to the city as being a promise of peace and good will, most notably when he says "ich bin ein Berliner," or "I am a Berliner." JFK closes the speech with this declaration: "All — All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin."
9. Resignation Address to the Nation, Richard M. Nixon: President Richard M. Nixon announces his resignation to the country on August 8, 1974, in this speech. He explains his participation in the Watergate scandal, and though he declares, "I have never been a quitter," and points to the end of the Vietnam War during his term, as well as progressive diplomacy with the People’s Republic of China, Nixon resigns. He has been the only U.S. president to ever do so.
10. Ronald Reagan Speech on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day, Ronald Reagan: On the 40th anniversary of D-Day, President Ronald Reagan delivered this speech on Normandy Beach to D-Day veterans, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, King Olav V of Norway, King Baudouin I of Belgium, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, and Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau of Canada. Students will get an overview of the history of D-Day and World War II as Reagan celebrates "the boys of Pointe Du Hoc…the men who took the cliffs." Reagan also expresses hope for the future and states, "we try always to be prepared for peace; prepared to deter aggression; prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms; and, yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation," speaking in part about relations with the Soviet Union.

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