Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Foreword ix
Introduction xi

George Washington
1. "The American Experiment": First Inaugural Address • April 30, 1789 3
2. "These Counsels of an Old and Affectionate Friend": Farewell Address • September 19, 1796 9

Thomas Jefferson
3. "We Are All Republicans, We Are All Federalists": First Inaugural Address • March 4, 1801 17

Andrew Jackson
4. "The Rich and Powerful Too Often Bend the Acts of Government to Their Selfish Purposes": Veto of the Bank of the United States • July 10, 1832 25
5. "Disunion by Armed Force Is Treason": Proclamation on Nullification • December 10, 1832 30

Abraham Lincoln
6. "A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand": Address to the State Republican Convention • June 16, 1858 37
7. "The Better Angels of Our Nature": First Inaugural Address • March 4, 1861 43
8. "A New Birth of Freedom": Gettysburg Address • November 19, 1863 53
9. "With Malice Toward None": Second Inaugural Address • March 4, 1865 57

Theodore Roosevelt
10. "The Man with the Muck-rake": Dedication of the House Office Building • April 15, 1906 63
11. "The New Nationalism": Speech at Osawatomie, Kansas • August 31, 1910 68

Woodrow Wilson
12. "The World Must Be Made Safe for Democracy": Request for Declaration of War on Germany • April 2, 1917 79
13. "The Fourteen Points": Address to Congress on Peace Terms • January 8, 1918 87

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
14. "The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself": First Inaugural Address • March 4, 1933 95
15. "A Rendezvous with Destiny": Acceptance Speech for Renomination • June 27, 1936 102
16. "The Four Freedoms": 1941 Annual Message to Congress • January 6, 1941 109
17. "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy": Request for Declaration of War Against Japan • December 8, 1941 118
18. "Our Sons, Pride of Our Nation": D-Day Prayer • June 6, 1944 122

Harry S. Truman
19. "The Truman Doctrine": Address to Congress on Greece and Turkey • March 12, 1947 129
20. "Do-Nothing Congress": Whistle-Stop Speech • September 18, 1948 136

Dwight D. Eisenhower
21. "Atoms for Peace": Address Before the UN General Assembly • December 8, 1953 145
22. "The Military-Industrial Complex": Farewell Address • January 17, 1961 153

John F. Kennedy
23. "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You": Inaugural Address • January 20, 1961 161
24. "Missiles in Cuba": Address to the Nation on the Cuban Missile Crisis • October 22, 1962 166
25. "Let Us Reexamine Our Attitude Toward the Cold War": Commencement Address, American University • June 10, 1963 175
26. "Ich Bin Ein Berliner": Speech at the Berlin Wall • June 26, 1963 181

Lyndon B. Johnson
27. "Let Us Continue": Address to Congress after the Kennedy Assassination • November 27, 1963 187
28. "We Shall Overcome": Address to Congress on Voting Rights • March 15, 1965 193
29. "I Shall Not Seek, and I Will Not Accept, the Nomination of My Party": Speech on the Vietnam War • March 31, 1968 203

Richard M. Nixon
30. "The Great Silent Majority": Address to the Nation on Vietnam • November 3, 1969 213
31. "We Have Done Some Things Wrong": Farewell Address to White House Staff • August 9, 1974 224

Gerald R. Ford
32. "Our Long National Nightmare Is Over": Remarks upon Taking the Oath of Office • August 9, 1974 231

Jimmy Carter
33. "A Crisis of Confidence": Speech on Energy and National Goals • July 15, 1979 237

Ronald Reagan
34. "Government Is Not the Solution to Our Problem; Government Is the Problem": First Inaugural Address • January 20, 1981 245
35. "Leave Marxism-Leninism on the Ash-Heap of History": Address to Members of British Parliament • June 8, 1982 252
36. "Slipped the Surly Bonds of Earth": Address to the Nation on the Challenger Explosion • January 28, 1986 262
37. "I Cannot Escape Responsibility": Remarks on the Iran-Contra Scandal • March 4, 1987 267

George H.W. Bush
38. "A Kinder and Gentler Nation": Acceptance Speech, Republican Convention • August 18, 1988 275

Bill Clinton
39. "What Would Martin Luther King Say?": Remarks to the Church of God in Christ in Memphis • November 13, 1993 285
40. "In the Face of Death, Let Us Honor Life": Eulogy for the Victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing • April 23, 1995 291
41. "Let That Be Our Gift to the Twenty-First Century": State of the Union Address • January 27, 1998 295

George W. Bush
42. "Freedom and Fear, Justice and Cruelty, Have Always Been at War": Address to Congress after the Attacks of September 11 • September 20, 2001 305
43. "The Day of Your Liberation Is Near": Address on Iraq • March 17, 2003 314

Barack Obama
44. "A More Perfect Union": Remarks in Philadelphia • March 18, 2008 323
45. "I am Not Bound to Win, but I am Bound to be True": Remarks to the House Democratic Caucus • March 20, 2010 336

Notes 347
Bibliography and Suggested Reading 355
Photography and Audio Credits 361
Acknowledgments 362

About the Author

Michael Waldman was director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995-1999, serving as assistant to the President. He was responsible for writing or editing nearly 2,000 speeches, including four State of the Union speeches and two Inaugural Addresses. Mr. Waldman was the top administration policy aide working on campaign finance reform, one of the Center's signature issues, and drafted the administration's public financing proposal.

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