Greatest Orators of The United States

donbosco

donbosco

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I’m going to throw out two for consideration. I am sure y’all can bring more.

Patrick Henry was “the Demosthenes of his age” according to John Adams (see the November issue of The Atlantic).

Frederick Douglass. “What to the Soave is the Fourth of July” is a tour de force of oratory.

There are a couple more that cone to mind but what gave y’all got?
 
donbosco said:
Stephen A. Douglas was known as ‘The Great Orator’ when he and Lincoln went against one another for the Illinois senate seat. SAD won even though to my reading Lincoln out-debated him.
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Like Brady and Manning they can both be all-time greats!
 
I definitely agree with Douglass and Lincoln. JFK became a excellent orator, of course he had a great speechwriter, Ted Sorensen, to pen his speeches for him. Another Democrat of the same era who I think was eloquent and inspiring (after reading his speeches) was Adlai Stevenson. I'd throw in William Jennings Bryan - although his reputation took a hit from which it never recovered with the Scopes Monkey Trial - his Cross of Gold speech earned him the 1896 Democratic presidential nomination and stirred the Democratic delegates into a frenzy. In modern times I'd agree that Obama was outstanding and probably the best of our recent presidents.

ETA: How the hell could I forget MLK? He's also definitely among the greatest ever in US history.
 
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MLK was the greatest. What he accomplished with the power of his words and the command of the podium is unmatched in American history. It's hard to judge orators before the advent of broadcasting. Nothing has changed oration more than TV. Strangely, even though we are more connected now than at any point in history - it seems the power of great oration is fading or at least the skill (desire, interest, attention span??) is waning. Obama is a very good orator but I think he is a bit overrated. He is on the same level as Reagan - another over rated orator. These guys sound like they are reading scripts from a movie production. Go watch MLK's speech in Memphis from April 3rd, 1968. The difference is striking.
 
Obama was the best in my politically active lifetime. Reagan was supposedly very good. FDR didn't do the stirring oratory style but did connect with the electorate better than just about anyone.

Outside of Presidents, Huey P Long was very good. MLK had a terrific style that kept people riveted. One that doesn't get a lot of notice but was apparently fantastic in her time was Susan b anthony.
 
It’s hard to judge the quality of an orator without being able to hear the speech. What looks good on paper may not be presented as well as it looks on paper.
 
Icky Mettle said:
It’s hard to judge the quality of an orator without being able to hear the speech. What looks good on paper may not be presented as well as it looks on paper.
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Very true. Lincoln supposedly had a high pitched voice. We do have what people wrote about hearing.

I spend a good amount of time with my students studying the sensory history of the time before recordings. Aromas and other such experiences are often also recounted, sometimes rather unconsciously.
 
Thinking about it, it is really hard to be a great woman orator. You can't get that deep baritone that projects and you can't get that rising and falling cadence without sounding shrill. That can be really hard to overcome but some men have done it. Hitler is a notable example.

As a woman, you can connect with an audience but it really seems like you have to do the FDR style and lean into that empathism. Oprah is probably the best recent example.
 
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