Inspired by last week’s New Statesman cover piece, we at Coffee House Central figured we’d pick out some of our favourite political speeches. You can find them listed below – along with our comments and YouTube footage, if availiable. Do mention any of your own favourites in the comments section. I’ll get the ball rolling with my own pick…
Peter Hoskin
Disagree with the man, disagree with his politics; but there’s little denying that John F. Kennedy was one of the great political orators of the Twentieth Century. He may have made better speeches, but his 1962 address to Rice University – on the NASA moon landing program – strikes a chord in me like no other. Here, simply, is American Achievement spelt out in the most poignant and ideologically strident terms. But it’s something more than that; a personal constitution, even. The speech’s most famous line – “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…” – sums up so much about what’s important in this life.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in