University of Texas professor Michael E. Eidenmuller has amassed a huge online database of speeches in audio and text forms. You can take a listen to your favorites at
Here are the top 10 American political speeches, as selected by a panel of 137 scholars of public address:
1. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream”
2. John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address, best known for the famous challenge, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
3-4. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address, March 4, 1933, and his declaration of war, Dec. 8, 1941, make FDR the only person with two speeches in the top five.
5. Barbara Jordan’s keynote address to the Democratic National Convention, July 12, 1976, completes the top five. Surveyed scholars cited her eloquence, power and masterful delivery, as well as the historical importance of the first keynote by an African-American woman.
6. Richard M. Nixon’s “Checkers” speech of 1952.
7. Malcolm X’s 1964 “The Ballot or the Bullet.”
8. Ronald Reagan’s 1986 eulogy of the Challenger astronauts.
9. JFK’s address to the Houston Ministerial Association during the 1960 presidential campaign.
10. Lyndon Johnson’s “We Shall Overcome” speech, which helped secure passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
