The 100
Insight and Lessons from 100 of the Greatest Speeches Ever Delivered
by Simon Maier and Jeremy Kourdi


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

This book analyzes political speeches, but more from a speechmaking perspective than a political perspective. It's about the 100 greatest speeches of history, which were mostly delivered by politicians or political activists. But the book's focus is on how rhetorical techniques accomplished the speaking goals, not on any political goals.

Some of the speechmakers covered in this book, whom we have omitted because they don't have OnTheIssues.org webpages, include:

How about "symploce", which apparently is as commonplace as it is unpronounceable (it means repeating a phrase): " Much of what I say might sound bitter, but it's the truth. Much of what I say might sound like it's stirring up trouble, but it's the truth. Much of what I say might sound like it is hate, but it's the truth." That's Malcolm X, and the book offers other examples from JFK to Bill Clinton.

My favorite rhetorical device evidently does not have a cool name, but is called only "the rule of three" (p. 6), that "speakers have always found that by putting things together in threes they can hit home with their message." For example, Pres. Obama described his wife as "The rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady." When my brother Dan wrote a book and several times used just two terms to make his point, I noted in the margin, "Complete the triptych!" meaning he should add a third term to make the point more memorably. Our mom, an artist, painted a "triptych", or a three-panel painting; my brother, unaware of this term, wrote back, "what the heck are you talking about?" I knew the rhetorical device, and hoped this book might finally justify my using the term "triptych" to parallel "anastrophe" and "symploce", but alas, this one is only "the rule of three."

-- Jesse Gordon, editor-in-chief, OnTheIssues.org, Aug. 2011

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Budget & Economy     Ronald Reagan: Inherited tired & cynical country; left it encouraged.

Civil Rights     John McCain: 2008 concession: Obama helps country heal racial wounds.     Lyndon Johnson: Malcolm X: LBJ had no "genuine interest" in blacks pre-1964.

Foreign Policy     Barack Obama: OpEd: Life story gives him broad appeal beyond USA.     George Bush Sr.: 1989: A new breeze is blowing in world refreshed by freedom.     John F. Kennedy: We can work with Communists? Let them come to Berlin!     John F. Kennedy: 1963: Support the beleaguered people of Berlin.     Ronald Reagan: 1988: Agreed to mutual nuclear reduction with USSR.     Rudy Giuliani: Countries must all stand together in fight against terrorism.     John F. Kennedy: Bay of Pigs defeat enhanced Castro's stature.

Government Reform     John F. Kennedy: Ask not what your country can do for you.

Homeland Security     Bill Clinton: Stand up and talk about fear and hatred.     Rudy Giuliani: America's Mayor: mouthpiece for how Americans felt post-9/11.

Immigration     Colin Powell: Hispanic immigrant today as precious as Mayflower descendant.

Principles & Values     Barack Obama: Campaign slogan: "Yes, we can".     Bill Clinton: Founders knew that America, to endure, would have to change.     Bill Clinton: Greatest legacy: set standard for connecting with electorate.     John F. Kennedy: Legacy is aspiration, not legislative accomplishments.

Technology     John F. Kennedy: 1960: Understood the relatively new media of television.     Ronald Reagan: 1986: Postponed state-of-the-union for Challenger disaster.     John F. Kennedy: 1962: We choose to go to the moon because doing it is hard.

War & Peace     Colin Powell: OpEd: will be remembered for speech to UN on WMD in Iraq.     George Bush Sr.: 1992 warning on Kuwait from Thatcher: "Don't go wobbly".

Welfare & Poverty     Barack Obama: Belief that "I am my brother's keeper" makes America work.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Barack Obama Bill Clinton Colin Powell George Bush Sr. John F. Kennedy John McCain Lyndon Johnson Ronald Reagan Rudy Giuliani

The above quotations are from The 100
Insight and Lessons from 100 of the Greatest Speeches Ever Delivered
by Simon Maier and Jeremy Kourdi.

Autobiographies for 2012 GOP primary candidates: No Apology, by Gov. Mitt Romney, Mar 2, 2010 Real Change, by Speaker Newt Gingrich, Dec 18, 2007 Biographies: CEO of SELF, by Herman Cain, 2001 Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption, by Jules Witcover, 2010 Rick Santorum: A Senator Speaks Out on Life, Freedom, and Responsibility, 2005 Michele Bachmann: Why She Will Win, by Ron Paul Jones, 2011 A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney, by Hugh Hewitt Mitt Romney: The Man, His Values and His Vision, by Lisa Ray Turner and Kimberly Field Deliver Us from Evil, by Sean Hannity

Policy books: Confidence Men, by Ron Suskind, 2011 Core of Conviction, by Rep. Michele Bachmann, 2011 It Takes a Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, 2005 On My Honor, by Gov. Rick Perry, 2008 End The Fed, by Rep. Ron Paul, Sep 16, 2009 Gold, Peace, and Prosperity: The Birth of a New Currency, by Ron Paul, 2007 My Journey to the White House, by Herman Cain, 2011

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