Two non-eventful things happened this week that left an impression on me. I watched a fairly long interview with the British Labour Party Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, and I bought the Conservative magazine ‘The Spectator’ for the first time in forty years. I spent six euros on the Spectator and settled down in my local […]
Every Speech Needs its Own Gravitas
How do we classify such different types of political speakers as Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Margaret Thatcher? Perhaps the Roman classicist, Quintilian, three categories of public speakers can help us out here. He tells us there are three basic styles: the ‘forensic’ one (plain, argumentative and suited to the law courts), the […]
Profile of a Conviction Speaker: Margaret Thatcher (Part 2)
Mrs. Thatcher’s second term of office (1983 to 1987) If her first term was marked by problems with the economy, the Falklands War, and problems in Northern Ireland, her second term was marked by her conflict with the trade unions, the Irish problem once again, privatization, and the Westland affair. It was also a period of […]
