Ronald Reagan didn’t set out with the intention to motivate or inspire people to serve their country as Jack Kennedy had done in the early sixties. He did not speak the language of idealism that Kennedy had done. He set out, I believe, to persuade people to accept his neo-conservative message which was based on […]
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 […]
