The Power of Words

Well, I've been in a funk for the past couple of days.

The weather here in Michigan this January has been atrocious...cold, snowy, bitter...topped off with horrible driving conditions. Lately, I have had bad news given to me on a couple of different personal matters and that only serves to depress me more. Plus, for the past month, Hailey has put up a bedtime battle that has both me and the hubby at the end of our ropes.

So today I decided to go to the cafeteria at work and watch Obama's inauguration speech.

I'm glad I did.

Nothing can bring you out of a funk like hearing about change.

I am not the type of person who wears their politics on their sleeve...you will never see my yard filled with candidate signs and I will not argue the merit of one candidate over another.

However, that being said...I have a great interest in history (thanks Mom) and I believe that every so often, history itself will find the one person who will fill it's need. They don't have to be perfect people or even placed there by their own choice...but they are the right people at the right time. Obviously only time will tell if Obama is that person and if history has chosen correctly. It feels good right now to believe, so that is what I am going to do. His speech today, I thought was a very moving one. The return of a great speech giver would be a welcome side effect of this administration (for me at least).

Today made me reminisce on some of the greatest speeches in history. I will list my favorites, but take it with a grain of salt because most of these were delivered before I was even born (why are there so few great orators now?).

Abraham Lincoln, “The Gettysburg Address”
November 19, 1863; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

I'm a huge Civil War buff, but even if I wasn't, this is obviously one of the greatest speeches of all time...clear, succinct, to the point. I think it's short because really...is there anything else to say? Plus it reaches beyond the event that it was written for.

Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"
July 5, 1852; Rochester, NY

Can you imagine hearing a speech in which the speaker completely criticizes the audience at their audacity to ask him to speak on the topic..and he is still greeted by applause at the end? That is the genius of Frederick Douglass.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt,

"Pearl harbor Address to the Nation"
December 8, 1941; Washington, D.C.

For whatever reason, this speech is one that needs to be listened to instead of read. Maybe it's the gravity of the last line or the applause, but I think it is because I can totally visualize thousands of American families huddled around their radios.

Chief Joseph, “Surrender Speech”
October 5, 1877; Montana Territory

Heartbreaking. Part speech, part plea, straight from the heart. I think, as a country, we choose not to remember a lot of the vioces from our Native Americans - which makes this all the more meaningful.

John F. Kennedy, "Inauguration Address"

January 20, 1961; Washington, D.C.

One of the greatest speakers of the 20th century, this one was chosen only because it's my personal favorite. Even though I wasn't born yet, I think that people listening to Kennedy speak couldn't help but feel like a part of something bigger.

Ronald Reagan, "Address to the Nation on the Challenger"
January 28, 1986; Washington, D.C.

Speeches commemorating tragic events are so incredibly difficult to give. Maybe it was his acting experience, but I'm still amazed he didn't cry. This contains the single best closing line of any memorial speech...ever...

'We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and ’slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’

Martin Luther King Jr., "I Have a Dream"
August 28, 1963; Washington, D.C.

Probably the greatest speech ever written. You can argue that point with me if you would like to, but you know deep down that it's true. Another example that must be listened to instead of read. It's more than just words on a page.

There are many more bits and pieces that are brilliant:

• the last paragraph of Lincoln's first inaugural address and his second (heck...anything that came out of Lincoln's mouth)
• Franklin Roosevelt's first inaugural address "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
• Lou Gehrig's farewell to baseball......and I only listed speeches by Americans.

So be inspired today...shovel yourself out of your snow and funk and have hope that change truly is around the corner.