In Our Own Words

Edited by Senator Robert Torricelli and Andrew Carroll

"Settle down to ten decades of American history", writes Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in her rousing Foreword to "In Our Own Words". What follows is the impassioned oratory of presidents and poets, artists and astronauts, soldiers and pacifists--one of the most comprehensive and diverse collections of American speeches ever assembled.

ContentsForeword by Doris Kearns GoodwinAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1900-1909Don P. Halsey Extols the Virtues of Great OratorySenator Albert J. Beveridge Defends America's Right to Subjugate "Savage" Peoples and Foreign GovernmentsSenator George F. Hoar Denounces American "Imperialism"Jane Addams Offers an Impassioned Tribute to George Washington on the Anniversary of His BirthdayTammany Hall Politician George Washington Plunkitt justifies "Honest Graft"President Theodore Roosevelt Condemns the "Muckrakers" Who Smear and Slander Honest MenThe Reverend Dr. Donald Sage Mackay Addresses the Question "Does God Care?" After an Earthquake Destroys San FranciscoW. E. B. Du Bois Issues a Call to Arms to His Fellow African Americans in the "Battle for Humanity"Booker T. Washington Warns Against Confrontational Actions That May Do More Harm than GoodMark Twain Speaks to Misses Tewksbury's School for Girls on Smoking, Drinking, and LyingIda B. Wells-Barnett Calls Attention to the Epidemic of Lynchings and "Mob Murder" in AmericaChief Plenty Coup Confers with His Tribal Council on Achieving Peace Between the Great Tribes of the United StatesThe Reverend Reverdy Ransom on "White Supremacy" and an Upcoming Boxing Match Between Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries1910-1919Anarchist Emma Goldman Derides Patriotism as a "Menace to Liberty"Union Activist Rose Schneiderman on the Deaths of 146 Workers in the Triangle Shirtwaist FireMrs. D. H. Bishop Offers a Harrowing Eyewitness Account of the Titanic's Last HoursHenry Ford Describes the Bonus He Has Provided His Workers and Its Intended Effects on Their Private LivesPresident Woodrow Wilson Requests a Declaration of War Against GermanyCarrie Chapman Catt Urges the U. S. Congress to Make One "Last, Hard Fight" for SuffragePresident Woodrow Wilson Enumerates the "Fourteen Points" That Will Ensure World Peace and "Justice to All Peoples and Nationalities"Ambassador James W. Gerard Encourages German Americans to Be Loyal to the United States -- or ElseSocialist Leader Eugene V. Debs Defends Himself in Court Against Charges of "Disloyalty" and "Sedition"The Reverend Dr. Anna Howard Shaw Beseeches Americans to Accept President Wilson's Proposal for a "League of Nations"Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Rejects the League and Its "Mongrel Banner"New York Governor Alfred E. Smith Assails the "Contemptible" Publishing Tycoon William Randolph Hearst1920-1929Evangelical Preacher Billy Sunday Excoriates Alcohol as "God's Worst Enemy"Will Rogers Skewers Both the "Wets" and the "Drys" in the Prohibition DebateAttorney Edward Prindeville Demands Imprisonment for Eight Chicago White Sox Players Who Intentionally Lost the 1919 World SeriesHelen Keller Emphatically Endorses Communism and the Russian RevolutionMargaret Sanger Promotes Birth Control as an "Ethical Necessity for Humanity"President Warren G. Harding Marvels at the "Majesty" of Yellowstone National ParkBlack Leader Marcus Garvey Finds Common Ground with the Ku Klux KlanMaud Ballington Booth Expresses Her Belief That No Prisoner Is "Beyond Hope"Defense Attorney Clarence Darrow Implores the Court to Spare the Lives of Two Young MurderersWilliam Jennings Bryan Scoffs at Darwin's Theory of EvolutionDefense Attorney Dudley Field Malone Argues That Both "Theology and Science" Should Be Taught in Public SchoolsNicola Sacco, Before His Execution, Restates His InnocenceAl "Scarface" Capone Bids Farewell to Chicago and Laments Being Unappreciated for Showing Citizens a "Good Time"Republican Presidential Candidate Herbert Hoover Predicts the "Abolition of Poverty" in the United States1930-1939Oscar Ameringer Describes Intolerable Suffering Throughout the United States as a Result of the Great Depressionjustice Oliver Wendell Holmes, on His Ninetieth Birthday, Offers Profound Advice on Life and DeathNotre Dame President the Reverend Father Charles L. O'Donnell Eulogizes the Legendary Football Coach Knute RockneWalter W. Waters, Leader of the "Bonus Expeditionary Forces," Rallies Americans Against President Herbert HooverNewly Elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt Gives Inspiration and Courage to a Nation Overwhelmed by Poverty and AnxietyJoseph Strauss, Engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge, Celebrates the Bridge as a Symbol of "New Hopes and New Aspirations"Mary McLeod Bethune Commemorates the Sacrifices and Achievements of African American Women Over the Past 100 YearsPopulist Senator Huey P. Long Advances His "Share Our Wealth" Plan to Make "Every Man a King"Radio Broadcaster Herb Morrison Reports Live as the Hindenburg Explodes and Crashes to the GroundUnion Leader John L. Lewis Excoriates Big Business for Its "Brutality and Oppression" Against Organized LaborOrson Welles Tries to Assure Terrified Listeners That They Are Not Being Attacked by MartiansBaseball Great Lou Gehrig, Suffering from a Fatal Disease, Thanks His Fans and Considers Himself the "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth"1940-1949CBS Newsman Edward R. Murrow Describes Nazi Air Attacks on the City of LondonPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt Tries to Convince a Skeptical NationWhy It Must Defend the World Against NazismLegendary Composer Duke Ellington Exalts the Artistic, Intellectual, and Spiritual Contributions Made by African AmericansFamed Pilot Charles Lindbergh Argues That the United States WouldMeet with "Defeat and Failure" Against the German Armyjournalist Dorothy Thompson Imagines the Horror of a World Controlled by Adolf HitlerPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt Requests from Congress a Declaration of War Against JapanNobel Laureate Pearl Buck Contends That to Defeat Fascism Abroad, Americans Must Fight for Equality at HomeGeneral Dwight D. Eisenhower Drafts a Message of Apology for His Failure at D-DayGeneral Eisenhower Issues His "Order of the Day" to the Men WhoWill Storm the Beaches of NormandyGeneral George S. Patton Tells His Troops That War Is the "MostMagnificent Competition in Which a Human Being Can Indulge"President Harry S. Truman Addresses a Nation Grief-Stricken by theDeath of Franklin D. RooseveltPresident Truman Announces That an Atomic Bomb-the LargestBomb Ever Used in the History of Warfare-Has Been Dropped on JapanGeneral Douglas MacArthur Offers Words of Peace After Japan Signs the Official Declaration of SurrenderJ. Robert Oppenheimer, Creator of the Atomic Bomb, Beseeches His Colleagues Not to Forget Morality in Their Pursuit of ScienceRobert H. Jackson Demands a Verdict of Guilty for the Nazi Leaders on Trial at NurembergHolocaust Survivor Hadassah Rosensaft Describes the Day She Was Liberated from a Nazi Extermination CampZionist Leader Abba Hillel Silver Implores the United Nations to Authorize the Creation of a Homeland for Jews in PalestineSecretary of State George Marshall Announces a Plan to Save War-Ravaged Europe from Descending into "Chaos"World-Renowned Performer Paul Robeson Adamantly Defends His Love for the Soviet Union and Its GovernmentMajor-League Baseball Player Jackie Robinson Appears Before the House Un-American Activities Committee to Comment on Robeson's Remarks1950-1959Senator Joseph McCarthy Launches a "Final, All-Out Battle" Against Communist Sympathizers in the United StatesSenator Margaret Chase Smith Warns Against Those Who Use "Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear [Tactics]" for Political GainNobel Laureate William Faulkner Expresses His Heartfelt Belief That "Man Will Not Merely Endure: He Will Prevail"President Harry S. Truman Defends Sending Troops to Korea and Firing General Douglas MacArthurGeneral MacArthur Explains His Actions in the Korean War and Refutes Charges of Being a "Warmonger"Democratic Governor Adlai Stevenson Reminds Members of His Party of All That They Have Accomplished in the Past Twenty YearsVice Presidential Candidate Richard M. Nixon Confronts Allegations That He Used Campaign Funds for His Personal GainJohn W. Davis Contends That "Separate but Equal" Is a Matter for the Legislature, Not the Courts, to DecideNAACP Attorney Thurgood Marshall Argues That "Separate but Equal" Schools and Other Institutions Are UnconstitutionalFormer First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt Addresses the Question: "Hasn't the United Nations Failed?"Environmentalist Rachel Carson Muses on the "Exceeding Beauty of the Earth" and Its Effect on the Human SpiritArchitect Frank Lloyd Wright Encourages His Students to Create Buildings That Are "Beneficial to Humankind"Homer Hickam Relates How Sputnik Inspired Him to Become a Rocket Engineer for NASAJack Kerouac, in a Rare Public Appearance, Describes What the "Beat Generation" Is -- and Is NotPoet Carl Sandburg, Before a joint Session of Congress, Honors Abraham Lincoln on the 150th Anniversary of His BirthGreen Bay Packers Coach Vince Lombardi Orders His Players to "Make Any Sacrifice to Win"1960-1969Dwight D. Eisenhower Ends His Presidency with a Heartfelt Message of Peace and a Warning About the Growing "Military Establishment" in AmericaPresident John F. Kennedy Summons the Nation and the World to join Together in the Fight Against "Tyranny, Poverty, Disease, and War"President John F. Kennedy Informs Americans of the Installation of Nuclear Missiles in Cuba -- a "Reckless and Provocative Threat to World Peace"Alabama Governor George Wallace Promises His State: "Segregation Now! Segregation Tomorrow! Segregation Forever!"Standing in Front of the Berlin Wall, President John F. Kennedy Reminds the World of the "Failures of Communism"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Electrifies a Nation with His Call for an End to Segregation and Racial DiscriminationDr. King Eulogizes Four Little Black Girls Murdered by the Ku Klux KlanMalcolm X Scoffs at Dr. King's Pacifism, Declaring: "There's No Such Thing as a Nonviolent Revolution"President John F. Kennedy Pays Tribute to the Poet Robert Frost and All of America's Writers and ArtistsCardinal Richard Cushing Offers a Final Prayer for President John F. Kennedy, Slain by an Assassin's BulletPresident Lyndon Johnson Orders "Air Action" Against North Vietnam After U.S. Destroyers Are Attacked in the Gulf of TonkinSenator Barry Goldwater Exclaims at the 1964 Republican Convention That "Extremism in the Defense of Liberty Is No Vice"Berkeley University Student Mario Savio Criticizes the School Adrministration's Attempts to Stifle Free SpeechPresident Lyndon Johnson Envisions Transforming America into a "Great Society" Free of Poverty, Crime, and RacismPresident Johnson Makes an Impassioned Plea to Congress to Pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover Explains Why Only "Clean Cut" Men (and No "Beatniks") Can Serve in the FBIPresident Lyndon Johnson Outlines the "First Steps" to Limiting the War in Vietnam and Makes a Stunning Personal Announcement to the American PeopleLabor Leader Cesar Chavez, Recovering from a Three-Week Fast, Explains to His Followers Why "Sacrifice" Is Integral to Their StruggleRobert F. Kennedy Calms a Mostly Black Crowd of 1,000 After Informing Them That Martin Luther King Jr. Has just Been AssassinatedTwo Months Later, Robert F. Kennedy Is Killed by an Assassin's Bullet and Is Eulogized by His Younger Brother, Senator Ted KennedyCrew Members of the Apollo 8 Spacecraft Offer a Christmas Eve Message of Peace and Hope to a Nation Reeling from Social and Political TurmoilCongresswoman Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm Demands That the United States Spends Its Resources on "People and Peace, Not Profits and War"Wellesley Graduate Hillary Diane Rodham Defends Her Generation's Use of "Constructive Protest" to Create Social ChangeVice President Spiro Agnew Blasts the "Effete Corps of Impudent Snobs" and "Professional Anarchists" Who Oppose the War in VietnamBetty Friedan Explains Why the Feminist Movement Is Imperative Not Only for Women, But for Men As Well1970-1979Herbert L. Carter Describes in Graphic Detail His Eyewitness Account of the Atrocities Committed at My LaiTwenty-eight-Year-Old Veteran and War Hero John Kerry Asks the U.S. Senate "Where Are the Leaders" to End This "Barbaric War" in Vietnam?TV Reporter Dorothy Fuldheim, Who Covered the Kent State Shootings, Responds to Critics of Her "Pro-Student" SympathiesInmate L. D. Barkley Reads Aloud the Prisoners' Demands During a Hostage Crisis in New York State's Attica PrisonTwenty-five-Year-Old Attorney Sarah Weddington Argues Before the U.S. Supreme Court Why Abortions Should Be Legal Throughout AmericaActress Jane Fonda Broadcasts Pro-Communist Radio Messages in Hanoi to Demoralize American Servicemen Fighting in VietnamPresident Richard M. Nixon Announces a Cease-Fire Between the U.S. Military and the North VietnamesePat Simon, the Mother of a Young Soldier Killed in the Vietnam War, Asks That Amnesty Be Granted to All Draft ResistersRepresentative Barbara Jordan Argues for the Impeachment of President Richard M. NixonPresident Nixon Bids an Emotional Farewell to His StaffPresident Gerald R. Ford Explains His Motivations for Pardoning Richard M. NixonAstronomer Carl Sagan Discusses the Implications of Finding Life on Other PlanetsThe Message (Recorded by President Jimmy Carter) Enclosed in the Voyager I and Voyager II SpacecraftsNative American Activist Leonard Peltier, on Trial for Murder, Denounces the judge as a "Member of the White Racist American Establishment"Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer Reflects on the Role of Stories and Literature to "Uplift the Spirit"Conservative Leader Phyllis Schlafly Denounces the Women's Movement as Incompatible with a "Successful Family Life and Motherhood"President Jimmy Carter Addresses the "Crisis of Confidence" Affecting the "Heart and Soul and Spirit" of the Nation1980-1989Presidential Candidate Ronald Reagan Vows a "National Crusade to Make America Great Again"Dr. Rayna Green, Cherokee, Offers a "Modest Proposal" for a "Museum of the Plains White Person"UN Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick Excoriates the Soviet Union for Shooting Down a Passenger Plane, Killing Everyone On BoardEleven-Year-Old "Ambassador of Peace" Samantha Smith Shares Her Vision of the FutureNew York Governor Mario Cuomo Challenges President Reagan's Portrayal of America as a "Shining City on a Hill"Susan Baker of the PMRC Recommends Putting Warning Labels on Records with "Sexually Explicit and Violent" Rock LyricsMusician Frank Zappa Dismisses the PMRC's Proposal as an "Ill-Conceived Piece of Nonsense"Holocaust Survivor Elie Wiesel Criticizes President Reagan at the White House for Planning to Visit a German Cemetery Where Nazi Officers Are BuriedPresident Ronald Reagan Honors the Memory of the Seven Astronauts Killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger ExplosionCorporate Raider Ivan Boesky Encourages Graduating Business Students to "Seek Wealth" in a "Virtuous and Honest Way"An Unrepentent Oliver North Defends His Role in the Iran-Contra Scandal and Blames Congress for Its "Fickle, Vacillating" Foreign PolicyThe Reverend Jesse Jackson Rallies All Americans-Particularly the Most Disadvantaged -- to "Keep Hope Alive!"Ryan White Relates the Prejudices and Hatred He Has Endured Since Being Diagnosed with AIDSPatricia Godley, a Former Drug Addict, Stands Before a Town Han Meeting on Drug Abuse and Implores: "Make Me Know I'm Worth Fighting For"1990-1999Student Dissident Shen Tong Offers a Firsthand Account of the Violent Crackdown in Tiananmen Square, ChinaPresident George Bush Announces the Allied Air Attack on Saddam Hussein's Forces in Iraq and KuwaitJudge Clarence Thomas Vehemently Denies Charges of Sexual Harassment Made by Former Employee Anita HillAnita Hill Describes judge Thomas's Sexual Advances Toward Her in Lurid DetailThe Reverend Cecil L. Murray, During the L.A. Riots, Implores His Parishioners to Find Faith and Refrain from ViolenceSenator Daniel Inouye Pays Tribute to the Courage and Patriotism of the Highly Decorated 442nd Regiment of Japanese American SoldiersPresident Bill Clinton Addresses a Predominantly Black Church on What Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Would Say If He Were Alive TodayBarbra Streisand Defends the Role of the Arts -- and Actors as Activists -- in American Society and PoliticsThe Reverend Billy Graham, After the Oklahoma City Bombing, Offers a Sermon on the "Mystery of Evil"Elizabeth Birch Appeals to Members of the Christian Coalition to Find "Common Ground" with Gays and LesbiansDefense Attorney Johnnie Cochran Enumerates the Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Must Be Found "Not Guilty"Handgun Control Activist (and Registered Republican) Sarah Brady Speaks to the Democratic National Convention on Gun Violence in AmericaFamed Actor and NRA Leader Charlton Heston Lashes Out at Those Who Attempt to "Undermine the Second Amendment"Bill Henderson Laments Society's Increasing Dependence on Computers and TechnologyThe Original Draft of President Bill Clinton's Apology to the American People for His "Improper Relationship" with Monica LewinskyThe Speech He Ultimately GaveJournalist Tom Brokaw Looks Back on the Triumphs and Turmoils of the Twentieth Century -- and Looks Ahead to the Challenges andPossibilities of the Century to ComePermissionsAdditional SourcesIndex