Communications author and strategist,who has reported for fox news and coached republican Joe Scarborough Richard Greene Communication Strategist, Author of "Words That Shook The World" Obama Is America's Third Greatest Presidential Orator in Modern Era Just six and one half years ago, a young state senator spoke for 16 minutes and 11 seconds (just 4 seconds longer than the real "King's Speech," Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream," the greatest in modern American history), launched a presidency and established himself as one of America's greatest orators. Tonight, we will see the maturation of the extraordinary qualities that make Barack Obama America's third greatest presidential orator since 1933. It was those qualities that, in October of 2006, caused me to predict, amidst overwhelming skepticism and doubt, that the young US Senator was ready, would run and would likely win, and the qualities that did, in fact, sweep him to the White House. In the wake of a profoundly presidential and politically "seismic" moment in Tucson, we approach a speech that I believe will firmly establish Barack Obama as the 3rd greatest presidential orator in modern American history... the era that started with the president who first used the new electronic media to forge a different kind of relationship with the American electorate. The Top Presidential Orators (since 1933) 1. JFK 2. FDR 3. Obama 4. Reagan 5. Clinton 2nd Tier 6. Lyndon Johnson 7. Richard Nixon 8. Dwight Eisenhower 9. Harry Truman 10. George H.W. Bush 11. Gerald Ford 12. Jimmy Carter 13. George W. Bush The bar has been very high since the extraordinary first inaugural address of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933 ("The only thing to fear is fear itself") and "fireside chats" that mesmerized a nation of families huddled about their radio boxes. The conviction, confidence, passion, intelligence and wit of FDR pulled our country out of the Depression, through the 2nd World War and into a "New Deal" between government and the people. Regardless of one's views of FDR's policies, this man was a force of nature and a model of how to use words, voice tone and body language to lead a great nation. But on January 20, 1961, a very young new president stepped up to that high bar and jumped over it with a speech that has been voted the second greatest American speech of The 20th Century by 137 leading scholars -- his "Ask Not" inaugural address. With the help of the incomparable Ted Sorensen, President John F. Kennedy went on to similarly light up Europe and the world with his "Ich Bin Ein Berliner" speech to a crowd of a million in Germany, a profound foreign policy address at American University and many others in addition to exhibiting levels of charm, wit and personality at press conferences and elsewhere that redefined the concept of charisma in politics. But added to the spectacular delivery and charisma, it was that very rare quality -- vision -- that solidifies JFK as America's greatest modern era presidential orator. From the Inaugural addressing a new vision for America and the world, to his challenging Congress and the American people to unite to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade, JFK truly dreamt things that never were and said "why not". Barack Obama, at his best, in some ways is an even better orator than FDR or JFK and more accomplished than "The Great Communicator" Ronald Reagan, a trained actor and Bill Clinton, by far the greatest one-on-one communicator in politics, if not the history of mankind. Here's why. At his best... 1. Barack Obama clearly and fully "owns" his words. It is evident to me that on the most important speeches, (his 2004 DNC Keynote, his race speech, the Tucson speech) Obama either writes them entirely or has worked on every single word. There is no replacement for this and even the greatest delivery skills can not compensate for words that were birthed from within the very gut of a speaker. 2. Barack Obama knows how to work an audience. No president has ever been able to use rhythm, body language, pauses and punctuation and nuances in voice tone to "sing" a speech like Dr. King... but at his best Barack Obama comes closest. He has the capacity to play an audience as if it were part of his own personal orchestra and that is a level of mastery that few ever reach 3. Barack Obama uses all "4 Languages" of human communication to deliver his best speeches. This is very rare and one of the biggest things that separates the top 5 from the second tier and great speakers from good ones. It is the ability to excite an audience with energy, ("Visual Language"), give them a compelling story line to follow ("Auditory Language"), rest their anxieties as you show an unshakable grasp of the facts, details and nuances, ("Auditory Digital Language") and, most importantly, to connect with, touch, move and inspire one's audience, ("Kinesthetic Language"). 4. Barack Obama doesn't "give a speech" when he gives his best speeches, he has a conversation. Many speakers "Perform at" their audiences or "Present to" their audiences. Obama, "has a Conversation WITH" his audiences, a quality that, like using the 4 languages, is seen only amongst the greatest political and business speakers. 5. Barack Obama understands that the speech on the page or Tele Prompter is not as important as the audience in the seats. His ability to respond to reactions from the audience, verbal and non-verbal, to insert humor and add or adjust his own words, voice tone and body language to the moment, is a supremely high art practiced well by only the very best speakers. But what about Ronald Reagan? His Challenger Speech, his "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech, his warm, affable, charm at press conferences, his strong, fatherly presence and great delivery for all his speeches are legendary. Ronald Reagan was a tremendous communicator and a great speaker and more consistently good than Barack Obama. But he was never as good, in his speeches as President, as Barack Obama at his best. Ronald Reagan, despite his extraordinary skills and polished, practiced delivery, rarely owned a speech like Obama does, didn't know how to work an audience quite like Obama, rarely used the "Visual Language" as he did in his earlier days ("The Speech", 1964) and rarely demonstrated the grasp of detail ("Auditory Digital") that JFK, FDR and Obama have. And, what about Bill Clinton? Bill Clinton is a phenomenal communicator, a really talented speaker and, as noted above, the most extraordinary one-on-one communicator ever. But, by his own choice, according to one of his speech writers that I interviewed, President Clinton purposely chose to simplify his speeches and make them less formal without the soaring oratorical flourishes that work audiences up to another level. Politically it is a fine strategy, but this choice diminishes Clinton's oratorical standing. One speech, however, that is included in "Words That Shook The World: 100 Years of Unforgettable Speeches and Events", his "What would Martin Luther King think?" speech in Memphis on the 25th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination, did rise to the highest levels of great oratory and it is inspiring and magnificent.
I think Sarah Palin is charming,charismatic and a great orator,I guess you think shes my messiah as well I feel the same about Reagan
Well we've just discovered the problem, you wouldn't recognize a skilled orator if they bit you in the ass. Palin charming and charismatic, sure. A good orator? Not during this lifetime.
Good points, AK47agree that President Barack is a better speaker than FDR. And does better in the war on terror than most figured. I hope you did not mind me putting the impeached/articles of impeachment Preasidents together . Mr Clinton also lost[court ordered it] his law liscense................. President Reagan deserves special mention, like JFK cut taxes; won the ''star wars'' fight against the evil empire..............1983 year of the Bible was his proclamation. Last & not least-King David of Israel quote''Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? The Lord of Hosts liked it also.
Really ? I guess that why shes one of the highest paid speakers in the country.I guess thats why shes a guess speaker on fox news more then any other republican I can think of.I guess thats why she draws bigger crowds then any other republican to hear her speak and in the 2010 elections everyone wanted her to campaign for them Palins oratory skills mesmerize her target audience just like Obama does his.She studied journalism in college and was a newscaster and it shows when she speaks.Pay attention to the little things she does like nodding ,winking and other facial gestures to reinforce her words and being extremely confident when she speaks She's an idiot and she's not as good as JFK,Reagan and Obama but she has her own unique and effective style and she's dam good
I think Reagan was better then FDR too because he was so dam versatile.He could be funny like when he dropped the heavy tax book ,he could sentimental like challenger speech,he could be strong like the tear down this wall speech,he could make you forgive him when he fucked up like the Iran contra speech etc.I don't think any President had the range that Reagan did
What republican draws bigger crowds to hear them speak then Sarah Palin ? That alone tells you she's a dam good speaker
(Dam? You mean like the Hoover dam? ) Or it could mean true conservatives are desperate for a leader any leader, since there are not too many to choose from.