The two parties’ national conventions are just about to begin, starting with the GOP next week and the Democrats later in the month, and we are just getting the speakers list for each. The Republican list includes notable names like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Senator Ted Cruz, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, among others. The Democrats have unveiled that their headliners will include the Obamas, the Clintons, Vice President Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders.
While there will be plenty of speeches at each convention, we will have to wait to see if any particular moment can be viewed as truly memorable. However, the people I will name below showed up to their respective conventions and dominated the moment. Maybe the convention speakers this year will be able to learn from these great speeches.
So, I guess without further ado, here are my picks for five best convention defining speeches, in chronological order.
1. Franklin Roosevelt: 1932 DNC Speech
Defining Quote: "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people. Let us all here assembled constitute ourselves prophets of a new order of competence and courage. This is more than a political campaign; it is a call to arms."
The first speech I will bring up returns us to the 1932 Democratic convention in Chicago. This tense moment in U.S. history came during the Great Depression, and New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt needed two-thirds of the delegate vote to receive the nomination. His challengers included Being 1928 Democratic nominee Al Smith and House Speaker John Nance Garner of Texas. Ultimately, Roosevelt won the required delegates on the third ballot after Garner withdrew, and the rest is history. Here is a link to the full speech text, as well as brief video below:
2. Hubert Humphrey: 1948 DNC Speech
Defining Quote: "There are those who say to you - we are rushing this issue of civil rights. I say we are 172 years late. There are those who say - this issue of civil rights is an infringement on states rights. The time has arrived for the Democratic party to get out of the shadow of state's rights 3 and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights."
The Democratic party was much different sixty-plus years ago. Much of what defined the party was outright bigotry and racism, but enter Senate candidate and Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey. His speech, in support of racial integration, came after he proposed a civil rights amendment to the party platform in Philadelphia. The address ended up leading to a walkout by the old-school Dixiecrats, though Humphrey's move did allow for a civil rights plank in the party's platform. Check out this link for audio and and a transcript of the speech.
3. Ronald Reagan: 1976 RNC Speech
Defining Quote: “And then again there is that challenge of which he spoke that we live in a world in which the great powers have poised and aimed at each other horrible missiles of destruction, nuclear weapons that can in a matter of minutes arrive at each other's country and destroy, virtually, the civilized world we live in. And suddenly it dawned on me, those who would read this letter a hundred years from now will know whether those missiles were fired. They will know whether we met our challenge. Whether they have the freedoms that we have known up until now will depend on what we do here."
Already a prominent figure in Republican politics after his 1964 speech, Reagan showed up to Kansas City, Missouri attempting to secure the nomination from President Ford. After a tense battle, Ford came out victorious. However, it was Reagan who ended up defining the convention by delivering an impromptu speech, which set the stage for him to became the President four years later. Check out the speech below:
4. Mario Cuomo: 1984 DNC Speech
Defining Quote: "This nation is more a tale of two cities than it is just a shining city on a hill. There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces you don't see, in the places you don't visit in your shining city."
Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo's delivered a stellar and career-defining speech during keynote address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. The speech was meant as a response to Ronald Reagan's description of America as a shining city on a hill, the key to the Republican's political success. Check out the speech below:
5. Barack Obama: 2004 DNC Speech
Defining Quote: "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America—there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America—there's the United States of America.”
The year was 2004, George W. Bush was President, and John Kerry was the Democratic Presidential Nominee. That’s the set-up for this speech where a little-known state senator from Illinois was offered the prime speaking slot at the Democratic convention. Barack Obama's speech at the 2004 Convention not only introduced him to nation, but ultimately set the stage for him to be the nominee just four years later. Check out the speech below:
