Speeches

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Here we provide you with speeches by the head's of states from the 10 Why Democracy? Films, speeches by our President of the World Nominees, some of our favorite speeches that are available online and some great search engines for finding more speeches. Some of them you probably know, others are less famous but are interesting due to the observations and insight they give on democracy.

Read speeches by the 10 head's of states, from the 10 countries where the Why Democracy? Film's take place.

• Please Vote for Me

President of China Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao's speech at Asian-African Business Summit Reception of 22nd April, 2005.

• Campaign - The Kawazaki Candidate

Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fakuda

Statement by the Prime Minister of 26th September, 2007.

• Taxi to the Dark Side

President of the United States of America George W. Bush

Inaugural Address of 2005.

• Bloody Cartoons

Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Opening Address to the Parliament of 2nd October, 2007.

• Dinner with the President

President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf

Official Collection of Musharraf's Speeches

• Iron ladies of Liberia

President of Liberia Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Inaugural Address of 16th January 2006.

• In Search of Gandhi

Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh

Official Collection of Singh's Speeches

• Looking for a Revolution

President of Bolivia Evo Morales

Inaugural Speech of January, 2006.

• For God, Tsar and the Fatherland

President of Russia Vladimir Putin

Official Collection of Putin's Speeches

• Egypt: We See You

President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak

Official Collection of Mubarak's Speecehes

American Rhetoric

A collection of the more than 5000 speeches done in and about America. Several of them are available in audio file and some can even be watched on video. The site also has background information about rhetorics and a comprehensive list of journals about communication.

Speeches of Interest:

• I Have a Dream - by Martin Luther King

On Women's Right to Vote - Susan B. Anthony

This speech was given in the late 19th century by Susan B. Anthony, after she illegally cast a vote in the presidential election of 1872. Because she voted she was put on trial and fined $100, which she refused to pay. It only became legal for American women to vote in 1920.

“Friends and fellow citizens: I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote. It shall be my work this evening to prove to you that in thus voting, I not only committed no crime, but, instead, simply exercised my citizen's rights, guaranteed to me and all United States citizens by the National Constitution, beyond the power of any state to deny.”

- Susan B. Anthony

This quote is provided by The History Place: Great Speeches Collection

Justice for Ireland - Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell is known as the Liberator of Ireland. He gave this speech, in 1836, to the British House of Commons to end religious discrimination against Irish Catholics in Ireland. At the time Irish Catholics could not be seated in Parliament.

“England never did do justice to Ireland – she never did. What we have got of it we have extorted from men opposed to us on principle – against which principle they have made us such concessions as we have obtained from them.”

- Daniel O'Connell

This quote is provided by The History Place: Great Speeches Collection

Rivonia Trial Speech - Nelson Mandela

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

- Nelson Mandela

This quote is provided by the ANC website

The Crisis of Confidence - Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter was president of America from 1977 until 1981. This speech was given in 1979, during a severe energy crisis.

“We are at a turning point in our history. There are two paths to choose. One is a path I've warned about tonight, the path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest. Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom, the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others. That path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests ending in chaos and immobility. It is a certain route to failure. All the traditions of our past, all the lessons of our heritage, all the promises of our future point to another path, the path of common purpose and the restoration of American values. That path leads to true freedom for our nation and ourselves. We can take the first steps down that path as we begin to solve our energy problem.”

- Jimmy Carter

This quote is provided by PBS

Inaugural Address - John F. Kennedy

This speech was delivered by John F. Kennedy during his inauguration on January 20, 1961.

“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

- John F. Kennedy

This quote is provided by American Rhetoric

Promoting Democracy: A progressive Foreign Policy Agenda - Jack Straw

Jack Straw is the former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. He gave this speech in 2005 to the Fabian Society. In the speech the, then Foreign Secretary, talks about how democracy is emerging in the Middle East and how the UK's foreign policy supports this development.

“The West's share of responsibility for the lack of democracy in the Middle East to date is not down to too much enthusiasm for promoting democracy, but too little. The approach has often been tactical rather than strategic, preferring a known status quo to an unknown process of change. Today we realize that this is a false choice.”

- Jack Straw

This quote is provided by BBC NEWS