Who do you think is the most naturally talented political speaker?

[carbonmonoxide321]

Who do you think is the most naturally talented political speaker?

[vcczar]

In American, probably Obama. I can't think of anyone else that comes close, Democrat, Independent, or Republican. Some of the others have occasional good speeches--even Biden for example--but no one is as consistent as Obama. 

[vcczar]

35 minutes ago, Patine said:

That's tough. Charles De Galle, Prafulla Chandra Ghosh (probably one of the very best and most moving speakers of the charisma-based-foundational-leadership-as-is global Communist movement), Martin Luther King, Jr. (even though not a politician himself, his speeches could be considered political in nature), Sir Winston Churchill (he seemingly only got his speaking mojo up from 1940 onwards), Barack Obama, Che Guevara, Vaclav Havel, and, unfortunately, George Wallace, William Aberhart, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and VERY unfortunately, Adolf Hitler. They come to mind off hand.

I thought he was talking about living politicians 

[vcczar]

7 minutes ago, Patine said:

I don't see the word, "living," or, "current," in the thread title or opening post...

I know. I was assuming it. That’s why I only mentioned Obama. One could also construe it as such because a dead person isn’t a politician. They’re dead.

[DakotaHale]

Obama now for sure. Of all time I’m not sure. 

[DakotaHale]

Looking over some of Lincoln’s speeches he had a natural knack for speaking but that’s not exactly a hot take or unpopular opinion either. 

[MrPotatoTed]

Others have already mentioned Obama.  I remember the first time I ever heard him speak -- he immediately caught my attention.  Woah -- who is THIS?

I've had that reaction exactly two other times.  The first time I heard Pete Buttigieg speak, and the first time I heard Joe Kennedy speak.  

But if we're including dead politicians, JFK.

[Hestia]

5 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

Others have already mentioned Obama.  I remember the first time I ever heard him speak -- he immediately caught my attention.  Woah -- who is THIS?

I've had that reaction exactly two other times.  The first time I heard Pete Buttigieg speak, and the first time I heard Joe Kennedy speak.  

But if we're including dead politicians, JFK.

Are you mocking me? 😛

I think Pete knows how to talk well, but I don't know if he's a good speaker. He offers a lot of platitudes and is good at saying what people want to hear, but I don't think that makes a good speaker in my opinion. 🙂 

Branching off to answer a bit myself, but if we're thinking about debates and that sort of thing, I would argue Elizabeth Warren is one of the better speakers we have at the present moment, as well as her ability to fire up a crowd.

[MrPotatoTed]

Just now, Hestia said:

Are you mocking me? 😛

I think Pete knows how to talk well, but I don't know if he's a good speaker. He offers a lot of platitudes and is good at saying what people want to hear, but I don't think that makes a good speaker in my opinion. 🙂 

Branching off to answer a bit myself, but if we're thinking about debates and that sort of thing, I would argue Elizabeth Warren is one of the better speakers we have at the present moment, as well as her ability to fire up a crowd.

One of the things that I appreciate about Pete is that you can tell he's actually thought about an issue before speaking.  Not just in the sense that he's thought of a rational argument to support his side, but that he's also thought about the rational arguments for the other sides before reaching his conclusion.  That's what Obama had as well, in my view.  These are extremely intelligent people who have really studied the issue, and when they've reached a conclusion different from my own, it's probably because they've studied it longer and harder than I have.

[Timur]

1 hour ago, Hestia said:

Are you mocking me? 😛

I think Pete knows how to talk well, but I don't know if he's a good speaker. He offers a lot of platitudes and is good at saying what people want to hear, but I don't think that makes a good speaker in my opinion. 🙂 

Branching off to answer a bit myself, but if we're thinking about debates and that sort of thing, I would argue Elizabeth Warren is one of the better speakers we have at the present moment, as well as her ability to fire up a crowd.

You mean, fire her base.  I don't think of her a particularly great speaker.

Obama, I can see that.

Martin Luther King, I can really see that.

Perhaps Bernie Sanders as well...

[ConservativeElector2]

Jacob Rees-Mogg for the UK. All of his speeches I've listened to so far, had been entertaining and very well articulated. I don't know anyone better.

Christian Lindner for Germany. Lindner is a great speaker too, but different to Rees-Mogg for sure. Lindner can really generate enthusiasm among his audience even if you don't always agree with him. He is a modern centrist as well as refreshing. He doesn't even use notes and I guess there is not always teleprompter, when he holds speeches at various gatherings. Very eloquent and convincing speaker, who never misses his main points.

Ewald Stadler for Austria. A colorful speaker, a bit populistic perhaps but he mostly tells the things like they are. It's definitely never boring to hear him talking.

[Pringles]

41 minutes ago, ConservativeElector2 said:

Jacob Rees-Mogg for the UK. All of his speeches I've listened to so far, had been entertaining and very well articulated. I don't know anyone better.

 

While I'd argue at times Mogg's speeches themselves aren't very popular, he does indeed have a way with words. Very much because of his upper class background. Quite sophisticated for the modern tones we hear mostly. I like that you included someone who isn't on the usual list! Kudos 😛 

As for me, here's some of the greatest speakers imo. Ronald Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt, and despite me disagreeing a lot with this man, William Jennings Bryan. 

Obama is obvious. I also think Newt Gingrich, while not being a super public kind of speaker... is one of the best Republican debaters. Especially in 2012. Dick Cheney and Mike Pence are other similar good examples of this. 

Ben Sasse is also pretty good overall. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by Pringles

[vcczar]

Here's a list of Top Speakers in the 20th century. I won't go further back because we don't really have recordings. I think Obama might be the only 21st century speaker I could confidently put on this list. Let me note to @Patine that I will not put non-English speakers on this list because I am not fluent enough in another language to judge their oratory. At best, I'll get some of the words and a lot of hand gestures. Most of my knowledge of specific speeches are restricted to the US. In fact, I've never seen a speech made by a Canadian politician. I've seen a few by UK politicians, but none from the other British Isles or Commonwealth, or from Ireland, Australia, or New Zealand. As such, this list is mostly American with a two British figures who happened to slip in.:

• FDR
• JFK
• MLK
• Barbara Jordan
• Ronald Reagan
• Mario Cuomo
• Jesse Jackson
• Douglas MacArthur
• Huey P Long
• William Jennings Bryan
• RFK
• Ted Kennedy
• Eugene V Debs
• Bertrand Russell
• Gore Vidal
• Winston Churchill 
• Robert Byrd

[Timur]

43 minutes ago, vcczar said:

Let me note to @Patine that I will not put non-English speakers on this list because I am not fluent enough in another language to judge their oratory.

I second this. I will have a problem knowing whether the speech was well delivered unless I know the language.

[Timur]

45 minutes ago, vcczar said:

 

• Huey P Long

Also, Long was very eloquent.

[Dobs]

15 hours ago, MrPotatoTed said:

and the first time I heard Joe Kennedy speak.  

As in the same Joe Kennedy that flopped on his face during the state of the union response?

[MrPotatoTed]

2 minutes ago, Dobs said:

As in the same Joe Kennedy that flopped on his face during the state of the union response?

Probably!  I only saw him speak once, at Elizabeth Warren's rally announcing she was running for President.  It was ostensibly an Elizabeth Warren crowd...but they were WAY more fired up for Kennedy's speech.

[vcczar]

15 minutes ago, Dobs said:

As in the same Joe Kennedy that flopped on his face during the state of the union response?

You can't judge a speaker on their worst speech. Do we judge Bill Clinton on his 1988 State of the Union flop? Joe Kennedy III is generally a good speaker, although not as good as the older Kennedys. 

[Pringles]

3 minutes ago, vcczar said:

You can't judge a speaker on their worst speech. Do we judge Bill Clinton on his 1988 State of the Union flop? Joe Kennedy III is generally a good speaker, although not as good as the older Kennedys. 

No, but I do judge Bill Clinton for being a rapist.

[Pringles]

Also, not to doubt the ability of Joe Kennedy, I suppose he's alright, I've never really heard him speak much. He's the one Kennedy who's kind of fading into obscurity because he got his butt kicked by Markey 

[jvikings1]

Nigel Farage.

The man is arguably the most influential British politician since Thatcher and did so without even getting elected to the British Parliament. When I was first following the Brexit movement (in the leadup to the vote), he stood out from all the others.

[Pringles]

2 minutes ago, jvikings1 said:

Nigel Farage.

The man is arguably the most influential British politician since Thatcher and did so without even getting elected to the British Parliament. When I was first following the Brexit movement (in the leadup to the vote), he stood out from all the others.

I actually quite agree with this. Very good point. Like him or not he's one of the most influential British political figures that has never set foot near being PM. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by Pringles

[Hestia]

Not necessarily good speakers per se, but we've dabbled a bit with good speeches so I'll bite 😛 Rachel Reeves and Lisa Nandy both had good outings that stood out in the last year in the House of Commons (Afghanistan for Nandy, budget for Reeves). I'd look out for them for future posts in the Labour Party. 

[Timur]

Tim Scott