Speeches of the American Presidents -- Political Science

     Speeches of the American Presidents is a great resource for those interested in the public discourse of American presidents dating back to the first presidency. Containing over 200 of the most well-known and important speeches from every president from George Washington to George W. Bush (the current president at the time of publication), the reader is able to study the development of the presidency, as well as observe how the use of speeches by the presidency has changed. Readers are given a look into key events and issues of each presidency through the topics presented in speeches and public addresses. The book is both a resource for studying individual presidents, the presidency, and speeches as a means of political communication.
     The book begins with a table of contents. The speeches are organized by president and in chronological order. In the preface to the book, Janet Powell comments that for the most part, speeches included were selected only from those made during the presidency. However, in some cases, important speeches were included that were given prior to the presidency. It is noted that a few of the speeches that exceeded a reasonable length to be fully included appear in excerpted form. Some "annual messages," now known as State of the Union address, were included from early presidents, even though these were read by an intermediary, not the president himself. The text of the speeches themselves were retrieved from the National Archives and Records Administration and the White House websites.
     The introduction serves as a narrative of speech-makings place in the presidency. It outlines changes in technology that have impacted public addresses by the president, and the various capacities in which the presidency has used speech toward political goals.
     The sections for each president begin with a brief one or two page description of the president and his presidency. Podell and Anzovin typically outline the president's prior political experience and cover the major events of the presidency. The editors also include commentary on the presidents' speaking style and political tone.
     For each speech included in this text, there is a brief introduction to the context in which it was given. The number of speeches included average from 3-5 for the earlier presidents to 6-9 for later presidents. There is no commentary provided, save the contextual information given. The book concludes with an index with entries for people, events, and topics.
     Speeches of the American Presidents is by no means a comprehensive source for scholars on the presidency, but I think it serves a great reference for students studying the art of speech in a political context, or who are interested in a particular president or time in American history. It includes speeches made by every president from all eras of our country's two-hundred plus years, and serves as a base for further interest in public addresses made by presidents.
     However, I feel the book lacks in several ways. As a reference source, there is no bibliography section, or even reference to where an interested reader can find more speeches by presidents. It simply says that speeches were retrieved from www.whitehouse.gov and www.nara.gov. This would have been an easy and invaluable addition to the work as a whole. Readers are left to find other speeches on their own. There is also surprisingly little discussion of the speeches in the context of public discourse, although this adds to the authority of the book as foremost being a collection of primary resources. Again, I feel as though the editors could have provided a bibliography for the discourse surrounding these speeches, or at least a discussion of doing that sort of research.
    Although there are some shortcomings, overall I do like this source. It accomplishes what the editors set out to do: compile some of the most important speeches in the history of the presidency. It can be used as a source for actual speeches, and, by consulting the indexes and introductions, to analyze the presidency and political history of the country in the context of speeches.


Podell, J., & Anzovin, S. (Eds.). (2001). Speeches of the American Presidents (2nd ed.). New York:    
     H.W. Wilson Company.