Poetry v prose in political speech writing

To fully appreciate just what speakers like Roosevelt and Churchill accomplished in their willingness to make the transition from podium speaking to broadcasting, let’s go back to a seminal event in the mid-19th century for one of the most dramatic lessons in speechwriting and speech-giving: the Gettysburg Addresses. Yes, Addresses. There were two major speeches given on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863.

The first speech was given by the Honorable Edward Everett, a well-known and respected political figure whose oratorical style was cast in the tradition of epic story-tellers. Everett’s Gettysburg remarks began with,

“Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these broad fields now reposing from the labors of the waning year, the mighty Alleghenies dimly towering before us, the graves of our brethren beneath our feet, it is with hesitation that I raise my poor voice to break the eloquent silence of God and Nature. But the duty to which you have called me must be performed;—grant me, I pray you, your indulgence and your sympathy.”

And continued on for another two hours, until he finally wrapped it up on this note:

“But they, I am sure, will join us in saying, as we bid farewell to the dust of these martyr-heroes, that wheresoever throughout the civilized world the accounts of this great warfare are read, and down to the latest period of recorded time, in the glorious annals of our common country, there will be no brighter page than that which relates the Battles of Gettysburg.”