VA – Great Speeches of the 20th Century [1991] (4 x CDs) + Bonus CD

SPOKEN WORK DOCUMENTARY

VA – Great Speeches of the 20th Century [1991] (4 x CDs) + Bonus CD

Here’s a box set that doesn’t just document history, it lets you hear it breathe. Released in 1991 by Rhino Word Beat, Great Speeches of the 20th Century is a 4 CD spoken-word anthology that pulls together 68 original recordings from some of the most pivotal moments of the last hundred years. No reenactments, no overdubs, just the real voices, crackling through time, complete with crowd noise, tape hiss, and the kind of urgency you can’t fake.

CD1 The Political Arena - kicks off with William Howard Taft’s 1908 campaign speech and winds through Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Nixon, JFK, Reagan, and Jesse Jackson. You get Roosevelt’s “The only thing we have to fear…” and Nixon’s full “Checkers” speech, plus Mario Cuomo’s soaring “Family of America” address. It’s a crash course in American political voice, from fireside chats to convention thunder.

CD2 The Changing World - expands the scope. Churchill’s first wartime radio broadcast, Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy,” Truman announcing Hiroshima, and JFK’s Cuban Missile Crisis speech all land here. You also get Hitler’s Sudetenland address and Khrushchev’s side of the Kitchen Debate. It’s tense, global, and often chilling—history unfolding in real time.

CD3 The Dreams, The Inspirations, The Accomplishments -  is where the heart kicks in. Amelia Earhart talks aviation, Lou Gehrig bids farewell, and MLK delivers “I Have a Dream” in full. Neil Armstrong’s moon landing and Frank Borman’s Apollo 8 Christmas message add cosmic perspective. It’s a disc of hope, vision, and quiet triumphs.

CD4 Best of Times, Worst of Times - dives into protest, scandal, and reckoning. Malcolm X speaks on Black Power, Jerry Rubin rallies the Yippies, and Gloria Steinem addresses the women of America. Nixon concedes in 1962, Oliver North defends himself in Iran-Contra, and the Kitchen Debate plays out in full. It’s messy, raw, and deeply human.

Compiled by Gordon Skene, this set isn’t just for historians, it’s for anyone who wants to feel the pulse of the 20th century through the voices that shaped it. No polish, no filters—just the sound of conviction, conflict, and change.

Also included in this post is a bonus disc Released in 2007 by The Guardian, Great Speeches of the 20th Century is a single-disc compilation introduced by Polly Toynbee, featuring 10 landmark recordings from global leaders and changemakers. From Roosevelt’s “Fear Itself” to Mandela’s Rivonia Trial speech, the set spans war, resistance, civil rights, and personal conviction. Churchill, Nehru, Thatcher, MLK, and Charles Spencer all appear in crisp archival form, offering a compact but powerful listening experience. Though distinct from Rhino’s sprawling 4-CD box, this UK-issued disc stands strong as a curated snapshot of 20th-century rhetoric. (B)

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Track lists

CD1

01 William Howard Taft - The Farmer and the Republican Party 2:03

02 Woodrow Wilson - Address to the American Indians 1:43

03 Theodore Roosevelt - Address to the Boys's Progressive League 1:31

04 Franklin Delano Roosevelt - 04 Inaugural Address 1:15

05 Franklin Delano Roosevelt - 05 Inaugural Address 2:29

06 Thomas E. Dewey - Election Eve Campaign Speech 1:09

07 Harry S. Truman - Inaugural Address 2:29

08 Richard Millhouse Nixon - ''Checkers'' Speech 11:09

09 Adlai Stevenson - Presidential Campaign Address 4:28

10 Dwight D. Eisenhower - Republican Convention Address 5:37

11 John F. Kennedy & Richard M. Nixon - Presidential Debate 5:37

12 Barry Goldwater - Presidential Campaign Address 1:57

13 Lyndon B. Johnson - Address to the Nation 0:37

14 Robert F. Kennedy - Presidential Campaign Address 5:22

15 Richard Millhouse Nixon - Inaugural Address 2:18

16 Spiro Agnew - Resignation Address 2:01

17 Richard Millhouse Nixon - Resignation Address 3:37

18 Jimmy Carter - Democratic Convention Acceptance Speech 1:34

19 Ronald Reagan - Inaugural Address 2:34

20 Mario Cuomo - Keynote Address for the Democratic Convention 10:26

21 Jesse Jackson - Address to the Democratic Convention 5:22

CD2

01 Len Spencer - First Recorded Promotional Message on the Edison Phongraph 2:09

02 James Watson Gerard III - The Germin Peril 2:53

03 John J. Pershing - Address From France 0:31

04 Calvin Coolidge feat. Charles Lindbergh - On Lindbergh's Return to the United States 2:18

05 King Edward VIII - Abdication Address 6:42

06 Neville Chamberlain - On His Return From the Munich Conference 1:08

07 Adolf Hitler - On the Occasion of Germany's Occupation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia 3:04

08 Neville Chamberlain - Declaration of War With Germany 2:58

09 Winston Churchill - First Radio Address as Prime Minister 7:37

10 Franklin D. Roosevelt - Declaration of War Against Japan 7:44

11 Harry S. Truman - The First Atomic Bomb Attack on Japan 0:26

12 Douglas MacArthur - Address to Congress 5:03

13 John Foster Dulles - On the Fall of Dien Bieu Ph 3:44

14 Radio Moscow - Announcement of the Launching of Sputnik 0:18

15 John F. Kennedy - The Cuban Missile Crisis 7:34

16 Adlai Stevenson - Confrontation Over Presence of Russian Missiles in Cuba 4:43

17 Lyndon B. Johnson - On Signing of the Civil Rights Bill 3:44

18 Edward Kennedy - Eulogy for Robert F. Kennedy 1:11

19 Richard Nixon - The End of the Vietnam War 3:39

20 George H. W. Bush - On Commencement of the Bombing of Iraq 6:31

CD3

01 William Jennings Bryan - The Ideal Republic 2:09

02 Amelia Earhart - On the Future of Women in Flying 2:03

03 Lou Gehrig - Farewell to Baseball 0:20

04 Prime Minister Winston Churchill - Address to the Nation on the R.A.F. 1:37

05 Princess Elizabeth & Princess Margaret - Greetings to the Children of England 0:44

06 Babe Ruth - Farewell to Baseball 3:53

07 Casey Stengel - Address to Congress 1:01

08 President Dwight D. Eisenhower - Farewell Address 9:53

09 President John F. Kennedy - Inaugural Address 13:58

10 Lt. Col. John Glenn - The First American in Earth Orbit 2:47

11 Martin Luther King Jr. - Address to Civil Rights Marchers in Washington, DC 16:14

12 Astronaut Frank Borman - Christmas Greeting From Space 0:36

13 Astronaut Neil Armstrong - The Moon Landing 4:22

14 Hank Aaron - Address to Congress 0:22

15 President Ronald Reagan - Address to the Nation on the Berlin Wall 1:57

CD4

01 Charles A. Lindbergh - Address on U.S. Neutrality 9:15

02 Senator Joseph McCarthy - Address to the Chicago Irish Fellowship Club 12:37

03 Vice President Richard M. Nixon & Premier Nikita Khrushchev - The Kitchen Debate 7:25

04 Alan Freed - Farewell to Fans (The Payola Scandal) 0:27

05 Richard M Nixon - Concession Speech 16:17

06 Malcom X - On Black Power 1:17

07 Jerry Rubin - Address to the Yippie Convention 4:48

08 Mayor Richard Daley - Press Conference on the Riots at the Democratic Convention 0:18

09 Vice President Spiro Agnew - Address on Vietnam War 2:15

10 Gloria Steinem - Address to the Women of America 0:30

11 Richard Millhouse Nixon - On Releasing the Watergate Tapes 1:28

12 Lt. Col. Oliver North - Testimony at the Iran-Contra Hearings 9:53

CD5    Bonus

01 Franklin D. Roosevelt - The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself 3:54

02 Winston Churchill - We Shall Fight on the Beaches 3:34

03 Charles de Gaulle - The Flame of French Resistance 2:54

04 Harold Macmillan - The Wind of Change 2:38

05 Nelson Mandela - An Ideal for Which I Am Prepared to Die 2:21

06 Jawaharlal Nehru - A Tryst with Destiny 1:57

07 John F. Kennedy - Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You 3:27

08 Martin Luther King, Jr. - I Have a Dream 7:20

09 Margaret Thatcher - The Lady's Not for Turning 3:04

10 Charles Spencer - The Most Hunted Person of the Modern Age 4:23

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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