Harry Truman - Great Speeches By cover art

Harry Truman - Great Speeches

By: Harry Truman
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  • Summary

  • Harry S. Truman was a direct and forceful speaker who was known for his plain-spoken style and his ability to connect with audiences on an emotional level. He often used humor and anecdotes to illustrate his points, and he was not afraid to speak his mind, even when his views were unpopular.Truman's speaking style was a reflection of his personality. He was a confident and self-assured man, and he was not afraid to take risks. This was evident in his speaking, which was often improvised and spontaneous.Here are some of the key characteristics of Harry Truman's public speaking style:
    • Directness: Truman was known for his direct and forceful speaking style. He did not beat around the bush, and he always got to the point.
    • Forcefulness: Truman was a persuasive speaker who was able to convince people to see his point of view. He was able to use logic and emotion to make his arguments, and he was often able to win over people who initially disagreed with him.
    • Plain-spoken style: Truman used language that was easy to understand, even for people who were not familiar with politics. He avoided jargon and technical terms, and he always spoke in a way that was clear and concise.
    • Humor: Truman was known for his sense of humor, which he often used to lighten the mood and connect with audiences. He was able to tell a good joke, and he was also able to use humor to make his points more memorable.
    • Anecdotes: Truman often used personal anecdotes and historical references to illustrate his points and make his speeches more engaging.
    • Emotional connection: Truman was able to connect with audiences on an emotional level. He often spoke about his own personal experiences, such as the death of his daughter Mary Margaret, to illustrate his points and make his message more relatable.
    • Improvisation: Truman was a skilled improviser who was often able to think on his feet and respond to the moment. This was evident in his speeches, which were often spontaneous and unpredictable.
    Overall, Harry S. Truman was a highly effective and versatile speaker who was able to adapt his style to suit a variety of situations. He was a master of language, and he was able to use his words to connect with audiences on an emotional level, persuade them to see his point of view, and engage them in his message.In addition to the characteristics listed above, Truman was also known for his ability to:
    • Use simple language: Truman was able to explain complex issues in a way that was easy to understand. He avoided jargon and technical terms, and he always spoke in a way that was clear and concise.
    • Connect with audiences on a personal level: Truman was able to connect with audiences on a personal level by sharing his own experiences and stories. He often spoke about his own personal struggles, such as his family's financial difficulties, to illustrate his points and make his message more relatable.
    • Use humor effectively: Truman was known for his sense of humor, which he often used to lighten the mood and connect with audiences. He was able to tell a good joke, and he was also able to use humor to make his points more memorable.
    • Use storytelling: Truman was a skilled storyteller, often using personal anecdotes and historical references to illustrate his points and make his speeches more engaging.
    • Use pathos and logos: Truman was able to use both pathos (emotional appeal) and logos (logical appeal) to persuade audiences. He often used emotional language to connect with audiences on a personal level, and he also used logical arguments to make his points more persuasive.
    Overall, Harry S. Truman was a highly effective and versatile speaker who was able to adapt his style to suit a variety of situations. He was a master of language, and he was able to use his words to connect with audiences on an emotional level, persuade them to see his point of view, and engage them in his message.
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Episodes
  • President Harry Truman Address before the NAACP

    President Harry Truman Address before the NAACP
    Feb 29 2024
    Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Roosevelt, Senator Morse, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:I am happy to be present at the closing session of the 38th Annual Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The occasion of meeting with you here at the Lincoln Memorial affords me the opportunity to congratulate the association upon its effective work for the improvement of our democratic processes.I should like to talk to you briefly about civil rights and human freedom. It is my deep conviction that we have reached a turning point in the long history of our country's efforts to guarantee freedom and equality to all our citizens. Recent events in the United States and abroad have made us realize that it is more important today than ever before to insure that all Americans enjoy these rights.When I say all Americans I mean all Americans.The civil rights laws written in the early years of our Republic, and the traditions which have been built upon them, are precious to us. Those laws were drawn up with the memory still fresh in men's minds of the tyranny of an absentee government. They were written to protect the citizen against any possible tyrannical act by the new government in this country.But we cannot be content with a civil liberties program which emphasizes only the need of protection against the possibility of tyranny by the Government. We cannot stop there.We must keep moving forward, with new concepts of civil rights to safeguard our heritage. The extension of civil rights today means, not protection of the people against the Government, but protection of the people by the Government.We must make the Federal Government a friendly, vigilant defender of the rights and equalities of all Americans. And again I mean all Americans.As Americans, we believe that every man should be free to live his life as he wishes. He should be limited only by his responsibility to his fellow countrymen. If this freedom is to be more than a dream, each man must be guaranteed equality of opportunity. The only limit to an American's achievement should be his ability, his industry, and his character. These rewards for his effort should be determined only by those truly relevant qualifies.Our immediate task is to remove the last remnants of the barriers which stand between millions of our citizens and their birthright. There is no justifiable reason for discrimination because of ancestry, or religion, or race, or color.We must not tolerate such limitations on the freedom of any of our people and on their enjoyment of basic rights which every citizen in a truly democratic society must possess.Every man should have the right to a decent home, the right to an education, the right to adequate medical care, the right to a worthwhile job, the right to an equal share in making the public decisions through the ballot, and the fight to a fair trial in a fair court.We must insure that these rights—on equal terms—are enjoyed by every citizen.To these principles I pledge my full and continued support.Many of our people still suffer the indignity of insult, the narrowing fear of intimidation, and, I regret to say, the threat of physical injury and mob violence. Prejudice and intolerance in which these evils are rooted still exist. The conscience of our Nation, and the legal machinery which enforces it, have not yet secured to each citizen full freedom from fear.We cannot wait another decade or another generation to remedy these evils. We must work, as never before, to cure them now. The aftermath of war and the desire to keep faith with our Nation's historic principles make the need a pressing one.The support of desperate populations of battle-ravaged countries must be won for the free way of life. We must have them as allies in our continuing struggle for the peaceful solution of the world's problems. Freedom is not an easy lesson to teach, nor an easy cause to sell, to peoples beset by every kind of privation. They may surrender to the false security offered so temptingly by totalitarian regimes unless we can prove the superiority of democracy.Our case for democracy should be as strong as we can make it. It should rest on practical evidence that we have been able to put our own house in order.For these compelling reasons, we can no longer afford the luxury of a leisurely attack upon prejudice and discrimination. There is much that State and local governments can do in providing positive safeguards for civil rights. But we cannot, any longer, await the growth of a will to action in the slowest State or the most backward community.Our National Government must show the way.This is a difficult and complex undertaking. Federal laws and administrative machineries must be improved and expanded. We must provide the Government with better tools to do the job. As a first step, I appointed an Advisory Committee on Civil Rights last December. Its members, fifteen distinguished private citizens, have been surveying...
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    12 mins
  • President Harry S Truman Announcing the Surrender of Japan September 1, 1945

    President Harry S Truman Announcing the Surrender of Japan September 1, 1945
    Feb 29 2024
    The thoughts and hopes of all America—indeed of all the civilized world—are centered tonight on the battleship Missouri. There on that small piece of American soil anchored in Tokyo Harbor the Japanese have just officially laid down their arms. They have signed terms of unconditional surrender.Four years ago, the thoughts and fears of the whole civilized world were centered on another piece of American soil—Pearl Harbor. The mighty threat to civilization which began there is now laid at rest. It was a long road to Tokyo—and a bloody one.We shall not forget Pearl Harbor.The Japanese militarists will not forget the U.S.S. Missouri.The evil done by the Japanese war lords can never be repaired or forgotten. But their power to destroy and kill has been taken from them. Their armies and what is left of their Navy are now impotent.To all of us there comes first a sense of gratitude to Almighty God who sustained us and our Allies in the dark days of grave danger, who made us to grow from weakness into the strongest fighting force in history, and who has now seen us overcome the forces of tyranny that sought to destroy His civilization.God grant that in our pride of the hour, we may not forget the hard tasks that are still before us; that we may approach these with the same courage, zeal, and patience with which we faced the trials and problems of the past four years.Our first thoughts, of course—thoughts of gratefulness and deep obligation—go out to those of our loved ones who have been killed or maimed in this terrible war. On land and sea and in the air, American men and women have given their lives so that this day of ultimate victory might come and assure the survival of a civilized world. No victory can make good their loss.We think of those whom death in this war has hurt, taking from them fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, and sisters whom they loved. No victory can bring back the faces they longed to see.Only the knowledge that the victory, which these sacrifices have made possible, will be wisely used, can give them any comfort. It is our responsibility—ours, the living—to see to it that this victory shall be a monument worthy of the dead who died to win it.We think of all the millions of men and women in our armed forces and merchant marine all over the world who, after years of sacrifice and hardship and peril, have been spared by Providence from harm.We think of all the men and women and children who during these years have carried on at home, in lonesomeness and anxiety and fear.Our thoughts go out to the millions of American workers and businessmen, to our farmers and miners—to all those who have built up this country's fighting strength, and who have shipped to our Allies the means to resist and overcome the enemy.Our thoughts go out to our civil servants and to the thousands of Americans who, at personal sacrifice, have come to serve in our Government during these trying years; to the members of the Selective Service boards and ration boards; to the civilian defense and Red Cross workers; to the men and women in the USO and in the entertainment world—to all those who have helped in this cooperative struggle to preserve liberty and decency in the world.We think of our departed gallant leader, Franklin D. Roosevelt, defender of democracy, architect of world peace and cooperation.And our thoughts go out to our gallant Allies in this war: to those who resisted the invaders; to those who were not strong enough to hold out, but who, nevertheless, kept the fires of resistance alive within the souls of their people; to those who stood up against great odds and held the line, until the United Nations together were able to supply the arms and the men with which to overcome the forces of evil.This is a victory of more than arms alone. This is a victory of liberty over tyranny.From our war plants rolled the tanks and planes which blasted their way to the heart of our enemies; from our shipyards sprang the ships which bridged all the oceans of the world for our weapons and supplies; from our farms came the food and fiber for our armies and navies and for our Allies in all the corners of the earth; from our mines and factories came the raw materials and the finished products which gave us the equipment to overcome our enemies.But back of it all were the will and spirit and determination of a free people—who know what freedom is, and who know that it is worth whatever price they had to pay to preserve it.It was the spirit of liberty which gave us our armed strength and which made our men invincible in battle. We now know that that spirit of liberty, the freedom of the individual, and the personal dignity of man, are the strongest and toughest and most enduring forces in all the world.And so on V-J Day we take renewed faith and pride in our own way of life. We have had our day of rejoicing over this victory. We have had our day of prayer and devotion. Now let us set aside V-J Day as one ...
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    9 mins
  • Announcing the Surrender of Germany - Harry Truman Speech - May 8, 1945

    Announcing the Surrender of Germany - Harry Truman Speech - May 8, 1945
    Nov 14 2023
    Announcing the Surrender of Germany - Harry Truman Speech - May 8, 1945

    This broadcast to the American people formally announces the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. Truman praises the hard work and sacrifice of the American people but reminds them that the war continues in the Far East.
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    6 mins
World Political Science Social Sciences
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