The Undelivered Speeches That Could Have Rewritten History
1A
NPR
4.3 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 30 May 2022
⏱️ 27 minutes
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Summary
Former presidential speechwriter Jeff Nussbaum became obsessed with undelivered speeches after working on the Al Gore campaign.
His new book, "Undelivered: The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History", explores speeches that were prepared for outcomes that never were. Those primary sources reveal how easily history could have taken a different path. They also offer insight into those moments themselves, including the motivations and feelings of the speech-givers and the people around them.
We ask him about history, these speeches, and what they tell us about these moments in time.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | History is filled with watershed moments that could have unfolded very differently. |
| 0:13.3 | What if D. Day had failed and the Allied forces lost in that crucial battle? |
| 0:18.0 | Or if President Richard Nixon refused to resign? |
| 0:21.4 | What if Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 presidential election? |
| 0:25.6 | My fellow Americans. |
| 0:27.9 | Day, you sent a message to the whole world. |
| 0:31.7 | Our values endure, our democracy stands strong, and our motto remains e pluribus unum, |
| 0:39.1 | out of many one. |
| 0:41.6 | That's part of what former Secretary of State Clinton hoped to say on election night |
| 0:45.8 | it's voiced by an actor. |
| 0:47.5 | Instead she conceded the next day to President Trump. |
| 0:50.9 | History is littered with drafts of undelivered speeches like that one. |
| 0:55.3 | Each writer Jeff Nussbaum, who most recently penned words for President Joe Biden, collected |
| 1:00.0 | them for his new book. |
| 1:01.5 | It's called Undelivered, the never heard speeches that would have rewritten history. |
| 1:05.9 | And he joins us from Washington, D.C. |
| 1:07.6 | Jeff, welcome to the program. |
| 1:08.8 | Oh, it's great to be here. |
| 1:10.5 | Thank you. |
| 1:11.5 | So Hillary Clinton's plan victory speech included a particularly powerful ending that will |
| 1:15.8 | play in a moment. |
| 1:16.9 | But why do you see undelivered speeches as a particularly meaningful tool to help us understand |
... |
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