Obama: Finest Orator/President in History?

Surely, he's a great orator. Anyone who would deny that fact is in an almost painful state of denial. The greatest, though? I definitely couldn't agree with that. I'm only 32, so the breadth of the phrase "in my lifetime" doesn't have many Presidents to pick from. I think Reagan was highly overrated, and even amongst Democrats, Jimmy Carter was severely underrated. But if you'd allow me to go back a bit further than my own time here, I'd say JFK was far and away the greatest orator the Presidency has ever known.

I'm sure Reagan fans will beg to differ, but I can make a case in point. When I was a young kid, growing up in the 80's, I only cared about politics as far as my parents made me care. Not many children pay attention to that sort of stuff. My impression of Reagan when I was a kid was that he was the sort of older person who seems nice, but the minute you jump on the couch, the evil comes out.

But something else happened when I was a kid: I heard President Kennedy's Moon speech, and it lit a fire for me. I actually went to the library not long after that and took out a book about him, which my parents had to translate into childese for me, lol.

President Obama does the same thing to children. Anyone whose spoken with a kid in the past few years will tell you that. Children love President Obama, and I think it's partially due to the same thing that made me a Kennedy fan as a young kid. The guy can really get the passion moving.

I am not as eloquent as you Jensen, or Matt Rock, but, I think Obama is one of the great orators and will go down in history as such.

When he is in his stride, when he is on target, there is not one living politician, pundit or preacher that can equal him.

IMHO I think this magic he produces with his words and voice is what lost Hilary the nomination. I have wondered many times if he really believes what he says. But in the end, it really doesn't matter does it? He sounds and acts like he does and that's what will win him the second term. His voice and words give each individual listener the impression that he is talking only to them, that he fighting only for them, that he cares about them, that he knows what they are going through, individually and collectively. It's a rare gift indeed. Obama obviously cherishes it.

he's an excellent orator, but I wont give him best in show.

clinton was actually more eloquent and persuasive.

and reagan was far more inspiring.

Eisenhower could give a speech. and Teddy Roosevelt was know for his barn burners.

but Obama is definitely up there.

Lincoln was the best. In my lifetime, Kennedy, Reagan, and Clinton were the best orators. Obama is in their league.

I enjoyed listening to Washington.

BO is a good reader. Take away his teleprompter and script and he gets a severe case of foot in mouth disease. He gives a good speech when he is prepared but off the cuff he is list and clueless.

No question Obama is a very good good speechifier.

Abraham Lincoln wrote his own speeches, they exist in handwritten form. In the middle of the 19th century the written word was king. There was no mass media and no large audience ever saw Lincoln live. He made a number of speeches, including some parts of the Lincoln Douglas debates, that are still in current history books, due to the power and magnificence of the language. There is little chance that any of Obama's fine, but somewhat generic in prose , speeches will fall into that category.

As for he was the greatest President, it was Lincoln also. He had by far the most difficult job of any President in history.