27 min listen
History’s Undelivered Speeches
ratings:
Length:
35 minutes
Released:
Aug 7, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
August 8, 1974. President Richard Nixon sits in the Oval Office, addressing the American people. He tells them: I’m going to resign. The news is shocking, but not unexpected. Today, it might even seem inevitable. But in the days leading up to the big decision, Nixon himself didn’t know what he would do. At night he roamed the halls of the White House, torturously weighing his options. He even ordered a speechwriter to draft a statement announcing his refusal to resign. Sally Helm sits down with political speechwriter Jeff Nussbaum to talk about this curious kind of a document: a speech that could’ve changed history if only it had been given. They discuss what Nixon, and two other speech givers, would have felt preparing multiple drafts, as they faced an uncertain future, and how the world would be different had these speeches been given.Special thanks to our guest: Jeff Nussbaum, author of Undelivered: The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Released:
Aug 7, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
To Fight a Virus, and Win: May 14, 1796. Edward Jenner tests a theory: can contracting one disease save you from another? Jenner is crowned as the father of vaccination. But decades before Jenner, how did an unlikely trio pave the way for this great invention in modern medicine? by HISTORY This Week