The Speeches Of John F. Kennedy; The Speeches Of Martin Luther King

These two programs, part of the Their Words Made History series, present the major speeches of Kennedy and King. Kennedy's campaign diatribes against Truman and Nixon sound more like petty mean-spiritedness today, his "New Frontier" inaugural speech more rhetoric than substance. Kennedy dealing with the subject of his Catholic faith, and its effect on his presidential campaign remains interesting. However, what makes this program next to worthless, is the complete absence of any dates or historical context. The program simply segues from one speech to the next. Today's student wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the DNC acceptance speech and the inaugural address. To a lesser extent, this problem also plagues the King tape. Although here, at least, cue cards ("Civil Disobedience and Non-Violent Resistance 1955-1962") give the audience ballpark dates. The three major speeches are included here: "I Have a Dream", "How Long? Not Long", and "I Have Been to the Mountaintop". And, unlike Kennedy's vapid, boyish meanderings, King's masterful combination of preacherly repetition and political rhetoric--drawing heavily on Biblical imagery, updated for modern ears--is truly brilliant. Still, there are much better tapes on both Kennedy and King on the market (Martin the Emancipator or Being With John F. Kennedy, for instance.) Not recommended.