MIROmpls

Who do you think is the greatest modern American orator?

Is it a safe assumption that when a sitting president or politician is making an address they're always reading from a speech and if so how often do they write the remarks themselves? Obama definitely had a knack for public speaking that seems wholly absent these days. Personally the first time I heard saw a video of James Baldwin speak I was basically convinced that he was the gold standard. Of course the circumstances are different but do you think that reading from prepared remarks idk blunts some of the spirit of the words and ideas that are being conveyed?

Thanks for the responses! Very insightful.

Feels like we don't have intellectual icons like Baldwin anymore. I think they're out there but how do you stand out from all the trainwrecks and side shows? He understood America in a way that was so undeniably piercing. Commanded attention. The content was stone but the delivery was silk.

Absolutely. I read Notes of a Native Son a couple summers ago and towards the end I think he has an essay describing his experience during a riot, so having been in Minneapolis it felt very serendipitous.