The document discusses 5 US presidents during times of crisis: 1. Abraham Lincoln was initially seen as ungainly and unqualified but gave a powerful Cooper Union speech that transformed perceptions of him. 2. At Gettysburg, Edward Everett gave a long-winded speech while Lincoln's brief address has had a more lasting impact. 3. Herbert Hoover was an effective problem solver but struggled to communicate during the Great Depression due to his technical speaking style. 4. Franklin Roosevelt leveraged radio to give "Fireside Chats" that connected with Americans in a personal, positive way and helped restore confidence. 5. Excerpts from Lincoln's second inaugural address and writings show his conc

2. The Charisma
ENIGMA
ENIGMA
ENIGMA

3. Five Presidents in
Times of Crisis

4. THE
BARBARIAN
PRESIDENT
Wall Street Lawyer
George Templeton
Strong called Lincoln,
a “barbarian” and a
“yahoo” after their
first meeting

5. THE
BARBARIAN
PRESIDENT
Least popular
president ever

6. THE
BARBARIAN
PRESIDENT
quot;We have a President
without brains.”
–George Bancroft,
Leading American Historian

7. THE
BARBARIAN
PRESIDENT
quot;Who will write this
ignorant man's state
papers?quot;
–Newspaper Editor

8. THE
BARBARIAN
PRESIDENT
“THE HOMELIEST MAN
I EVER SAW”
–DONN PLATT
ONE ENGLISHMAN
LABELED HIS
APPEARANCE
“GROTESQUE.”

9. Lincoln was also noted as having a high and squeaky speaking
voice with a strong Kentucky accent.
This recording is an example of the Kentucky accent.

10. Lincoln was also noted as having a high and squeaky speaking
voice with a strong Kentucky accent.
This recording is an example of the Kentucky accent.

11. “
When Lincoln rose to speak, I
was greatly disappointed. He
was tall, tall-–oh, how tall!
and so angular and awkward
that I had, for an instant, a
feeling of pity for so ungainly
a man. He began in a low
tone of voice, as if he were
used to speaking out of doors
and was afraid of speaking
too loud...
An Eyewitness Account of Lincoln’s Cooper Union Address

12. “
[But pretty soon] his face
lighted up as with an inward
fire; the whole man was
transfigured. I forgot his
clothes, his personal
appearance, and his individual
peculiarities. Presently,
forgetting myself, I was on my
feet like the rest, yelling like a
wild Indian, cheering this
wonderful man...
An Eyewitness Account of Lincoln’s Cooper Union Address

13. “
In the close parts of his argument
you could hear the gentle sizzling
of the gas burners. When he
reached a climax the thunders of
applause were terrific. It was a
great speech. When I came out of
the hall my face was glowing with
excitement and my frame all a-
quiver. A friend, with his eyes
aglow asked me what I thought of
‘Abe’ Lincoln, the rail-splitter. I
said, ‘He’s the greatest man since
St. Paul.’
An Eyewitness Account of Lincoln’s Cooper Union Address

14. Gettysburg:
Edward Everett

15. Gettysburg:
Edward Everett
• Edward Everett, one of the
premiere orators of the age, was
the keynote speaker at
Gettysburg.

16. Gettysburg:
Edward Everett
• Edward Everett, one of the
premiere orators of the age, was
the keynote speaker at
Gettysburg.
• He spoke for over two hours in
the typical rhetorical style of the
day.

17. Gettysburg:
“
Edward Everett
Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these
broad fields now reposing from the labors of the
waning year, the mighty Alleghenies dimly towering
before us, the graves of our brethren beneath our
feet, it is with hesitation that I raise my poor voice to
break the eloquent silence of God and Nature. But
the duty to which you have called me must be
performed; — grant me, I pray you, your
indulgence and your sympathy...
–Everett’s introduction to his two hour speech at Gettysburg

18. Lincoln at Gettysburg
Lincoln spoke for under three minutes––so short a time
the photographer only managed this one exposure.

19. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address,
read by Sam Waterston

21. Lincoln’s Style

22. Lincoln’s Style
Self-written and
meticulously self-researched

23. Lincoln’s Style
Self-written and
meticulously self-researched
Total absence of
metaphorical embroidery

24. Lincoln’s Style
Self-written and
meticulously self-researched
Total absence of
metaphorical embroidery
Lack of “pyrotechnics”
typical of stump speakers

25. Lincoln’s Style
Self-written and
meticulously self-researched
Total absence of
metaphorical embroidery
Lack of “pyrotechnics”
typical of stump speakers
Short, simple, and geared
toward accuracy

26. Excerpt from Lincoln’s
“
Second Inaugural Address
Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or
the duration which it has already attained. Neither
anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease
with or even before the conflict itself should cease.
Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less
fundamental and astounding. Both read the same
Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes
His aid against the other. It may seem strange that
any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in
wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's
faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged...

27. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of
“
neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has
His own purposes. quot;Woe unto the world because of
offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but
woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.quot; If we
shall suppose that American slavery is one of those
offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs
come, but which, having continued through His
appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He
gives to both North and South this terrible war as the
woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we
discern therein any departure from those divine
attributes which the believers in a living God always
ascribe to Him?

28. “
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this
mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if
God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by
the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of
unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of
blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another
drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand
years ago, so still it must be said quot;the judgments of
the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

29. “
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with
firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up
the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have
borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to
do all which may achieve and cherish a just and
lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

30. 1933
The Great Depression
Hoover Roosevelt

31. The Little Remembered
Hoover
Contrary to popular
remembrance, Hoover was:

32. The Little Remembered
Hoover
Contrary to popular
remembrance, Hoover was:
A remarkable entrepreneur

33. The Little Remembered
Hoover
Contrary to popular
remembrance, Hoover was:
A remarkable entrepreneur
A humanitarian

34. The Little Remembered
Hoover
Contrary to popular
remembrance, Hoover was:
A remarkable entrepreneur
A humanitarian
Highly popular before the
economic collapse

35. The Little Remembered
Hoover
Contrary to popular
remembrance, Hoover was:
A remarkable entrepreneur
A humanitarian
Highly popular before the
economic collapse
An innovative problem solver

36. The Speaking Style of
Hoover

37. The Speaking Style of
Hoover
Terrible speech writer

38. The Speaking Style of
Hoover
Terrible speech writer
Halting style and technical
language

39. The Speaking Style of
Hoover
Terrible speech writer
Halting style and technical
language
Monotone voice

40. The Speaking Style of
Hoover
Terrible speech writer
Halting style and technical
language
Monotone voice
Flopped on emerging
technologies like radio & film

41. The Speaking Style of
Hoover
Terrible speech writer
Halting style and technical
language
Monotone voice
Flopped on emerging
technologies like radio & film
Failed to express sympathy
or explain the crisis in simple
terms

42. Herbert Hoover speaking on
Washington’s legislative efforts during the crisis

44. Herbert Hoover urging Americans
to the polls on Election Day

46. Compare this to Roosevelt’s first
radio “fireside chat” on March 13, 1933, during a
banking crisis caused by collapsing public
confidence...

48. FDR
The Fireside Chats of

49. FDR
The Fireside Chats of
“Fireside chats” leveraged
radio, allowing him to speak
personally with Americans

50. FDR
The Fireside Chats of
“Fireside chats” leveraged
radio, allowing him to speak
personally with Americans
He gave thirty of these radio
broadcasts during his three
terms as president

51. FDR
The Fireside Chats of
“Fireside chats” leveraged
radio, allowing him to speak
personally with Americans
He gave thirty of these radio
broadcasts during his three
terms as president
They often began, “Good
evening, friends...”

52. FDR
The Fireside Chats of
“
...I never saw him––
But I knew him. Can you have forgotten
How, with his voice, he came into our house,
The President of the United States,
Calling us friends…”
–Carl Lamson Carmer
American Poet

53. FDR
The Personal Appeal of
“
Franklin Roosevelt was nothing if he was not
attractive: big, handsome, genial, gregarious,
outgoing, always grinning, always on the move.
Compared to the aloof and dour Hoover, Roosevelt
seemed like a breath of fresh air; he was so robust, so
vital, so confident and optimistic, so warm and
lighthearted, so utterly charming.
–Buhite & Levy
Authors of FDR’s Fireside Chats

54. FDR
The Speaking Style of

55. FDR
The Speaking Style of
Simple explanations but not
condescending

56. FDR
The Speaking Style of
Simple explanations but not
condescending
Encouraging, even flattering

57. FDR
The Speaking Style of
Simple explanations but not
condescending
Encouraging, even flattering
Relentlessly positive

58. FDR
The Speaking Style of
Simple explanations but not
condescending
Encouraging, even flattering
Relentlessly positive
Strong clear voice with good
inflection

59. FDR
The Speaking Style of
Simple explanations but not
condescending
Encouraging, even flattering
Relentlessly positive
Strong clear voice with good
inflection
Conversational language

60. Roosevelt’s speech to Congress, one day after the
unprovoked Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
December 8, 1941

62. bush
in the wake of 9/11

63. bush
in the wake of 9/11
Pre-9/11 his popularity was
at its lowest point since
taking office

64. bush
in the wake of 9/11
Pre-9/11 his popularity was
at its lowest point since
taking office
Following his speeches on
9/11 and at Ground Zero
days later, he had a 90%
approval rating

65. bush
in the wake of 9/11
Pre-9/11 his popularity was
at its lowest point since
taking office
Following his speeches on
9/11 and at Ground Zero
days later, he had a 90%
approval rating
His ratings diminished, but
stayed high for the next
several years

66. George W. Bush’s speech following the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001

68. George W. Bush at Ground Zero
September 14, 2001

70. The Speaking Style of
REAGAN
Referred to as “The Chief
Comforter” and “The Great
Communicator.”
Encouraged and comforted
the public in his speeches
Spoke glowingly of America
as the greatest force for good
in the world

71. Reagan’s speech regarding Communism’s “evil
empire,” given at a meeting of the
National Association of Evangelicals.
At this time, his approval rating was
at an all-time low of 35%.
March 8, 1983

73. Reagan’s speech at the Berlin Wall
Brandenburg Gate
June 12, 1987.

75. Thank you!