DESCRIPTION:
I am performing project number 5 in the Toastmasters interpretive reading manual, which is called "The Oratorical Speech." Basically, it entails giving a speech that was given before, while retaining the flavor of the original. Many people choose Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, for example. I chose this particular speech because of its current relevance, (even 111 years after it was given,) but also because I'm fascinated by the early 1900s, which was when TR was president.

On March 4, 1905, TR gave this as his only inaugural address because on his first term, (beginning in 1901,) he was filling in for the assassinated William McKinley. I find this speech to be a brilliant example of political oration because of how it expresses a need for the people to be likewise involved in the future of America, and how it appeals to the most basic want or need this country can have: a bright and prosperous existence.