American Rhetoric: Movie Speech

"All the King's Men" (1949)

Newly Elected Governor Willie Stark Addresses His Supporters

Audio mp3 delivered by Broderick Crawford

This is not a time for speechmaking. I should get on my knees and ask God to give me strength to carry out your will.

This much I swear to you -- these things you shall have: I'm going to build a hospital, the biggest that money can buy, and it will belong to you. And any man, woman, or child who is sick or in pain can go through those doors and know that everything will be done for them that man can do: to heal sickness, to ease pain. Free! Not as a charity, but as a right.

And it is your right. Do you hear me? It is your right.

And it is your right that every child should have a complete education; that any man who produces anything can take it to market without paying toll. And no poor man's land or farm can be taxed or taken away from him.

And it is the right of the people that they shall not be deprived of hope.