Vital Speeches of the Day
Vital Speeches of the Day is a monthly magazine that presents speeches and other public addresses in full.Overview
Vital Speeches was established in New York City in 1934 by Thomas Daly, whose grandson Thomas Daly III moved publication to South Carolina in 1986. It is published by Pro Rhetoric, LLC.
The magazine first appeared in October 8, 1934 and its first issue included speeches by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Nobel Peace Prize winner Nicholas Murray Butler, David Lawrence, the legal expert Ferdinand Pecora, and economist and eugenicist Irving Fisher. As of 1995, the magazine had published speeches by every president since Roosevelt, although the publication avoided campaign speeches. Its editor, Thomas Daly IV, said of such speeches, "A lot of that is hot air."
According to their policy statement:
The periodical is included in various guides to reference works. These guides typically describe Vital Speeches in politically neutral terms, as when Guide to Reference Materials offered this summary: "Each semimonthly issue contains the full text of some 12 to 15 addresses on public issues delivered by important figures. The editors attempt to select speeches pertaining to all sides of controversial issues."
In January 2009, the magazine launched Vital Speeches International which compiles English-language texts from outside the United States.
