Presidents can inspire, exhort, and lift their fellow citizens to new levels of hope and moral purpose. Presidents have with varying degrees of success presented visions that helped many citizens transcend the despair of economic depression, the horrors of war, or the brutality of racial violence. Presidents have used their powerful tools of persuasion to sell themselves and their personal interests. Presidential words can inspire, inform, and lead, or discourage, confuse, and deceive. This volume includes 36 presidential speeches written over the last half century. Some try to inspire and to exhort moral messages, others attempt to confront problems and promote fresh views, provoke thought, and create national dialogue. Each speech is preceded by brief editorial introduction and a few questions to guide the reader. Following each speech are some hard data--facts that the President may have had in mind as he drafted his text or developments that came in the wake of his words. A variety of graphics present data--charts, graphs, statistical tables. This material is designed to help the student connect the Presidents' words with the realities of their historical context. (BZ)