Abstract/Summary

This contribution provides an overview over major changes in the political rhetoric of the USA and Great Britain during the Twentieth Century, with an exemplary focus on speeches by American Presidents and British Prime Ministers. Processes of mediatisation, profession-alisation and popularisation of political speeches as discussed in the secondary literature will be traced along examples of early (Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill) and late (Ronald Reagan and Tony Blair) Twentieth Century political speeches. While the discus-sion and analyses of samples will focus on changes affecting political rhetoric, there will also be an appreciation of the continuing central role of speeches for political action and within political communication.