In honor of President Obama's upcoming inauguration, the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound would like to present a compilation of historic presidential speeches selected from our collections.

The list consists of commercial and archival recordings which contain campaign, election, inaugural, resignation, congressional speeches, radio broadcasts, and various other important presidential profiles which address historic and cultural milestones in American history. 

Highlights include:

An early Thomas Edison recording of Theodore Roosevelt

The first presidential campaign recordings featuring William H. Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 and 1912

The edited conversations of filmmaker Ben Gradus and Harry S. Truman originally from the 1962 television series Decision: The Conflicts of Harry S. Truman

J.F.K's presidential congratulations to John Glenn

The "Checkers" and resignation speeches of Richard Nixon

Download the complete list of historic presidential recordings [PDF]

See also:

• A.F.R. Lawrence collection of historical spoken word [sound recording], 1900-1970
• Lawrence and Lee collection of broadcast recordings, 1942-1966