John F. Kennedy

American University, June 10, 1963, "A Strategy of Peace" Eight months after the Cuban Missile Crisis, John F. Kennedy asked graduates to rethink their own attitude toward the Soviet Union rather than simply blame it. He announced talks toward a test ban treaty and a halt to American atmospheric nuclear tests, and the Partial Test Ban Treaty followed within months. The line people remember, "we all inhabit this small planet," lands because it comes after careful argument, not instead of it. It is the best example here of a speech that asks listeners to change their minds about an opponent.