On February 19, 2026, CBC Radio Noon asked listeners a simple question: Which political speeches have stayed with you?
It’s an interesting question, because most political speeches don’t stay with us at all. We hear them, nod along or roll our eyes, and move on. But once in a while, a speech feels different, not because it’s poetic or clever, but because it speaks directly to the moment people are living through.
A few speeches have stayed with me. They’re very different from one another, but each one arrived at a point where uncertainty was in the air, and reassurance actually mattered.
Kennedy in Berlin: Saying the One Thing That Needed to Be Said
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy stood in West Berlin and declared, “Ich bin ein Berliner.”
West Berlin at the time wasn’t just another city. It was surrounded by Communist East Germany and cut off from the rest of the country. The Berlin Wall had gone up two years earlier, and fear of abandonment was part of everyday life.
Kennedy’s speech mattered because it left no room for doubt. He told the people of West Berlin that the United States would not abandon them and that their freedom mattered to the rest of the West.
When he said, “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin,” people understood what was at stake.
That’s why the speech still holds weight decades later. It wasn’t long, and it wasn’t complicated; it was clear.
Donald Trump in New Hampshire: Being There Changed Everything
Another speech that had a lasting impact on me happened much later, and in a completely different setting.
Before his first presidential campaign, Donald Trump gave a speech at a rally in New Hampshire. It was early in the campaign. He introduced himself, discussed his goals, and spoke openly about his wife, children, and grandchildren.
I was there in the stadium.
And being there changed how I heard it. The energy in the room was obvious. People reacted to confidence, not to scripted lines.
You don’t have to agree with Trump to see why that moment mattered.
I left that night convinced.
Marco Rubio in Munich: A Civilizational Reminder
A more recent speech that impressed me was delivered by Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference, just days after Mark Carney spoke at the same forum.
His message to Europe was straightforward and overdue. The United States is not abandoning its allies, but the partnership has to work both ways.
What stood out to me was how far back he went. He talked about World War II, the Cold War, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. He made the point that Western civilization survived the twentieth century because people were willing to defend it, not just militarily, but culturally and politically.
He went straight to the hard topics. Factories disappearing. Borders not being enforced. Letting other countries take over key industries. He talked about today’s threats, from Islamist extremism to China and Putin, as part of a much longer story, not a series of isolated emergencies.
The reaction in the room said a lot. People seemed relieved. It felt like an honest conversation, not a lecture.
Why These Speeches Stay
These speeches stay with me for different reasons, but they have one thing in common. They came at the right moment.
Kennedy told a vulnerable city it would not be abandoned. Trump spoke to voters who felt things were going in the wrong direction and weren’t getting better. Rubio reminded allies that nothing lasts on its own and that it takes effort to hold things together.
Most political speeches fade because they don’t say very much. They’re careful and forgettable. The ones that last are the ones that actually say something when it matters.
That’s why we remember them.