Vital Speeches was established in New York City in 1934 by Thomas Daly, whose grandson, Thomas Daly III, moved publication to
South Carolina in 1986. It is published by Pro Rhetoric, LLC. The magazine first appeared on October 8, 1934, and its first issue included speeches by
US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
Nobel Peace Prize winner
Nicholas Murray Butler,
David Lawrence, the legal expert
Ferdinand Pecora and the
economist and
eugenicist Irving Fisher. Until 1995, the magazine had published speeches by every president since Roosevelt, although the publication avoided political campaign speeches. Its editor, Thomas Daly IV, said of such speeches, "A lot of that is hot air." The periodical is included in various guides to reference works. These guides typically describe it in politically neutral terms, as when
Guide to Reference Materials summarised it as "Each semimonthly issue contains the full text of some 12 to 15 addresses on public issues delivered by important figures. The editors attempt to select speeches pertaining to all sides of controversial issues." In January 2009, the magazine launched
Vital Speeches International which compiles English-language texts from outside the United States. == References ==