All We Say

A vital account of fifteen speeches and orators—from Benjamin Franklin to Barack Obama—that tells the story of the United States as a battle over what it means to be an American, from a New York Times bestselling author and former presidential speechwriter.

What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide?

This sweeping history of the United States through fifteen key speeches relives the battle for American identity—from a New York Times bestselling author and one of President Obama's former speechwriters.

For 250 years, America has debated what it means to be American. The question shaped the compromises in their constitution and the arguments they've had ever since, spawning abolitionism, secession and civil war, populism, mass migration and global leadership, movements for reform and the backlashes to them. All We Say tells the story of the United States through fifteen speeches—some iconic, others long forgotten, all pivotal—from its founding to the intense divisions of our times.

Through riveting and beautifully rendered accounts of the people, movements and moments that produced these speeches, Rhodes traces the history of America's battle over identity. The result is a singular and revealing portrait of the United States—a nation divided between two stories—one of inheritance, power, and exclusion, the other of equality, striving, and belonging.

Drawing on a decade of writing for Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes also reveals how words can redirect a nation, what makes a speech enduring, and why oratory is a unique form of persuasion in a democracy.

From Benjamin Franklin's call for compromise at the Constitutional Convention to Alexander Stephens' case for white supremacy as the cornerstone of the Confederacy, from Martin Luther King's dream of true equality to Donald Trump's rallying cry against democracy itself, these speeches remind us that history is a living argument. At a time when American identity—and truth—is contested, All We Say offers a fresh and powerful look at who America really is, and who it could still become.