"It wasn't the greatest speech in the world," Hunt says. "Most people didn't realize that they had heard one of the most important policy speeches that had been delivered at any commencement in American history."
A Legacy Of Influence
It was not the first time the Commencement speech had touched on national and international issues. The soapbox provided by the annual festivities has often inspired speeches reflective of the critical issues of the time.
In 1919, Henry Cabot Lodge, Class of 1861, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, echoed the prevalent nationalism of the day.
"Be Americans first, Americans last, Americans always," he said. "From that firm foundation you can march on. Abandon it and chaos will come as when the civilization of Rome crashed down in irremediable ruin."
And in his 1929 address--given before he became president of the United States--Franklin D. Roosevelt, Class of 1904, urged students to participate in government.
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