At last, Obama is elected the next President of America. Great!
A person with such background becoming president indicates the inner strength of American society – its power and commitment to take up the responsibility to react to the changing global world and expectations of the world. Didn’t this moment create a sense of envy in us? In every corner of the world, people are talking about it with excitement and emotion. I am also one of those who felt that this election was a great historic event which proved the inner strength of America. Japan, on the other hand, though economically ranking 2nd in the world, can not “change” in the least. Comparison is easy, isn’t it?
Even in U.S., he is called an “orator” (great public speaker). Some people say that he is such a presidential candidate ever since JFK. Of course, great speech is not all. He is also surrounded by brilliant people and supporters, started with the civil activities and overcame many adverse circumstances. This indicates inner strength. He is not a common person. I think people who have never experienced “adversity” in their life can not cope with any “disastrous situation” that might happen in the future. It is as mentioned in the book ‘Yubi ippon no shunen ga syoubu wo kimeru (Obsession of one finger decides the game)’ written by Mr.Tayama Kazuhiko. There is hardly any exception if you examine history.
For the process and significance of messages of leaders, collection of speeches of “JFK” and “Winston Churchill” are good references.
Ted Sorenson, author of the former book ‘Let the Word Go Forth,’ (Whom I unexpectedly met last year) was a speech writer of JFK at the age of 31. His “Foreword” of the book is excellent. We can learn much from it about the ideas, significance, and background of speeches by JFK, the incomparable politician. I recommend this book to you as a good reference.
The latter is “Never Give In” authored by a grandchild of Churchill, whose name is same i.e. Winston Churchill (just the middlename is different). This book is also helpful to understand the speeches of politicians, their thoughts, drafts, and style of communication to people.
After reading these books, one will think that top politicians are too much “at ease” in a closed country like Japan. Like it or not Japan cannot survive in the world all by itself. I must say that Japan has no such competent, substantial speeches of a “Leader” with the strength to inspire citizens so far. At any rate, it is hardly possible to win confidence as a politician if a speech means merely reading a draft given from government officers. Today in this Global era, even if you speak in Japanese, what you have said will be known throughout the world in no time. And as those spoken words spread, they will eventually create trust on politicians and ultimately trust upon a nation. Nevertheless, same can be said for the business leaders, scholars and government officials as well. And all of them put together will sum up to what you would call “Dignity” or “the Style” of the nation.