The overthrow of Jacobo Árbenz by Julio David Menchú for Historia GT
Speech:

Resignation Speech

Speaker:

Jacobo Árbenz

1941 - 1960 / Labor Justice and National Security
Born on September 14, 1913, in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán grew up in a society marked by economic and social inequalities. The son of a Swiss-German pharmacist and a Guatemalan schoolteacher, Árbenz grew up in a country shaped by deep divisions in wealth and political power.  Read more.
José Basulto in a color photo, reading in a photo in front of a microphone and sign that reads, "Asesinados!"
Speech:

United Nations Press Statement on the 1996 Opa-Locka Shootdown

Speaker:

José Basulto

1981 - 2000 / National Security and Social Justice
A Cuban-born humanitarian, José Jesús Basulto León was known for his continual fight to restore democracy in Cuba and his passion for saving and preserving the lives of Cuban exiles. Basulto was born in Santiago de Cuba Oriente on August 8, 1940 to parents José and Lidia Basulto. When Basulto was two, his family moved to Havana to be closer to the American sugarcane company where his father worked. Shortly after, his mother passed away.[note]Gonzalo Porcel, “IPH Transcript – Jose Basulto (7/5/1999),” Oral History Collections, Institute of Public History, University of Miami, Miami, FL.[/note] He lived a full and happy childhood in Havana, and developed an interest in math and physics. In 1959, Basulto moved to the United States right after Fidel Castro’s revolution successfully overthrew the Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. He was able to study physics at Boston College for almost a year before the trajectory of his life changed completely.[note]Julio Estorino and José Gastón, “Interview with José Basulto (1/8/2009),” Luis J. Botifoll Oral History Project, University of Miami Digital Collections, University of Miami, Miami, FL.[/note] Basulto’s family had come to understand and even fear the outcome of the Cuban revolution. During his first year at Boston College, Basulto decided to take action against the Castro regime. In 1960, he went back to Cuba, and was recruited by the U.S. intelligence community to participate in what eventually became the Bay of Pigs invasion that occurred in April of 1961.[note]Bill Kress, “‘Brothers to the Rescue’ Leader Honored by South Miami Commission with Street-Sign Dedication,” South Miami Community News, January 10, 2018, https://communitynewspapers.com/south-miami-featured/brothers-to-the-rescue-leader-honored-by-south-miami-commission-at-street-sign-dedication/.[/note] In preparation for this mission, Basulto trained for several months in the island of Useppa to be a radio operator. He then received advanced training in Panama, Guatemala, and in Virginia at a CIA base to prepare for the U.S.-backed confrontations against Cuba. When he re-entered Cuba, he was disguised as a Boston College dropout returning home to study in Oriente. Once there, he began sending information back to the U.S. government about internal Cuban affairs.[note]“Jose Basulto, Cuban Exile and Bay of Pigs Veteran,” 2010 Sunday Miami Book Fair International Live Coverage, C-Span, November 21, 2010, https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4960024/jose-basulto-cuban-exile-bay-pigs-veteran.[/note] Basulto also worked with the CIA to set up a “resistance network” in Cuba to try to “tap into a surging sentiment for freedom” amongst the Cuban people.[note]Bill Newcott, “After 60 Years, Bay of Pigs Disaster Still Haunts Veterans Who Fought,” National Geographic, April 16, 2021, www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/bay-of-pigs-disaster-still-haunts-veterans-who-faught-60th-anniversary?loggedin=true&rnd=1688571260910.[/note] As Basulto carried out other intelligence missions in Cuba, he came to realize the lack of humanitarian care the U.S. government expressed towards the Cuban people in the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs offensive. In November of 1961, Basulto and the rest of his team entered Havana in an attempt to locate and destroy a missile base where the team would have died had not a U.S. gunboat rescued them. During this period, Basulto became convinced “there was no serious purpose on the part of the Government of the United States to assist the freedom fighting people of Cuba.”[note] Porcel, “IPH Transcript – Jose Basulto.”[/note] Basulto’s epiphany would shape the rest of his life. Basulto went on to develop his career and his commitment to the Cuban people. He pursued an engineering degree at the University of Miami and developed his skills as a pilot. He also settled down in the Miami area with his wife and five children.[note]Porcel, “IPH Transcript – Jose Basulto.”[/note] And of most importance to unit, Basulto pursued his activist work by supporting Cuban exiles. In 1991, Basulto and his long-time friend, Billy Schultz, took the lead on launching the humanitarian organization, “Brothers to the Rescue” (or “Hermanos al Rescate”) in Miami, Florida. Both felt more U.S. aid was needed to help Cuban rafters make it safely to the banks of the Florida coast. Basulto and Schultz decided that they would fly planes to locate Cuban rafters, contact the Coast Guard, and drop life-saving supplies to those fleeing Cuba.[note]Robert C. Jones Jr., “Cuban Heritage Collection Acquires Brothers to the Rescue Archives,” News@TheU, January 10, 2014, news.miami.edu/stories/2014/01/cuban-heritage-collection-acquires-brothers-to-the-rescue-archives.html.[/note] Over time, Basulto recruited an entire team of pilots and volunteers who would tag-team flights; the pilots could fly through international air space while the co-pilot scouted the horizon for refugees. Along with preserving the lives of those trying to make it to the United States, Basulto and his fellow pilots used nonviolent means inspired by Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. to encourage civil disobedience in Cuba.[note]Mireya Navarro, “Nonviolence of Castro’s Foes Still Wears a Very Tough Face,” New York Times, February 28, 1996, www.nytimes.com/1996/02/28/world/nonviolence-of-castro-s-foes-still-wears-a-very-tough-face.html.[/note] During his flights over Cuban air space, Basulto and his colleagues dropped leaflets printed in Spanish with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with various democratic calls-to-action.[note]“Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” United Nations, December 10, 1948, https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.[/note] Such leaflets would find their way into Havana, greatly upsetting Castro’s administration and his supporters.[note]After Basulto’s speech, there was a question and answer portion. While we did not include the Q&A in our speech text, this note is credited to page 5 of the Q&A located at the end of the Basulto text found in the Cuban Heritage Papers at the University of Miami archives. See: José Basulto, “United Nations Press Statement on the 1996 Opa-Locka Shootdown,” 5.[/note] The speech featured in this unit marks one of the most climactic moments involving Brothers to the Rescue (BttR). On February 24, 1996, three Brothers to the Rescue planes set off from Opa Locka airport on a routine flyover to the Florida Straits. Basulto was in one plane and the other two planes carried two pilots and two volunteers split between them, including: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, and Mario de la Peña. As they entered the 24th parallel, two Cuban MiG planes shot down the two planes carrying Alejandre, Costa, Morales, and Peña. Basulto made it back to Opa Locka airport safely but the other four were killed.[note]José Basulto,1st Dossier 6th Month Superseded Binder, Box 41 (13), Shootdown FOIA Dossier, Hermanos al Rescate Papers, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 2-3.[/note] On March 7, 1996, Basulto, Armando Alejandre’s father, and Mario de la Peña’s mother were invited to speak at a United Nations press conference in New York to detail what would become an international incident with criminal implications.[note] We assume that this speech was given at the United Nations headquarters in New York, although we have not been able to confirm this information.[/note] Basulto, already frustrated with the lack of U.S. intervention, called for Cuba to be held accountable for the unprovoked attack on Americans.[note]Basulto, “United Nations Press Statement on the 1996 Opa-Locka Shootdown,” para. 5.[/note] The downing attracted press attention for weeks as the international incident was debated and investigated.[note]Rene Sanchez and Catherine Skipp, “Two Exile Planes Shot Down Near Cuba,” Washington Post, February 25, 1996, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/02/25/two-exile-planes-shot-down-near-cuba/f5c76c05-677b-4f55-9a62-67873660d992/.[/note] In response, the Cuban government claimed the attack was provoked. The Castro regime justified its actions on allegations that the planes were armed and intended to drop bombs across Cuba. Government officials also treated the BttR’s leaflets dropped into Cuban waters as “propaganda” and a threat to Cuban leaders and citizens.[note]John Ward Anderson, “Cuba Says It Has Proof U.S. Planes Crossed Line,” Washington Post, February 27, 1996, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/02/27/cuba-says-it-has-proof-us-planes-crossed-line/fef7a635-1024-417a-b472-4dff5daffedd/.[/note] This information reportedly came from Cuban double-agent Juan Pablo Roque, who pretended to work for Brothers to the Rescue while spying on them for the FBI and sending information back to the Cuban government.[note]Roque, who had left for Cuba the day before the shooting occurred, claimed that BttR engaged in “terrorist” actions – one of those being a plan to assassinate Cuban leaders. Roque also claimed that the BttR pilots left for a flight on the 24th of February knowing that they weren’t allowed to enter Cuban airspace. See: Tracy Eaton, “Retired Spy in Brothers to the Rescue Case Lives in Obscurity,” Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, October 2, 2012, fcir.org/2012/10/02/retired-spy-in-brothers-to-the-rescue-case-lives-in-obscurity/.; “Cuba/Roque Interview,” Box 41 (13), Shootdown FOIA Dossier, Shootdown: Roque Interview Folder, Hermanos al Rescate Papers, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 1-3.[/note] Basulto later learned that the U.S. Department of State purportedly received word through their intelligence sources that the Cuban government would likely engage in hostility toward any planes that entered Cuban airspace.[note]Basulto, 1st Dossier 6th Month Superseded, 1.[/note] In spite of this alleged forewarning, Brothers to the Rescue pilots were not alerted of the dangers and were not prevented from taking off. Though the Clinton administration condemned the Cuban government’s actions, Basulto’s pilot license was revoked by the FAA. The FAA maintained that Basulto “ignored numerous warnings” issued by both the FAA and U.S. Department of State. Brothers to the Rescue disbanded shortly thereafter.[note]William Branigin, “FAA Revokes Cuban Exile’s Pilot’s Permit,” Washington Post, May 17, 1996, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/05/17/faa-revokes-cuban-exiles-pilots-permit/3f06af2e-0c1c-449d-a6db-405d4724e4e8/.[/note] José Basulto dedicated the next several years of his life to the well-being of Cubans in South Florida. He helped write a book named after his plane, Seagull One, to preserve his story and the history of Brothers to the Rescue. He actively attends ceremonies that keep the memory of the deceased pilots alive and commemorates their bravery in trying to help Cuban refugees seek greater freedom.[note]Kress, “‘Brothers to the Rescue’ Leader Honored by South Miami Commission with Street-Sign Dedication.”[/note] As of this writing, Basulto is still alive today and living in Miami.  Read more.
Director F. H. LaGuardia (center) and Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Assistant Director of the O.C.D. (left) with James M. Landis (right); Black and white photo of the three of them talking at a desk in between two flags
Speech:

Testimony of Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Assistant Director, Office of Civilian Defense

Speaker:

Eleanor Roosevelt

1941 - 1960 / Civil Rights and National Security
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884, in New York City to the wealthy Roosevelt family. After attending secondary school, she became involved with social reform work for the first time at age 18 by teaching children who were part of poorer, immigrant communities and working with the National Consumers League to end dangerous working conditions in factories.[note]Eleanor Roosevelt, The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt (New York: Harper Perennial, 2014), 39-40.[/note] When Roosevelt was 20, she married Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a distant cousin. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, she volunteered with the American Red Cross.[note]Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, 91.[/note] After the war, Roosevelt worked with activist organizations, taught at a private girls’ school, founded a non-profit furniture factory, and helped her husband return to politics after he was paralyzed by polio in 1921. She used her influence within the New York State Democratic Party and campaigned throughout the state to help Franklin become governor of New York in 1928.[note]Betty Caroli, First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 192-193.[/note] Eleanor Roosevelt became First Lady of the United States after Franklin was sworn in as president in 1933. She served in the position until Franklin’s death in 1945. Although originally reluctant to be First Lady,[note]Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, 163.[/note] Roosevelt soon transformed the position from a ceremonial, hostess-type role to one more involved in policy.[note]Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, 173-184.[/note] As First Lady, Roosevelt championed the rights of the poor and the disadvantaged. She advocated for civil rights, women’s rights, and for migrants and refugees. She traveled frequently around the country to inspect Great Depression living conditions and New Deal relief projects. She was often referred to as the President’s eyes, ears and legs, and “sometimes even his conscience.”[note]Geoffrey C. Ward, “First Among First Ladies,” New York Times, June 13, 1982, https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/13/books/first-among-first-ladies.html.[/note] In 1933, she was the first First Lady to hold her own press conference,[note]Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, 171.[/note] allowing only women journalists, typically barred from press conferences, to attend.[note]Shawn J. Parry-Giles and Diane M. Blair, “The Rise of the Rhetorical First Lady: Politics, Gender Ideology, and Women's Voice, 1789-2002,” Rhetoric and Public Affairs 5, no. 4 (2002): 582.[/note] She was also the first First Lady to write a syndicated daily column, entitled “My Day,” and host a weekly radio show where she recounted her activities and shared her political views.[note]Robert P. Watson, First Ladies of the United States: A Biographical Dictionary (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002), 221-222.[/note] Roosevelt was also the first First Lady to receive a federal appointment, to address a national convention, and to testify before Congress.[note]Stephen Smith, “The Roosevelts as a Political Team,” APM Reports (Minnesota Public Radio, August 26, 2020), https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2014/11/12/the-roosevelts-as-a-political-team.[/note] She did so twice, in 1940 and 1942, both times to advocate for improved conditions for migrant populations.[note]Parry-Giles and Blair, “The Rise of the Rhetorical First Lady,” 579.[/note] During World War II, Roosevelt served as the Assistant Director of Civilian Defense.[note]Matthew Dallek, Defenseless Under the Night: The Roosevelt Years and the Origins of Homeland Security (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), 4.[/note] The Office of Civilian Defense was established by Executive Order on May 20, 1941. Although FDR declared the country’s neutrality in the war during 1939, he also emphasized the need to strengthen the country’s national defense because of threats to American cities from the Japanese and the Germans. He accordingly directed the OCD to coordinate defense activities between federal, state, and local governments via nine regional offices. It aimed to to protect American life and property, as well as to recruit and train auxiliary teams of volunteers in the case of emergency.[note]“Records of the Office of Civilian Defense,” The National Archives and Records Administration, August 15, 2016, https://www.archives.gov/riverside/finding-aids/rg171-civilian-defense.html.[/note] First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt expanded the OCD’s mission to focus on improving social conditions by expanding citizen participation among women and African Americans in particular. Director Fiorella LaGuardia put First Lady Roosevelt in charge of such social outreach, after FDR appointed her as assistant director in September of 1941, because he considered this work to be “sissy stuff.”[note]Donald A. Ritchie, “Office of Civilian Defense,” in The Eleanor Roosevelt Encyclopedia (Westport, CT: ABC-CLIO, 2001), 387-388.[/note] After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the OCD took on renewed importance.[note]Ritchie, The Eleanor Roosevelt Encyclopedia, 388.[/note] On the day after the attacks, Roosevelt flew to the West Coast to oversee civilian defense preparations and reassure the public, taking the “unpopular stand of calling for tolerance toward Japanese Americans and the maintenance of civil liberties during wartime.”[note]Ritchie, The Eleanor Roosevelt Encyclopedia, 389.[/note] Eleanor Roosevelt testified before Congress in her capacity as Assistant Director before the Select Committee Investigating National Defense Migration on January 14, 1942. The Committee was chaired by Representative John H. Tolan of California and sought to analyze the interstate movement of people looking for employment due to the Great Depression. It evaluated the problems faced by migrants as they moved from the Dust Bowl to the West. By 1941, the OCD had changed its scope to focus on the war and the workers moving across the country to military production jobs.[note]National Archives and Records Service, “Records of the Select Committee of the House of Representatives Investigating National Defense Migration, 1940-43,” National Archives Preliminary Inventories 71 (1954).[/note] These specific Washington hearings related to the “maintenance of civilian morale,” and Roosevelt spoke of the workings and structure of the civilian defense office, with a particular emphasis on the problems faced by migrant workers and minorities.[note]National Defense Migration: Pursuant to H. Res. 113, Hearings before the Select Committee Investigating National Defense Migration, 77th Cong., 2nd sess., 9766 (1942) (statement of Eleanor Roosevelt, Assistant Director, Office of Civilian Defense).[/note] Press coverage of Roosevelt’s testimony at the time emphasized her focus on meeting human needs and her advocacy for greater opportunities for minority groups “in the defense of the country.”[note]“Conferees Return OCD to La Guardia,” New York Times, January 15, 1942.[/note] Chairman Tolan also referred to her as “Migrant No.1” due to her work on behalf of migrant populations.[note]“Refers to First Lady As Our ‘Migrant No. 1,” New York Times, January 15, 1942.[/note] In February of 1942, after just five months in the position, Roosevelt chose to resign.[note]Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, 230-231.[/note] She reportedly knew that a complete overhaul of the office was necessary and her involvement would only enhance the controversy that swirled about it. She described her time as Assistant Director as “one of the experiences she least regretted putting behind her.” She believed that as First Lady, she was not fairly judged on her own individual merits because her position made her an optimal target for FDR’s critics.[note]Ritchie, The Eleanor Roosevelt Encyclopedia, 388-390; Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, 226.[/note] The OCD was closed in 1945, with the end of WWII. Although its domestic drills and services were largely unnecessary, the office did create valuable civil defense measures that were later used during national disasters (such as sandbag stockpiling during hurricanes).[note]Homeland Security National Preparedness Task Force, "Civil Defense and Homeland Security: A Short History of National Preparedness Efforts," U.S. Department of Homeland Security, September 2006, http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/docs/DHS%20Civil%20Defense-HS%20-%20Short%20History.pdf.[/note] Following Franklin Roosevelt’s death in 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed by President Truman to the U.N. General Assembly, where she served as chair of the Human Rights Committee and helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[note]Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, 314.[/note] Eleanor Roosevelt died on November 7, 1962. She left behind a “great legacy,” with a simple goal of “dignity and decency for all.”[note]Blanche Wiesen Cook, "Woman of the Century: Eleanor Roosevelt's Biographer Assesses the Legacy of a First Lady Who Sought Justice for All,” The Woman’s Review of Books 17, no. 10/11 (2000): 22-23.[/note]  Read more.
Black and white photo of Samuel Gompers looking into the camera with glasses and a suit
Speech:

Speech by Samuel Gompers on World War I

Speaker:

Samuel Gompers

1900 - 1940 / Labor Justice and National Security
Samuel Gompers was a founding member and the first president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). He served as president of the AFL for nearly 40 years, beginning December 8, 1886 and ending when he died on December 13, 1924. Gompers is often regarded as one of the most important leaders in U.S. labor history.[note]His almost 40 year run as president was interrupted by a year-long absence from the position in 1895. Melvyn Dubofsky, “Were Gompers and the AFL Radical?,” Labor: Studies in Working Class History of the Americas 10 no. 4 (2013): 89-90, http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=7c592c4f-d550-46a9-ab10-eb3422a7c026%40pdc-v-sessmgr04&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=93299609&db=31h.[/note] Born to a Dutch-Jewish family in London, Gompers spent his early life working in his family’s cigar business and studying the Talmud. Facing economic hardships, his family immigrated to New York City when he was 13. Soon after his arrival, he became involved with a local debate club as well as labor unions representing cigar makers in the city.[note]Gerald Emanuel Stearn, Samuel Gompers:Great Lives Observed (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1971), 18-20.[/note] From his beginnings, Gompers would become the face of American labor activism, bargaining for higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions. Despite his support of socialist ideas early in his career, Gompers became an ardent opponent of socialism as he aged.[note]Dubofsky, “Were Gompers and the AFL Radical?,” 89-90.[/note] In one of his final essays, he told socialists that “economically, you are unsound; socially, you are wrong; industrially, you are an impossibility.”[note]U.S. Congress, Senate, Final Report and Testimony Submitted to Congress by the Commission on Industrial Relations, 64th Cong., 1st sess., S. Doc. 415, 2 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1916), 1526–1529.[/note] The majority of his efforts were focused on economic reforms, including wage increases and shorter working hours. Gompers also willingly cooperated with state and federal governments to further labor reforms. Gompers, for example, maintained a nearly decade-long correspondence with President Woodrow Wilson, where the two discussed political leaders and public policies.[note]Woodrow Wilson, Letter to Samuel Gompers, AFL Office of the President, Samuel Gompers and Woodrow Wilson Correspondence, August 8, 1917, 0029-LBR-RG1-013, Special Collections and University Archives, George Meany Memorial AFL-CIO Archive, College Park, MD. http://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/42502.[/note] Once the United States entered World War I in 1917, Gompers actively supported America’s war efforts. Gompers had long been critical of the autocratic militarism that dominated the governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Adding labor to the mix, Gompers argued in 1915 that such an autocratic system “forced a war which brings grievous wrongs, losses and misery upon the wage workers of Europe . . . and to the wage-earners of all the world.”[note]Samuel Gompers, “European War Influences upon American Industry and Labor," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 61 (1915): 4-5, www.jstor.org/stable/1012991.[/note] Gompers was also a fierce opponent of the Bolsheviks—Russian communists and socialists who gained considerable influence in Russia following its defeat to Germany. Gompers would later call the Bolshevik successes in Russia a “plague” on the American labor movement.[note]Stearn, Samuel Gompers, 81.[/note] In a series of speeches and essays, Gompers promoted labor’s interest in the war, stressing the importance of Allied victory for the American worker.[note]Samuel Gompers, American Labor and the War (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1919), 20-23.[/note] Recognizing Gompers’s ability to mobilize support for the war, President Wilson appointed him as an official advisor for the Council of National Defense. This Council was created for the explicit purpose of coordinating labor and industry for the war effort.[note]"Title 50: Chapter 1: Council of National Defense," U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Code, January 2, 2006, https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title50/chapter1&edition=prelim.[/note] This role gave Gompers the ability to involve the AFL in war mobilization efforts; the organization would grow to three million members by the end of the war.[note]Wendi A. Maloney, “World War I: Workers Greet Labor Day 1918 with Optimism,” Library of Congress Blog, Library of Congress, last modified August 30, 2017, https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2017/08/world-war-i-workers-greet-labor-day-1918-with-optimism/.[/note] In his speeches, Gompers associated autocracy and militarism with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Stressing that their victory would destroy American democracy, Gompers dubbed the global conflict “labor’s war,” whose outcome would be determined by the American worker.[note]Samuel Gompers, “Samuel Gompers on WWI,” 1918, AFL-CIO Collection, RG97-002 Audio-Visual Media, Information Department, Analog Recordings, George Meany Memorial AFL-CIO Archive, College Park, MD, Gompers-1918-Speech-AFL-CIO-RG97-002-temp-084782-0001-prod (2).[/note] Praising both the workers and the republic in which they lived, Gompers’s speeches lionized the efforts of Americans as making the world safer for democracy. Gompers’s speech on World War I was one of many he gave in 1918 as the United States escalated its involvement in the war. Gompers celebrated this increase in U.S. involvement in his speech, where he made a case for the war’s necessity, especially in securing the expansion of “the spirit and the method of democracy” around the world.[note]Gompers, “Samuel Gompers on WWI.”[/note] Gompers made the case that Allied victory was dependent on the participation of workers and labor unions in the war effort. The need for sacrifice from workers represented a major theme in his speech—sacrifices he viewed as an unquestionable duty of all Americans.[note]Ibid.[/note] Gompers’s speech tours and activities continued until the war’s end. Following the war, Gompers continued his work with the AFL, writing frequently about the dangers of socialism and the Industrial Workers of the World.[note]Samuel Gompers and William English Walling, Out of Their Own Mouths: A Revelation and an Indictment of Sovietism (New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1921), vi-ix.[/note] In his final days, Gompers collapsed during a visit to Mexico. Reportedly expressing a desire to die on American soil, he was rushed to the border and died days later in San Antonio, Texas.[note]"Death Of Samuel Gompers," Times (The Times Digital Archive), December 15, 1924, p. 16, http://tinyurl.gale.com/tinyurl/CR7sw3.[/note]  Read more.
This image is a screenshot from the video of Warren's "Boston Marathon" speech before the Senate, with the caption "Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts"
Speech:

Boston Marathon Bombing

Speaker:

Elizabeth Warren

2001 - present / National Security

Elizabeth (Herring) Warren was born on June 22, 1949 in Oklahoma to a struggling middle-class family. In 1968, she married Jim Warren and raised two children with him until they divorced ten years later. Warren graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in speech pathology from the University of Houston in 1970. After working as a special education teacher, Warren earned her law degree from Rutgers University in 1976 and, in 1992, she became a law school professor at Harvard University, working alongside her current husband, Bruce Mann.[note]Elizabeth Warren, A Fighting Chance (New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 2014), 44.[/note] In 2012, Warren distinguished herself as a Democratic Senator from the state of Massachusetts and a Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2020.[note]Ian Millhiser, "Elizabeth Warren is Now Leading the 2020 Polls," Vox, October 9, 2019, https://www.vox.com/2019/10/8/20905274/elizabeth-warren-frontrunner-democratic-nomination-2020.[/note]

Before becoming a senator, Warren served as Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). TARP was authorized under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and was created, “in the aftermath of the financial crisis to protect taxpayers, hold Wall Street accountable, and help homeowners get back on their feet."[note]"About Elizabeth: U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts," U.S. Senate, https://www.warren.senate.gov/about/about-elizabeth.[/note] Warren’s political career took off after her work with TARP, and this work set a precedent for the issues she would prioritize in her future political career.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) assumed her first term as a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts after defeating former Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) in 2012 by an impressive eight percentage points.[note]Warren, A Fighting Chance, 270.[/note] Warren not only unseated a Republican, but also became the first female senator from Massachusetts. In her 2014 book, A Fighting Chance, Warren reflected on her unprecedented rise to the top: “For months now, whenever I met a little girl on the campaign trail, I would bend down, take her hand, and tell her quietly, ‘I’m Elizabeth and I’m running for Senate, because that’s what girls do.’"[note]Ibid., 266.[/note] Warren was re-elected to the Senate in 2018 and launched her campaign for the presidency during the 2020 Democratic primary.[note]Millhiser, "Elizabeth Warren is Now Leading."[/note]

Warren’s 2012 campaign for the Senate largely focused on economic issues as she called for strengthening the middle class and holding large corporations accountable.[note]"About Elizabeth."[/note] In depicting her own candidacy in A Fighting Chance, Warren wrote that she, “declared a war on the rich."[note]Warren, A Fighting Chance, 214.[/note] Despite her ultimate success in the election, Warren faced scrutiny because of her past relationship to Wall Street. In a 2011 article from MassLive, Warren was attacked by conservative political action committees (PACs). For example, Steven Law, president of American Crossroads, attacked the sources of Warren’s campaign funding: “Far left professor Elizabeth Warren should get a PhD in hypocrisy for trying to launder Wall Street political cash through DSCC’s [Democratic Senator Campaign Committee’s] war chest while simultaneously leading the Occupy Wall Street movement.” The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan website that tracks campaign funding, refuted this claim, showing that the majority of Warren’s campaign funding came from small donations.[note]Robert Rizzuto, "American Crossroads Takes Aim at Elizabeth Warren; Nonpartisan Website Challenges Claim," MassLive, March 25, 2019, https://www.masslive.com/politics/2011/12/crossroads_gps_again_takes_aim.html.[/note] In addition to economic issues, Warren’s 2012 campaign also focused on such political issues as reproductive freedom and equal wages for equal work.[note]Warren, A Fighting Chance, 264-265.[/note] After a difficult battle, Warren won the Senate seat and was sworn in on January 3, 2013, by former Vice President Joe Biden.[note]"Swearing in of Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)," SenateDemocrats, YouTube, January 2, 2013, video, 0:40, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0sLxEXEi0Y.[/note]

On April 17, 2013, Senator Warren delivered her first formal speech on the Senate floor. Despite Senator Warren’s general focus on economic issues, she used this opportunity to address the terrorist attacks during the 2013 Boston Marathon. Two days before she delivered her address, two explosions near the marathon’s finish line killed three people and injured 264. This event is now commonly referred to as the Boston Marathon Bombing.[note]Kate Starbird, Jim Maddock, Mania Orrand, Peg Achterman, and Robert M. Mason, "Rumors, False Flags, and Digital Vigilantes: Misinformation on Twitter after the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing," IConference 2014 Proceedings, January 2014, https://doi.org/10.9776/14308.[/note] In her maiden speech on the Senate floor, Senator Warren remembered those who lost their lives from this tragic attack, praised the city of Boston, and recognized those who came to the aid of the victims immediately after the bombings. At the end of Warren’s address, she called for and received unanimous consent for S. RES.101, condemning the horrific attacks in Boston, and expressing support, sympathy, and prayers for those impacted by this tragedy.[note]Elizabeth Warren, "Elizabeth Warren's Senatorial Maiden Speech," April 17, 2013, video, U.S. Senate Floor, https://floor.senate.gov/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=560.[/note]

Warren continued to address U.S. counterterrorism efforts as a presidential candidate in 2020. She addressed the threat of terrorism, for example, in a foreign policy speech she gave in Washington, D.C. at American University on November 29, 2018. Unlike her maiden speech in the Senate, Warren used the campaign speech not only to acknowledge the ongoing terrorist threats, but to also critique past Republican presidents for excessive spending on terrorism that had yet to produce the results she envisioned in 2013. As Warren concluded, “And even with all the blood and money we have spilled, America still faces violent terrorist groups that wish to do us harm."[note]Nik DeCosta-Klipa, "Read the Transcript of Elizabeth Warren's Big Foreign Policy Speech," Boston Globe, November 29, 2018, https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2018/11/29/elizabeth-warren-foreign-policy-speech-american-university.[/note]

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