Some of you may know that I am an aficionado of American political rhetoric. There was a time in this country where speeches actually made a difference in politics and policy, and the great orators were known to sway voters, members of Congress, prince, potentate, and history itself with their thundering orations.

Think Patrick Henry. Think Lincoln at Gettysburg, or Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech that catapulted him to the Democratic nomination for president. Think of FDR throwing down the gauntlet of war to the mighty Japanese empire. Think of a smallish man addressing half a million souls in front of the Great Emancipator’s statue, and demanding that his dream of racial equality become a reality.

Those days are gone now. Reagan briefly revived the spoken word as a powerful weapon for the presidency. But his successors have been decidedly lacking in the consistent application of political rhetoric to dramatically alter the status quo. It’s not their fault. None were of a political tradition that prized the spoken word over the soundbite culture of political communication that arose in the last quarter of the 20th century.

Except in times of national tragedy. Here, where man, moment, and the spoken word all combined to lift us up, to assuage our grief, and to restore the American spirit, each of Reagan’s successor’s rose to the occasion in their own way, performing magnificently on the largest of stages.

Clinton’s speech at Oklahoma City was agonizingly good - a personal, elevated remembrance and national pep talk all in one. Bush at Washington Cathedral and in front of a joint session of Congress after 9/11 (I liked his Cathedral speech a lot better), overcame his limitations as a communicator and achieved heights of rhetorical and stylistic splendor he was never to reach again.

President Obama’s magnificently delivered, marvelously written, heartfelt speech at Fort Hood yesterday was, to my mind, the best piece of American political rhetoric since Reagan’s Challenger address in the aftermath of that tragedy. It was by far and away the best speech he’s given as president, and it bests two other superior efforts of his that preceded his election; his keynote address to the 2004 Democratic convention, and his speech on race in Philadelphia during the campaign.

Technically, the speech was extremely well crafted. Reading it, you are struck by its humble simplicity, it’s logical progression, its smooth, effortless transitions, and soaring peroration. We don’t know enough about the president to see his imprint on the written words. But by the way he imbued the speech with his living spirit, you could tell that even if he didn’t have much of a hand in writing it, he was feeling it intensely.

There has been much criticism on the right for it’s tone of “political correctness” in not mentioning the word “terrorism” or “jihad.” I understand where my fellow righties are coming from, but I think they are a little off base. This was not a time for a call to action; it was a time to grieve. The president walked right up to saying the “T” word and, while he didn’t say it, everyone knew what he was talking about:

It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know - no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice - in this world, and the next. These are trying times for our country. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the same extremists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans continue to endanger America, our allies, and innocent Afghans and Pakistanis. In Iraq, we are working to bring a war to a successful end, as there are still those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that Americans and Iraqis have sacrificed so much for.

We had a discussion on the debate over how to define Hasan’s act last night on my radio show. Yes, I believe the government is overly sensitive to offending Muslim sensitivities, and it is possible that the military paid for this walking on eggshells attitude when they ignored Hasan’s obvious radicalism.

But calling the shooter a “terrorist” animated by radical Islam to carry out jihad against those who he perceived to be an enemy wouldn’t have helped the families in their grief nor would it have said anything profound to the nation. Obama rightly said that there was no justification - religious or otherwise - for the shooting. In this venue, it was exactly the right thing to say and I believe it a little bit of a stretch to criticize him for not going farther. There may be a time for criticism as more becomes known about what our government knew about this killer and why they did nothing to deal with him. But that time was not yesterday.

Not discussed very much as far as I can tell is the overall theme of the president’s address; that this generation is second to none as it relates to self-sacrificing service to our country. The president expertly connected each of the dead - reading their names and giving a short snippet of personality to go along with the identification of the fallen - to this idea that these were among the best of their generation:

As we face these challenges, the stories of those at Fort Hood reaffirm the core values that we are fighting for, and the strength that we must draw upon. Theirs are tales of American men and women answering an extraordinary call - the call to serve their comrades, their communities, and their country. In an age of selfishness, they embody responsibility. In an era of division, they call upon us to come together. In a time of cynicism, they remind us of who we are as Americans. We are a nation that endures because of the courage of those who defend it. We saw that valor in those who braved bullets here at Fort Hood, just as surely as we see it in those who signed up knowing that they would serve in harm’s way.

Again and again, the president returns to this theme, and connects those who served in the past with our present day heroes:

For history is filled with heroes. You may remember the stories of a grandfather who marched across Europe; an uncle who fought in Vietnam; a sister who served in the Gulf. But as we honor the many generations who have served, I think all of us - every single American - must acknowledge that this generation has more than proved itself the equal of those who have come before. We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes. This generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have volunteered in a time of certain danger. They are part of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different and difficult places. They have stood watch in blinding deserts and on snowy mountains. They have extended the opportunity of self-government to peoples that have suffered tyranny and war. They are man and woman; white, black, and brown; of all faiths and stations - all Americans, serving together to protect our people, while giving others half a world away the chance to lead a better life.

Absolutely translucent rhetoric, delivered in Obama’s inimical, well modulated voice with expert phrasing.

Many a good speech has crashed on the shoals of a bad peroration. It is said that Edward Everett’s 2 hour memorial speech that preceded Lincoln’s at Gettysburg suffered from a weak, and forgettable climax. I don’t see it myself and it’s hard for us who are unfamiliar with 19th century rhetoric to critique such things intelligently. But when Obama reached his own high point yesterday, you heard echoes of John Kennedy and Martin Luther King:

Here, at Fort Hood, we pay tribute to thirteen men and women who were not able to escape the horror of war, even in the comfort of home. Later today, at Fort Lewis, one community will gather to remember so many in one Stryker Brigade who have fallen in Afghanistan. Long after they are laid to rest - when the fighting has finished, and our nation has endured; when today’s servicemen and women are veterans, and their children have grown - it will be said of this generation that they believed under the most trying of tests; that they persevered not just when it was easy, but when it was hard; and that they paid the price and bore the burden to secure this nation, and stood up for the values that live in the hearts of all free peoples. So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service. May God bless the memory of those we lost. And may God bless the United States of America.

It doesn’t beat, “…slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God,” but then, those weren’t Reagan’s words anyway. Nevertheless, the same “mystic chords of memory” are elicited in both speeches.

It wasn’t until I both saw and read the speech that it hit me; it is the first major address that Obama has given where he did not try to cycle the moment back to himself with the use of personal pronouns - a rather jarring habit of Obama’s that subtracts from what he is trying to say.

In total, this was a triumph for the president. The moment, the venue, and the words all came together in what will certainly be remembered as the best speech of this young century.