When Words Saved THE WORLD

It may seem that words written in social media tirades or spoken in angry political rants-are tearing this country apart. But even in fractured times, language may still have the power to inspire and unite us. Here's how.

- JON MEACHAM

Winston Churchill sensed what was coming. As a young soldier in India in the closing years of the 19th century, he drafted an essay on the world he hoped to enter: that of politics and public service. Long unpublished, Churchill's piece, titled "The Scaffolding of Rhetoric, explored a perennial question: What makes a good speech? "Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory, Churchill wrote. "He who enjoys it wields a power more durable than that of a great king. He is an independent force in the world. Abandoned by his party, betrayed by his friends, stripped of his offices, whoever can command this power is still formidable... A meeting of grave citizens...is unable to resist its influence?"

And yet to Churchill the art form seemed at risk. Writing in 1897 amid an era shaped by rapid communication-the telegraph was the internet of the day he believed the orator's capacity to move audiences was more circumscribed than in ages past. "The newspaper report and the growing knowledge of men have, it is said, led to the decline of rhetoric, Churchill observed. "Now no rhetorician would be likely to admit that his art had lost its power, and if this proposition be generally affirmed, the conclusion follows that there are at present no orators."