-ad 189-
  • Published

The Best Commencement Speeches Given in Washington, DC

Check out the best commencement speeches ever given in Washington, DC from President John F. Kennedy to Ken Burns, Tony Snow and others. See the full lists from NPR and Vox.com.
Capitol Building and a lot of cars parked in front of it in the 1960s
Screen Shot 2014-03-23 at 3.44
-ad 188-

It’s that time of year, again. Commencement speakers address graduating college and university classes, and inevitably their speeches are ranked, assessed, complimented, and criticized. This year, both NPR and Vox.com have compiled the best commencement speeches ever. From the lists they created, we’ve found all the commencement addresses that happened in Washington, DC and posted them below:

President John F. Kennedy, American University, June 10, 1963

Ken Burns, Georgetown University, 2006

Ken Burns Commencement Address at Georgetown University, source NPR
Ken Burns Commencement Address at Georgetown University, source NPR

Tony Snow, The Catholic University of America, May 12, 2007

Tony Snow Commencement Address at The Catholic University of America, source NPR
Tony Snow Commencement Address at The Catholic University of America, source NPR

Rahm Emanuel, George Washington University, May 27, 2009

Gary Malkowski, Gallaudet University, 2011

What do you think? Do you have any other favorites?

To see the full lists, go here for NPR and here for Vox.com.

-ad 617-

Enjoy daily

Ghosts of DC stories.

No thanks.