1936 Madison Square Garden speech speech "one of the great political speeches in American history." Political analysts have compared the straightforwardness of Roosevelt's rhetoric, such as the "I welcome their hatred" comment, with the relative timidity of later politicians, such as Barack Obama; psychologist Drew Westen made such an argument in "The New York Times". Historians, however, have pointed out that Roosevelt delivered the speech in much more favorable political conditions than later politicians have had to face. 1936 Madison Square Garden speech The 1936 Madison Square Garden speech was a speech given by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on October 31, 1936, three days
Madison Square and Madison Square Park of thousands of people would gather in Madison Square, waiting for the latest results. In 1876, a large celebration was held in Madison Square Park to honor the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Then, from 1876 to 1882, the torch and arm of the Statue of Liberty were exhibited in the park in an effort to raise funds for building the pedestal of the statue. Madison Square was the site of some of the first electric street lighting in the city. In 1879, the city authorized the Brush Electric Light Company to build a generating station