In high school, I remember reading a book of great oratory. Cicero, Churchill, Antony    and Lincoln inspired and enlightened as their words jumped off the page.

I was reminded in an e-mail forum that this coming week marks the anniversary of another great speech, given by Gen. Douglas MacArthur at West Point in 1962.

While his delivery is nothing less than an art form, his message also interested me. We seem to struggle with the same issues today as we did then.

“Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government; whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing, indulged in too long by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as thorough and complete as they should be.”

Who is our great orator today, and how will he or she enshrine our modern problems? Or has it all been said before …

Take a listen to the last minutes of MacArthur’s speech here. It is nine minutes that you won’t regret.