(4) Base Camp

Bryan wasn't called "the Boy Orator of the Platte" for nothing. His speeches were almost always easy to follow, written for a broad audience, and considered the best of his time. His "Imperialism" speech was no exception, either.

The speech itself runs around 9,000 words and probably took well over an hour to get through in its entirety. In other words, if you were there, you might have been bored to tears and found yourself waking up in a nap-induced pool of drool because of how long it was…or you might have been open-mouthed and starry-eyed.

Either way, chances are you still would have been impressed by the end. That's just how good Bryan was.