how to write a presidential campaign speech

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How to Write a Presidential Speech

Last Updated: May 19, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 115,874 times.

Are you running for president? There are some tried and true ways to write an effective campaign speech. Maybe you're running for school president or another office. You want your speech to be memorable and persuasive!

Presidential Speech Template

Opening the Presidential Speech

• You should make this theme simple enough that you can express it in one sentence.
• Make sure that you repeat your theme several times throughout your speech, especially in the beginning, middle, and end.

• You could start the speech with an anecdote, a quip or a strong quote. Don’t be afraid to offer a little humor, but it immediately clears what you would bring to the table. [3] X Research source
• When ending a speech, you could say: “If I am elected school president, I will focus on lengthening lunch hours, adding more student clubs, and reducing student fees.”

• If you’re running for a student position, review sample student campaign speeches. There are many of these templates online.

• For example, if your audience is concerned about the economy, and you have training in economics, mention it--especially if your opponents do not.
• Tell the audience an anecdote relating to what sets you apart. It will make it more memorable.

Developing the Presidential Speech

• The middle of your speech should be the longest because that's where most of your content lies.
• Don't slack off on the beginning and end of your speech. Even though they are shorter, they can make your speech memorable--or forgettable.

• You could open by saying something like: "Here are the three things we need to change."
• Be specific. Use statistics and human anecdotes to highlight the problem. However, be brief. You want to focus on solutions more than problems.

• Boil the speech down to 2 to 3 key issues that you plan to change. Be very specific when you outline your solutions.
• Expand on each of your key promises by detailing the problem and how you plan to address it specifically.
• Don’t make the middle of the speech too dry. Constantly reinforce your personality and theme throughout the details of your promises.

• Go with the flow. If you notice your audience getting ants, liven up your speech or end it early.
• Stick by the event's rules. Some events may require that your speech is only 5 minutes, while others want it to be at least 30 minutes.

• If you are talking about the Vietnam war, you can make yourself more relatable to younger generations by mentioning the soldiers who were no older than themselves.
• If you are running for high school president, say that you will ensure the administration listens to student wishes for a longer lunch break.

• If you are running for school president, mention things you’ve done that helped the school to make you seem more qualified.
• If you come from a coal mining family, and you are giving your speech in a blue-collar area, mention it! This will make you more relatable.

• For example, if you want people to join your campaign, ask them to vote for you. Be sure to thank them for their consideration as well.

Delivering the Presidential Speech

• Some speeches play to people’s fears and anger, but the best ones remain positive and play toward people’s optimism. People want to know how you will improve things.

• This is why broadcast writing is less dense than print writing, generally. When writing a speech, keep the sentences concise.
• Try to use one direct point per sentence. People can understand complex topics better when they are reading.

• You don’t need to fixate on proper grammar, punctuation, and so forth in a speech that will be given verbally (and presidential speeches are designed to be spoken).
• It’s more important to capture the cadences and colloquialisms of regular speech, while staying true to yourself.

• Ancient philosophers who perfected the art of rhetoric called this “pathos.” An appeal to the emotions.
• The philosophers believed that the core of any persuasive speech should be logos (an appeal to reason). However, they believed that speeches without pathos failed to move.

• Have a clear idea of what you want to say. Keep the finest details confined to notes so that you can refer to them if you need to.
• Remember that giving a speech is theater. You need to be dramatic and show passion, but you don’t want to stumble over words or look down like you’re reading it.

• They say that when people get in trouble, it’s usually because they went negative.

• The best place to include a joke is in the opening of your speech. Create a rapport with the audience and use a joke that is specific to the location.
• Stay away from any offensive jokes and make sure a joke is appropriate to the occasion.

• Show, don't tell. Show your telling points with vivid human stories or a relatable anecdote.

Expert Q&A

• Remember to have good posture while you're giving your speech. Thanks Helpful 13 Not Helpful 1
• If you don't win the election, just remember to be a good sport to everybody. Your opportunities in the future are more likely to become greater. Thanks Helpful 11 Not Helpful 1
• Make eye contact. It's important not to spend the entire speech looking down! Thanks Helpful 10 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://blog.prepscholar.com/good-persuasive-speech-topics
• ↑ Patrick Muñoz. Voice & Speech Coach. Expert Interview. 12 November 2019.
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6sm47j-Am4
• ↑ http://presidentialrhetoric.com/campaign2012/index.html
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaking/chapter/17-3-organizing-persuasive-speeches/
• ↑ http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/writing-a-school-election-speech.html

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How to Write Election Campaign Speech in 10 Steps

This guide provides essential tips on how to write election campaign speech that will resonate with your audience. Writing an election campaign speech is a critical and complex process that requires careful planning, research, and effective communication skills. A campaign speech can make or break a candidate’s chances of success in an election, and thus it must be crafted with the utmost attention to detail and relevance.

A well-crafted speech can help a candidate to connect with voters, build trust, and win support for their candidacy. However, writing a compelling speech that resonates with the audience can be a daunting task. To write an effective election campaign speech, one needs to understand their audience, have a clear campaign message, and convey that message with passion and conviction.

In this process, it is important to keep in mind the tone and style of the speech, the audience’s values and beliefs, and the specific goals of the campaign. Here are useful tips and strategies to help candidates write a successful election campaign speech. Contact us now to help you conduct a thorough research and create an effective political campaign speech that will convey your values and policies of the political party or candidate and resonate with the audience and stakeholders.

Step 1: Define your audience

Before you start writing your campaign speech, you must first define your audience. Who are you speaking to? What are their concerns, hopes, and aspirations? What are the issues that matter to them? By understanding your audience, you can tailor your speech to their needs and concerns and connect with them on a more personal level.

Step 2: Craft a powerful opening

The opening of your speech is crucial, as it sets the tone and captures the attention of your audience. Start with a strong and compelling statement that immediately grabs their attention. You could use a statistic, a quote, or a personal story to draw them in and make them want to listen to what you have to say.

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Step 3: focus on your message.

Your campaign speech must have a clear and concise message that reflects your values, beliefs, and vision for the future. Focus on the issues that matter to your audience and demonstrate how your policies and plan of actions will address their concerns. Be specific and provide examples of how you will make a difference if elected as a president, house of representative, senator, governor or even state assembly member.

Step 4: Use persuasive language

The language you use in your speech is essential in persuading your audience to vote for you. Use persuasive language that appeals to their emotions, values, and aspirations. Use simple and easy-to-understand language that everyone can relate to. Avoid using jargon, technical terms, or complex sentences that may confuse or alienate your audience.

Step 5: Be authentic and genuine

Authenticity and genuineness are crucial when delivering a campaign speech. You must be honest and sincere in your message and connect with your audience on a personal level. Share your personal experiences, past records, values, and beliefs that demonstrate your authenticity and inspire trust and confidence in your leadership.

Step 6: Use humor and storytelling

Humor and storytelling are excellent tools for engaging your audience and keeping their attention. Use anecdotes, personal stories, or jokes to add some lightness and humor to your speech. However, be careful not to offend or belittle anyone, as this could harm your credibility and reputation.

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Step 7: use rhetorical devices.

Rhetorical devices, such as repetition, alliteration, and metaphors, can make your speech more memorable and impactful. Use these devices strategically to emphasize your message and create a lasting impression on your audience.

Step 8: Address your opponent’s weaknesses

When writing a campaign speech, it’s essential to address your opponent’s weaknesses without attacking or insulting them. Highlight your opponent’s weaknesses, and demonstrate how your policies and plans are superior to theirs. However, be respectful and avoid personal attacks or mudslinging, as this could harm your reputation and credibility.

Step 9: End with a call to action

The conclusion of your campaign speech should inspire your audience to take action and vote for you. End your political campaign speech with a powerful call to action that encourages people to support your campaign, volunteer, or donate to your cause. Provide specific instructions on how they can get involved in your movement and make a difference.

Read:  The Roles of the Media in Nigerian Elections

Step 10: practice and rehearse.

Finally, practice your speech as much as possible before delivering it to your audience. Rehearse in front of a mirror, record yourself, or practice in front of a friend or family member. This will help you identify areas that need improvement, work on your delivery skills, and build your confidence.

Wrapping up: How to Write Election Campaign Speech

In conclusion, writing an election campaign speech can be a challenging task, but with the right approach and preparation, anyone can deliver a compelling and impactful speech. The first step is to understand the audience and their needs and concerns. This helps to craft a message that resonates with them and addresses their issues.

It is also important to have a clear and concise structure for the speech, with a powerful opening that captures the audience’s attention, a strong middle that reinforces the main points, and a memorable closing that leaves a lasting impression.

Related:  How To Hire A Political Campaign Team

To make the speech more persuasive, using rhetorical devices such as repetition, analogy, and emotional appeal can be effective. However, it is important to ensure that the speech is based on accurate and verifiable facts and not just rhetoric. Rehearsing the speech several times before the actual delivery can help to boost confidence and ensure a smooth delivery.

It is also important to get feedback from others and make necessary adjustments to the speech based on their feedback. By following these tips and putting in the necessary effort and practice, you can write and deliver a winning campaign speech.

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How To Write A Presidential Speech

Katie Clower

The Importance of a Presidential Speech

Presidential speeches have been a prevalent and important part of our country’s society and culture since Washington’s inauguration in April of 1789 in which the first inaugural address, and presidential speech in general, was delivered. Since then, we as a country have beared witness to countless presidential and political speeches. Some have been moving, some inspirational and motivating, some heartbreaking and tear-jerking. Others have made us cringe out of anger, fear, or disappointment. Some have simply fallen flat, having been described as boring or awkward or unsettling.

Many presidential speeches are remembered and regarded to this day, despite how many decades or centuries ago they were delivered. Often, we remember and reflect on those which were the most special and important. But, in some cases the horribly written or delivered ones stick out in our minds, too. This writing guide is designed, in part, for those presidential or politician candidates and hopefuls to use as a tool to ensure their own speeches will be remembered and reflected on for years to come, for their positive messages and audience responses, not the opposite.

If you are not or do not plan to be a politician or president, do not stop reading! This guide is also written with the average person, even one with little to no political ties or aspirations, in mind. Public speech is a large aspect and topic of discussion in our society, one that has become critical to the presidential process. As such, many of us may be fascinated by and curious about the process of constructing and delivering a successful presidential speech. This guide will convey all of this information via data and analyses of previous both renowned and failed presidential speeches, deductions of what it was that made them so great or so catastrophic, syntheses of expert research and findings on the topic, and more. It does so in a casual, easy-to-follow tone, further making it a read for all.

Another reason this guide is applicable to everyone is because the speech-making tips and techniques shared throughout the text are true for not just political speech, but any form. Everyone has to deliver pitches, speeches, or presentations at some point in their lives or careers. The conclusion section emphasizes how the information and advice shared in this guide can apply to and help with all other forms of speech writing and delivering. With all of this in mind, this guide is meant for truly anyone who wants to take the time to read and be informed.

Goals of the Speech

Presidential speeches have become increasingly important over time as a means to connect with and appeal to the people in order to articulate and drive forward presidential goals, deliver or reflect on tragic or positive news, and more. As Teten put it in his study, “speeches are the core of the modern presidency” (334). He finds that while “in the past, speechmaking, as well as public appeal in the content of speeches, was not only infrequent but discouraged due to precedent and technology,” today it is one of the most important and most frequently utilized presidential tools (Teten, 334). Allison Mcnearney states that “even in an age of Twitter, the formal, spoken word from the White House carries great weight and can move, anger or inspire at home and around the world.” These findings make perfecting this method of communication with the people even more crucial to master. One part of doing so requires keeping in mind what the main, general goals of these speeches are.

Connection to Audience

While presidents and politicians deliver many different types of speeches which often have contrasting tones and messages depending on the occasion, there is always an exigence for politicians to make efforts to connect with their audience. This in turn results in a more positive audience perception and reaction to both the president and his speech. Later in the guide, specific rhetorical and linguistic strategies and moves will be discussed which have proven effective in fostering a connection with audience members through speech.

This overall notion of establishing connection works to break down barriers and make the audience feel more comfortable with and trusting of the speech giver. McNearney points to FDR as a president who successfully connected with the people, largely, she claims, through his fireside chats. The fireside chats exemplified a president making use of the media for the first time “to present a very carefully crafted message that was unfiltered and unchallenged by the press” (McNearney). Today, we often see our presidents use Twitter as a media avenue to connect and present their “unfiltered” version of a policy or goal.

Lasting Message

Another central and overarching goal presidents and politicians should keep in mind when writing and delivering a speech is to make it lasting and memorable. It is challenging to predict what exactly will resonate with people in a way that makes a speech long remembered. Many of the various rhetorical and linguistic techniques outlined in section III have helped former presidents deliver speeches that have become known as some of “the greats.”

Sometimes it is a matter of taking risks with a speech. Martin Luther King and Barack Obama are among some of the most powerful speech-givers our country has seen. Both men took risks in many of their speeches. Mcnearney points to Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech as being “risky” in its focus and discussion on racial tensions in the country, an often avoided or untouched conversation. But, the speech was well-received and well-remembered, proving this risk was worth it.

What to Do: Rhetorical and Linguistic Moves

A conjunction of previous findings from various scholars and my own research make up this section to portray the effective rhetorical and linguistic strategies that have been employed in successful presidential speech.

Emotive Language

In section II one of the central goals discussed in a presidential speech is to appeal to one’s audience . An effective way to do so is through emotive language and general emotional appeal. In their study, Erisen et al. note the value of “strik[ing] an emotional chord with the public” as a means to gain public support, increase public awareness, and overall aid presidents in pursuing their political agendas (469). They work to prove the effectiveness of this strategy through an analysis of an Obama speech, delivered during a time of growing economic crisis in the country.

Erisen et al. identify Obama’s implementation of both emotional and optimistic tones as rhetorical moves to connect with and appeal to his audience of constituents. The success of his use of emotionally-related rhetorical strategies are evident findings that came out of a survey that “reported that 68% of speech-watchers had a ‘positive reaction’ and that 85% felt ‘more optimistic’ about the direction the country was heading” (Erisen et al., 470). Stewart et al. also find that “more emotionally evocative messages… lead to higher levels of affective response by viewers” (125). This clear data indicates the power connecting with an audience through emotion can have on their response and future outlook.

Optimistic Tone

Along with Obama’s “optimistic tone” described above, others have employed what has been described as both hopeful and reassuring tones as rhetorical moves to appeal to an audience. Two of the ten “most important modern presidential speeches,” as selected by the nonpartisan affiliated scholars of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, are JFK’s address on the space effort and FDR’s first inaugural address (McNearney). JFK’s address was successful and well-received because of the hopeful tone he employs when discussing the goal to land a man on the moon. He gave the people an optimistic perspective on this lofty goal, making “Americans feel like there was nothing we couldn’t do” (McNearney). In his inaugural address, Roosevelt too pairs bold claims with optimism and reassurance to his audience.

Inclusive Language

Another found strategy utilized by presidents to appeal to their audience through speech is the use of inclusive language. In Teten’s study, he looks at the use of the words “we” and “our”, specifically, in presidential State of the Union Addressesses over time. His findings revealed a steady increase in these words within the speeches over time. The usage of these “public address and inclusion words” create an appeal with presidents’ audiences because they help presidents in creating “an imagined community in which the president and his listeners coexist on a level plane (Teten, 339-342). These findings illustrate the importance of not presenting oneself as an omnipotent power and leader, but rather a normal citizen of the country like all of those watching. Identifying oneself with the audience this way breaks down any barriers present.

Persuasive Language

Persuasion is another often-used rhetorical strategy, especially during presidential campaigns. In their study about “language intensity,” Clementson et al. look at the use of “persuasive language” as a strategy presidential candidates employ during their campaigns. They assert that “candidates seem to vary their language as they try to persuade audiences to perceive them favorably” (Clementson et al., 592). In referring to this persuasive rhetorical strategy, they utilize the term “problem-solution structure” as one which is often well-received by an audience. People appreciate hearing exactly how a president or presidential candidate plans to fix a problem at hand.

What Not to Do

  As stated earlier, while there are many speeches that are excellently written and delivered, there, too, are many speeches that flop. Alexander Meddings wrote an article which spotlights a number of political speeches which he deems some of the “worst” in modern history. In comparing what makes a good versus a bad speech he asserts that “a bad speech must, by definition, be flat, garbled and publicly damaging either for the speaker or for the cause they’re seeking to promote” (Meddings). In looking at some of the characteristics that make up some of the “worst” speeches, this section will highlight what not to do in the process of working to compose and deliver a successful speech.

The research demonstrates that length of speech actually proves very important. In Teten’s study, in addition to looking at inclusive language over time in presidential State of the Union Addresses, he also graphically measured the length, specifically number of words, of the addresses across time. His results proved interesting. There was a rise in length of these speeches from the first one delivered to those delivered in the early 1900s and then there was a sudden and far drop. There was a movement around the time of the drop to make speeches more concise, and it is clear, since they have remained much shorter as time has gone on, this choice was well-received.

Meddings alludes to this in his piece, describing both William Henry Harrison’s presidential inaugural address and Andrew Johnson’s vice-presidential inaugural address as some of the worst speeches, largely because of how dragged out they were. A very important aspect of speech-giving is capturing the audience’s attention, and this cannot be accomplished through a lengthy, uninteresting oration.

Lying And/or Contradiction

Though it should be fairly obvious that one should not lie in a speech, for the consequences will be great, there have been a number of presidents and politicians who have done so. Regan, Clinton, and Trump are all among the presidents and politicians who have made false statements or promises within speeches. Though it is understandable that a politician would want to speak towards what he or she knows will resonate and appeal to the audience, doing so in a false or manipulative way is not commendable and will lead to much greater backlash than just being honest.

Word Choice

Some politicians have been caught lying in speeches when trying to cover up a controversy or scandal. Though one should try to avoid any sort of controversy, a president or person in power has to expect to have to talk on some difficult or delicate topics. This is where careful word choice becomes vital. Often the way to ensure a speech is written eloquently, carefully, and inoffensively is through various rounds of editing from a number of different eyes.

Applications to All Forms of Speech-Giving

This guide should prove helpful for not only those looking to run for office, but for everyone. The various strategies and techniques given within this guide are, for the most part, broad enough that they can be applied to any form of speech-giving or presenting. We will all have to give a speech, a toast, a presentation, and countless other forms of written or oral works in our lives. Refer to this guide when doing so.

In terms of political or presidential speech specifically, though, in a sense there is not a clear formula for how to write and deliver them. In studies looking at various different successful presidential speeches, orators, and speechwriters, it is clear they all have their own unique style and form that works for them. But, the tips provided in this guide will certainly work to help to create a proficient and successful political speech writer and orator.

Works Cited

Clementson, David E., Paola Pascual-Ferr, and Michael J. Beatty. “When does a Presidential Candidate seem Presidential and Trustworthy? Campaign Messages through the Lens of Language Expectancy Theory.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 46.3 (2016): 592-617.  ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2019.

Erisen, Cengiz, and José D. Villalotbos. “Exploring the Invocation of Emotion in Presidential Speeches.” Contemporary Politics , vol. 20, no. 4, 2014, pp. 469–488., doi:10.1080/13569775.2014.968472.

McNearney, Allison. “10 Modern Presidential Speeches Every American Should Know.”

History.com , A&E Television Networks, 16 Feb. 2018, www.history.com/news/10-modern-presidential-speeches-every-american-should-know.

Meddings, Alexander. “The 8 Worst Speeches in Modern Political History.”

HistoryCollection.co , 9 Nov. 2018, historycollection.co/8-worst-speeches-modern-political-history/7/.

Stewart, Patrick A., Bridget M. Waller, and James N. Schubert. “Presidential Speechmaking

Style: Emotional Response to Micro-Expressions of Facial Affect.” Motivation and Emotion 33.2 (2009): 125-35. ProQuest. Web. 1 Oct. 2019.

Teten, Ryan. “Evolution of the Modern Rhetorical Presidency: Presidential Presentation and

Development of the State of the Union Address.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 33.2 (2003): 333-46. ProQuest. Web. 30 Sep. 2019.

Writing Guides for (Almost) Every Occasion Copyright © 2020 by Katie Clower is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Write a Presidential Speech?

Table of Contents

Running for student government election and looking for a strong presidential campaign speech example? Public speaking is quite challenging and requires a specific set of advanced skills.

President’s talks are direct communications between the president and the people of the country. They connect people across the nations and compel them to take actions which have vital consequences for the growth.

Those happen on specific occasions like president’s inaugurals, f.e. They can be responses to imperatives or represent initiatives, declaring the policy and setting people on a new course.

Compelling presentations combine strategic writing, comprehensive planning, and confident delivery. In this guide, you will find useful tips on how to convince your audience to support your cause or join your team.

How to write a presidential speech

Whether it is an election of the president or a school-associated election, the speech has to be persuasive and convey a clear relevant message across the public. Speakers have to convince everybody that they are the right candidates for the job and persuade people to vote for them.

How to write a presidential campaign speech?

Keep it simple. The most effective presentations are written in clear language and short sentences. Use these quick tips to present your main points convincingly and intelligently.

• Speak about major issues that matter to voters . Create an outline of talking points.
• Keep sentences short and related to your key message.
• Thank your audience for attending the event and make them feel you are chatting with each of them .
• Write like people talk and use the problem-solution format .
• Present your ability to make changes for the better happen. Show your passion.
• Avoid insults and focus on the bright side .
• Repeat key themes, using repetitive phrases at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end.
• When concluding, encourage people to take action and thank them for their time.
• Take inspiration from the best politicians and public speakers. Read powerful pieces, which stood the test of time.

How to start a presidential speech

It’s critical to start a public speaking piece correctly. Brainstorm several essential ideas before writing.

Outline what you would like to say in your introduction. In this part, you should include an appropriate greeting, acknowledge important people, and briefly explain the reasons for your public speaking.

… How to do it right?

• Include your greeting in the first couple of sentences.
• Acknowledge your audience and everyone of importance.
• Briefly speak about the objective of your presentation.
• Use some humor to break the ice, if appropriate.

Presidential speech examples

Now, as we have discussed the key ideas on how to write a presidential campaign speech, we’ll move on to a bit of practice.

If you have never written speeches before, you might be slightly unsure. There would be dozens of questions, like:

• Where to find exciting ideas worth including in your piece?
• How to organize them?
• How to communicate your great ideas to an audience?

Speechwriting is an art that requires a lot of work and dedication. If you face writing issues, the best thing for you is learning from others and looking for inspiration in a good presidential speech example.

Good examples can help candidates create exciting and motivating public speaking pieces.

Presidential campaign speech example

Are you willing to participate in school government elections? See this campaign presentation written by a student for additional inspiration.

Hello, my fellow Americans, my name is Kate Smith. I am running for school president. You might be saying to yourself: “Is Kate qualified to lead us as a student body president? She has been at our school for only one year.” I have several great reasons why you should vote for me. I have a sense of humor. I really enjoy being involved in school life. I am persistent, and I always put all my energy into everything I do no matter how long it takes. I always finish what I start doing. I am a compassionate leader and promise to listen to your opinions before making decisions. I come from a different school, and I have some new ideas for you. Vote for me if you are ready for a change. Should you elect me, I will never let you down. Thank you for listening.

Presidential acceptance speech example

Take a look at presidential acceptance speech example which can serve you as a template if you lack ideas on how to start.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I especially welcome my family and friends who have traveled here to support me. I promise I won’t bore you with a long speech. I’m honored and privileged to have been elected as president of our club. I will do my best to meet the challenge. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the great performance of our previous leader Richard White. He guided us in carrying out many projects for the benefits of our community. Congratulations to our new vice president Alice Brown, our new board members, and all our fellow club members who have shown their confidence in me. I am grateful for your tremendous support and look forward to serving with you in order to make people’s lives better.

Presidential election speech example

There are plenty of online resources, where students can find a memorable presidential election speech example.

Get a better understanding of how to make it all appealing to voters. Review a short passage created for an imaginary candidate.

Thank you all for being here, your warm welcome, and friendly support. I know you are here because our country has come to a crossroad. In fact, it’s the most critical election of our lifetime. You have to choose whether our society makes a U-turn or moves forward to a great future and prosperity. It’s up to us, whether we change the existing political landscape of our country or not. Loads of issues divide us into small confronting groups. But I would rather focus on the common grounds that we all share and need to cultivate. These are issues where we can make progress.

How to cite a presidential speech

There are specific rules on citing a presidential speech in every citation style – APA, MLA, Harvard or Chicago. In this article, we provide students with templates showing how to cite a presidential speech in Chicago style, and how to cite a presidential speech in APA style.

You need a documented source of presentation in video, text (an online transcript, a book) or recorded audio. To format your citations properly, you have to write down the following information:

• Speaker’s name and surname.
• Date when a piece was delivered.
• Name of the editor.

How to cite a presidential speech in Chicago style?

Use the following structure to cite a book :

Speaker’s Surname, Name. “Title.” Year of Delivery. In Title of Book, edited by Editor. City, State: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Citing online transcript:

Speaker’s Surname, Name. “Title.” Speech, Location, Date. “Webpage Title,” Site Title. Accessed Date. URL.

How to cite a presidential speech in APA style?

Use APA citation of a book :

Online transcript citation :

We hope that our easy tips on how to write a presidential speech and on how to cite a presidential speech will help you succeed in creating most stunning.

If you follow our guidelines, the only thing left to worry about would be: Where is the teleprompter for a presidential speech?

The teleprompter is a beneficial device that allows speakers to look natural and have no risk of forgetting or losing lines. We also recommend having a printed copy of your presentation for even more confidence.

Afraid your presidential speech won’t be high-end? Hand it to our writers, and get a top-notch text back! Psst, it’s done in a few clicks only…

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Political Speech Writing: How Candidates Can Craft Compelling Messages

Understanding the Power of Political Speeches

Political speeches play a pivotal role in shaping the course of nations and can shape the trajectory of societies. Effective speech writing for elections allows leaders to communicate their vision, values, and policy objectives to the public. These speeches serve as a means of persuasion, providing a platform for leaders to connect with their constituents emotionally. Through carefully tailoring speeches, a political oratory has the potential to inspire, mobilize, and unite people around common goals and ideals.

One key aspect of political speeches is their ability to inform and educate the public. In a democratic society, an informed citizenry is essential for making sound election decisions and understanding government policy implications. A well-done political oratory allows leaders to clarify their positions and present evidence and data. Speechwriting for elections often requires addressing complex issues and helping citizens make informed choices about how they want the country to move. Moreover, political speeches serve as a channel for transparency and accountability.

Beyond their informational role, a well-crafted political oratory fosters unity and social cohesion by containing messages of hope, unity and inclusivity. They can transcend political divides and unite people, transcending differences of opinion and background. In times of crisis or uncertainty, campaign speeches provide reassurance and a sense of purpose. Furthermore, campaign speeches help a nation navigate challenges and emerge stronger.

Well-crafted campaign speeches can be transformative in elections by serving as a dynamic tool for candidates to connect with voters, sway public opinion and ultimately change the outcome of an election. When a candidate speaks passionately about issues that resonate with your audience, it creates a sense of trust and authenticity by tapping into the electorate's hopes, fears, and aspirations.

Speechwriting for elections helps to clarify a candidate's policy positions and goals, providing voters with a clearer understanding of what they stand for, allowing them to set themselves apart from their opponents and creating a sense of confidence in their leadership. A well-crafted political speech can sway undecided voters to the candidate's side.

Rousing persuasive communication can galvanize volunteers and grassroots activists , encouraging them to work harder for the candidate, leading to a higher voter turnout among the candidate's base.

Steps to Effective Political Speechwriting

Here are five tips for crafting an effective political speech:

#1: Make time for research.

Digging deep to find relevant information is crucial when writing a political speech because it adds depth and credibility to the discourse. Great research also ensures that the political speech addresses the complexities of voters' concerns. A speechwriter can write informative and persuasive communication by seeking out comprehensive data.

#2: Consider your audience.

Analyzing a target audience is essential for understanding their demographics, values, beliefs, and concerns. It allows speechwriters to tailor their message to resonate with their intended listeners' specific needs and interests. This analysis enables speechwriters to speak directly to the heart of the issues that matter most to the target audience. It also helps avoid potential pitfalls, such as using language or framing that might alienate or offend specific target audience segments.

#3: Draw on the elements of storytelling.

Storytelling in politics is essential for political speechwriters because it helps engage and persuade the audience effectively. Furthermore, storytelling in politics captures the audience's attention by connecting them emotionally with the message. The right message provides a relatable and human dimension to the content. Furthermore, storytelling in politics helps create a cohesive speech that flows seamlessly, ensuring listeners understand and retain key points. Whether it is rallying support for a candidate, advocating for a policy change, or fostering a sense of unity, a well-crafted narrative can convey a compelling vision for the future and ignite a sense of purpose among the audience.

Free AI tools for your campaign

#4: Set the right tone.

A campaign speech must set the right mood because the emotional tone and atmosphere it creates can significantly impact how the audience receives and responds to the message. By establishing a positive and receptive attitude, the audience is more likely to be engaged and attentive to the speaker's message, which can inspire hope, rally support, and forge meaningful connections. Crafting a political speech that is positive and relatable makes the audience more receptive to the speaker's arguments, so it is a vital political communication strategy. A speech promoting a mood of unity helps to bridge divides, bringing people together.

#5: Edit and practice ahead of time.

Editing and rehearsing a political speech is essential because it ensures the message is clear, concise and free from ambiguity. A well-edited speech enhances the speaker's credibility by demonstrating that the candidate has thoroughly researched and prepared their remarks. Therefore, giving speeches can be a key political communication strategy.

Practicing a speech allows the speaker to fine-tune their delivery and tone to maintain the audience's engagement. Furthermore, practice enables the speaker to reinforce the critical points of the speech, ensuring that they communicate central ideas in an easily memorable way.

Examples of Memorable Political Speeches

Let's turn our attention to some political speechwriting examples. These political speechwriting examples can serve as a powerful guide for candidates.

#1: Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Consider Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, as it is one of American history's most impactful political speeches. Presented during the Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the speech was concise, lasting just over two minutes, but its impact was profound. Lincoln eloquently emphasized the principles of equality and liberty and redefined the purpose of the American government as a "government of the people, by the people, for the people." This speech solidified the United States' commitment to democracy and freedom. It also marked a turning point in the Civil War, as it galvanized public sentiment and reinvigorated the Union's resolve to preserve the nation.

#2: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech

Another of the most impactful political speeches was Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This political speechwriting example was pivotal in the American civil rights movement. King's eloquent articulation of his dream for a racially integrated and just society resonated deeply with millions. The speech helped mobilize support for civil rights legislation and highlighted the urgent need for racial equality. King's call for nonviolent protest and his vision for a future where individuals would be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin inspired generations of activists. It was crucial in advancing civil rights legislation, culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

#3: Ronald Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” Speech

One of the most impactful political speeches ever given was the one delivered at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, during which President Ronald Reagan issued a powerful challenge to the Soviet Union by demanding, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" The Berlin Wall, which had divided East and West Berlin for decades, symbolized the Cold War's division. This political speechwriting example indicated the West's commitment to freedom and democracy. While the immediate impact of the speech was limited, it contributed to the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. Reagan's words resonated with people on both sides of the Iron Curtain, serving as a rallying cry for change.

Studying these speeches and tailoring speeches after them and other iconic speeches is a great way to learn public speaking strategies. These American political speeches share the theme of advocating for equality, justice and freedom. They transcended their immediate contexts to become lasting symbols of American ideals and continue inspiring generations of Americans and people worldwide. 

Here are some public speaking strategies to employ based on these inspirational speeches:

Ensure that the central theme of your political campaign communication resonates with the target audience and keep it at the forefront of the speech.

Using metaphors, similes, and emotionally resonant phrases to evoke powerful imagery and emotions in the audience is a critical speech delivery technique that can help your political campaign communications.

Understanding the audience's needs, aspirations, and concerns so that the message connects deeply is a speechwriting best practice you will want to remember.

Incorporating a clear and compelling call to action into the speech is an essential political communication strategy.

Be aware of historical contexts when crafting political persuasions for political campaign communications.

Align messages with the speaker's personality and values.

Employ strategic repetition to emphasize critical political persuasions because it will make them more memorable.

Use speech writing techniques to capture the speaker's authentic voice and beliefs.

Tips for Effective Speech Delivery

Candidates often ask speechwriters to give them speech delivery techniques. They may recommend several public speaking strategies that will help you with effective speech delivery. These include:

Using body gestures and body language to enhance the message's impact is a critical speech delivery technique as it helps convey confidence and credibility so that the audience connects to you better.

Connecting with the audience is paramount because it establishes rapport, fosters voter engagement and ensures the message resonates with the listeners personally. Therefore, it is crucial to remember this idea while focusing on speech delivery techniques as you build your political communication strategy.

Breathing deeply right before giving a speech is a vital speech delivery technique that can help you overcome stage fright as it calms nerves and boosts confidence.

Adapting Your Speech for Different Audiences

Among speech writing best practices is to adapt a speech to different audiences and your audience's demographics. This is essential for ensuring political persuasion as the message is relevant, relatable, and inclusive. Practicing this as you concentrate on other speech writing best practices ensures audience engagement occurs and that they will understand your messaging better.

Another key among speech writing best practices is remembering to be specific during a speech. This is vital as it adds credibility and clarity to the candidate messaging, helping to ensure audience engagement. Therefore, ensure that you use speech writing techniques for persuasive communication that address specific issues and concerns experienced by the audience.

Navigating Ethical Considerations in Political Speechwriting

Honesty is a fundamental pillar of trust and accountability in a democratic society, so when politicians are truthful in their political campaign messaging, they build integrity and foster the public's faith in their leadership. Citizens can make informed decisions when a politician uses truthful political campaign messaging. Therefore, make sure to always practice ethical speech writing.

Ethical speech writing also means avoiding divisive rhetoric because it often deepens existing divisions, polarizes communities, and makes finding common ground on important issues more difficult. Divisive rhetoric hinders constructive dialogue between political opponents. Using speech writing techniques that are inclusive, respectful, and constructive fosters unity, promotes understanding and achieves positive outcomes, which is essential for driving audience engagement in your political campaign messaging.

Leveraging Technology for Speechwriting

Many speech writing resources can help you. Let these speechwriting resources serve as a guide, but do not rely totally on speech writing resources, or you will block out the candidate's personality. Among the most effective speech writing tips is to let speechwriting tools enhance the speech writing process by using them to improve speech writing techniques. Among these speech writing tools, speech writing software is a vital resource that plays a pivotal role in organizing thoughts, structuring arguments, and drafting coherent content while creating political discourse and crafting political messages. Utilizing these effective speech writing tips gives you access to templates, outlines, and organization features that help transform ideas into well-structured political discourses. Even if you usually shy away from technology, try speech writing software.

An easy place to start is Good Party’s AI Campaign Manager , which can help candidates draft launch speeches with ease, saving time and energy. 

Additionally, another favorite among effective speech writing tips is to use research databases. These are invaluable tools for the speech writing process as they allow you to access vast amounts of information, including historical data, statistics, and policy details. Therefore, they are an invaluable speech writing resource, enabling speechwriters to conduct thorough research, fact-check statements, and bolster arguments with credible sources.

Furthermore, grammar and style-checking software is another indispensable software component critical to the speech writing process. This speech writing resource helps to refine language and ensure that the political rhetoric is clear, is grammatically correct, and resonates with the intended audience. These tools help avoid common language pitfalls and enhance the overall quality of the writing.

Another effective speech writing tip is to incorporate digital elements into political discourse, as using them engages a more diverse audience. Integrating visuals, such as infographics and charts, can make complex data more accessible by providing a visual context that aids comprehension. These graphic elements enhance understanding, make the speech more memorable, and help to ensure that crucial candidate messaging resonates with broader demographics.

Speech writing and public relations are intrinsically linked, playing a pivotal role in shaping the perception of individuals. Effective speechmaking in public relations allows for the dissemination of critical messages to target audiences. Through speechwriting and public relations strategies, public figures can build and maintain trust, manage their reputation and foster meaningful connections with voters, underscoring the indispensable synergy between speech writing and public relations in elections.

The Role of Speechwriters in Political Campaigns

Speechwriters often collaborate closely with candidates to help them build political communication skills. These political communication skills include articulating their vision, values and policy positions. Ethical speech writing requires you to lay aside your ideas and write from the candidate's point of view. This effective speech writing tip often begins with in-depth interviews to understand the candidate's personality, goals and key messages. Speechwriters then craft political rhetoric aligning with the candidate's voice and resonating with their intended audience. Regular communication and feedback loops are vital for crafting political messages, allowing for revisions and fine-tuning political communication skills to ensure that inspirational speeches are authentic and compelling. The partnership between speechwriters and candidates when crafting political messages is a dynamic process that must convey the candidate's vision effectively and connect with voters.

However, not all candidates need to hire speechwriters. With Good Party’s AI Campaign Manager , candidates can generate drafts of political speeches, completely for free. Our tools are especially helpful for crafting launch speeches, which candidates can give at campaign launch events and to kick off their campaigns.

Inspirational speeches, meticulously tailored to resonate with diverse audiences and delivered with authenticity, possess the potential to inspire, inform and mobilize voters, encapsulating a candidate's vision and values. Often, the words spoken reverberate in the electorate's hearts and minds. Tailoring speeches in this way gives them the power to shape the outcome of campaigns and the nation's course. Political rhetoric bridges the divide between candidates and voters, uniting diverse communities under a shared vision. Overall, remember that the qualities of a great speech rely on elements of style, elements of substance, and elements of impact.

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Jan 02, 2020

Stump Speech: The Ultimate Speechwriting Guide

by Martín Diego Garcia

Other Resources show related blog posts

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• Write a Political Speech

Stump Speech: Connect With Voters by Creating a Campaign Speech.

Here is our ultimate guide to writing a great stump speech. We all know that the candidate is the campaign’s best asset, and the stump speech is the best campaign tool for delivering a 7C’s (clear, concise, contrastive, connective, creative, compelling, consistent) message and personal story about the candidate and campaign. 

WHAT IS A STUMP SPEECH?  A political Campaign speech has been a staple on the campaign trail since the 1800s and is still a critical tool for modern day campaigns. Your stump speech should be the core message for you campaign and repeated at almost every campaign event or activity. A candidate should be able to repeat their stump speech in their sleep and might just start doing that involuntarily after delivering it a couple of hundred times. The speech should be a quick way for the candidate to answer the following questions for their audience:  

• WHO the candidate is? This should be a short introduction of the candidate’s name and a little background to humanize them to voters. Where you’re from, your family, your connection to the community?
• WHY they are running for this office? There should be a very clear and compelling connection between your person story and the collective challenge your community is facing that has prompted you to run for office. Tell a story about the issue(s) you’re running on. Who specifically is being harmed by these problems? 
• WHAT is the contrast/choice for voters? This is VERY important. You need to lay out your vision for the future and differentiate it from your opponent(s)’s idea for the future of your community. If there is no clear contrast the voters will not have a compelling reason to cast a vote. 
• WHAT is the ask for the audience? Lastly, you need a simple and specific ask for your audience. Do you need them to vote for you? Knock on doors? Donate to your campaign? And by when do you need them to do it? 

HOW LONG SHOULD YOUR STUMP SPEECH BE?  An average campaign speech given at an event, at the doors, on an interview can be between 5-10 minutes in length. However, most often a candidate has about 90 seconds to 3 minutes when on the campaign trail for an introduction. So be prepared! 

Think of the shorter version as a quick introduction like cliff notes or a synopsis. This can be used to start a conversation at the door or introduce yourself on the fly. For the longer version of the speech you are merely adding a little more context and color to the story depending on your audience. 

WHAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR STUMP SPEECH?  Here are the core campaign speech writing components that should be in your speech. They do NOT need to be in this order necessarily, but the speech should have a nature order that flows together. 

• INTRODUCTION: You need to have a hook to grab a person’s (peoples) attention right from the start (be careful with telling jokes unless you’re good at them) and then give the basics – your name and office you’re running for. 
• PERSONAL STORY: Weave in your personal story. What is your motivation for stepping up to run for office? What are the values you hold that are needed in the office or to solve this issue? But whatever your do, please DO NOT list off your resume. No one is interested in hearing that. Trust me.
• PROBLEM STATEMENT: Present a clear and relevant (to audience and electorate) issue that needs to be solved. What is wrong that needs to be fixed? (For incumbents, what needs more work OR to be protected?).  Why do you care about this issue and why is it relevant to the community at large? What is at stake for them? 
• SOLUTION/VISION: What is your solution to solving this program? What skills, experiences or qualities do you have that make you suited to solve this issue? Paint a picture for the audience about what their future could look like if this problem was solved. 
• ASK: What is it you need from the audience you’re speaking to? You need a clear and concise call to action that allows them to be part of your vision and get involved with your campaign. Do you need an endorsement? Donations? Volunteers? Votes? Tell them exactly how they can help be part of the solution. 
• Thank them for their time! 

WHY SHOULD YOU TELL YOUR PERSONAL STORY? 

Stories have been a part of civilization since the dawn of time. Stories have been used to pass down history through generations. It is also how we connect with each other through a shared humanity. It’s no wonder we’re all wired to engage with and react to stories that includes voters! Stories are all around us in books, TV, movies, music, news, brunch, literally everywhere.  As a candidate you’ll get much farther with your constituents by telling a story to show people your vision versus just throwing facts and data at them. 

Utilizing your personal stories can be extremely beneficial due to one thing: it makes you seem normal. One of the issues that America faces today is the lack of care for politics. Candidates who use their personal stories are able to create a positive feeling around their candidacy. Talk about yourself as a way to relate to your audience. Funny stories are great icebreakers. Lastly, and most importantly, always tell the truth. Especially in today’s technological age, it is much easier to find out if a candidate isn’t speaking the truth or is speaking in half-truths.

DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU’RE RUNNING? 

Voters want to know why you are running for office. They want to hear your motivation, so they can see if they trust you or not. Voters know what the problems in their communities are, so instead of repeating them back, tell them how they’ve affected you and your community. 

For example, if education is your core issues, don’t start by throwing out all the stats and facts about struggling, underfunded schools. Start by showing voters how this is affecting actual people, specifically children, talk about a student who was not able to reach their full potential because of the lack of funding or current policies in place. That way, you’re painting a picture and humanizing the issue for voters, so they see it more personally. 

WHY DO YOU NEED TO USE AN EMOTIONAL APPEAL? 

People are not rational beings and we often make decisions based on our emotions rather than the facts. If you look at the sweeping victories for Biden, Obama or Trump the one thing that connects them is that they both got voters to feel something. Biden campaign was based on empathy, Obama’s entire campaign was based on hope and aspiration, while Trump’s was based in fear and division. Two very different strategies but both based in telling emotionally captivating narratives. 

WHY SHOULD YOU AVOID LISTING OFF YOUR RESUME? 

We’ve all been there. Waiting to hear from a candidate and all we get is a rundown of their resume of accomplishment.  Spoiler alert: your degrees and awards won’t buy you love from voters. Yes, having them is important but defining yourself by them is not going to create an emotional connection with your audience. Your stump speech should show not tell your story. It should weave in your accomplishments as supporting evidence but not the main plot line. 

Remember that every  campaign speech will be different, but if you can speak from the heart and tell people your story, they are much more likely to remember you when it comes to casting their vote. So practice, practice, practice and if you need help please feel free to reach out to our team. 

Have questions about writing a stump speech? Drop us a note. 

Questions? Email Us

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What Makes a Great Political Speech?

The best political speeches aren't always the ones that are well-written or well-delivered, says Michael Cohen, author of Live from the Campaign Trail: The Greatest Presidential Campaign Speeches of the Twentieth Century and How They Shaped Modern America .

MIKE PESCA, host:

When we think of great presidential rhetoric, we might think of Washington's farewell, Roosevelt's four freedoms, and John F. Kennedy in 1960. Here's JFK accepting - he gave the famous New Frontier speech. He was accepting the Democratic presidential nomination. In it, he assigned government a new role in the lives of the American people.

(Soundbite of speech)

President JOHN F. KENNEDY: The rights of man, the civil and economic rights essential to the human dignity of all men, are indeed our goal and are indeed our first principle.

PESCA: So is that really a great speech? I mean, for a leader's rhetoric to be vital, it has to surpass the usual platitudinous humdrummery (ph). Former speechwriter Michael A. Cohen has just published a book on that subject. It's called "Live from the Campaign Train: The Greatest Presidential Campaign Speeches of the 20th Century and How They Shaped Modern America." Hello, Michael. How are you?

Mr. MICHAEL COHEN (Former Speechwriter; Author, "Live from the Campaign Train: The Greatest Presidential Campaign Speeches of the 20th Century and How They Shaped Modern America"): Good morning. How are you?

PESCA: So, I asked that about Kennedy because he certainly was great on his feet, and he could turn a phrase. But when we listen to Kennedy today, it sounds even older than 40 or 50 years ago. There's the inversion of phrases like, "ask not" and "ask." You should just say "don't ask" if you want to speak plainly. So the question is, back then, did people just enjoy speechifying? Was it not seen as so foreign? Or has speech these days become so much less formal and more casual?

Mr. COHEN: You know, I listen to Barack Obama today on the campaign trail, and I hear a lot of similarities between his rhetoric and that of John F. Kennedy. I think the words may change, but I think what really makes a great speech is the ideas behind it. And like Kennedy 48 years ago, Obama is trying to cast a message that inspires and energizes voters. And I think one of the things Kennedy did so effectively was inspire Americans, inspire Americans to sacrifice, which is an unusual thing for a candidate to do and sort of a courageous thing to do, and it worked pretty effectively for him.

PESCA: Of the 31 speeches in the book, I think the first one is William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech.

Mr. COHEN: That's right.

PESCA: It's a big one. Everyone quotes it. You say it's the most influential and electrifying campaign speech in American political history. The most?

Mr. COHEN: The most. First of all, when he delivered, he was a relatively obscure Nebraska congressman and was certainly seen as a dark horse to be the Democratic nominee for president. But his oratory was so affecting, people literally jumped out of their seats screaming, throwing coats, and banging umbrellas against the floor at the convention and brought him on to become the nominee. But as far as influential, it was the first speech by a presidential candidate to really talk about expanding the role of government to help the welfare of the American people.

And at the time, that was sort of an unusual concept. You know, in 1888, Grover Cleveland had said, you know, the responsibility of government - of the people is to be loyal to the government, and government does not have a similar responsibility to the people. And he was a Democrat. And within eight years, we had a populous leader like William Jennings Bryan talking about the affirmative role of government.

PESCA: Right. And he scared the hell out of half the Democrats, actually, because he was an economic populist and a populist on issues of war. But my question is, when you read that speech on the page, does it jump out at you? Or was it very much helped by Bryan's theatrical performance?

Mr. COHEN: Absolutely. I mean, it reads very well, and there's some wonderful turns of phrase. But I think what - what makes it a great speech, in a sense, is the delivery, obviously, but also the context in which it was given. That's a hugely importance part of why a speech is great.

PESCA: Let's fast forward half a century. Here's a speech by Hubert H. Humphrey speaking about civil rights and states' rights.

Former Vice President HUBERT HUMPHREY: I feel I must rise at this time to support a report, the minority report, a report that spells out our democracy, a report that the people of this country can and will understand, and a report that they will enthusiastically acclaim on the great issue of civil rights.

PESCA: OK. And there he goes on to say, you know, we have to walk out of the shadow of state rights, and it's a bright sunshine of human rights, great turn of phrase.

Mr. COHEN: Absolutely.

PESCA: Hubert H. Humphrey, William Jennings Bryan, a bunch of the guys in here didn't win. Great rhetoric, does it free you up if you not don't have a chance to win, but is there - is sometimes great rhetoric the enemy of getting elected?

Mr. COHEN: That's a good question. Not often, not usually, but it turns out that sometimes that great rhetoric ends up not necessarily being effective at that exact moment, but effective a little bit later. And the best example of that, of course, is Barry Goldwater, who, in '64, was probably going to lose that race no matter what he did.

PESCA: Right.

Mr. COHEN: He chose to give the most ideologically focused speech of any candidate in pretty much American political history, destroyed any chance of being president, but really shaped the conservative movement, and I think influenced the conservative movement in a very significant way and changed the direction of the party and the country. And there's a great story I have in the book about what George Will says of that speech. You know, it says an election Goldwater won, it just took 16 years to count the votes, which is...

(Soundbite of laughter)

PESCA: Oh, that's a great line. Now, there's a famous quote about speechifying going back to the Greek Republic, and it was comparing Cicero and Pericles, the two great orators at the time. And people said, you know, when Cicero gave a speech, the reaction was what a great speech that was, what great words those were. When Pericles gave a speech, the reaction was, let us all now follow Pericles, so it wasn't reacted to as if it were a speech. To bring it forward, are there certain politicians that you think fall in the Pericles camp? Great speechifying, not that actually inspiring to get you to do something, and others that fall into the - sorry, Cicero camp would be doesn't inspire you, Pericles camp would be does.

Mr. COHEN: Well, I would say the best speechwriter is the person who combines both. And that's actually - that's what we talk about in the book, is that, you know, you look back at a speech, like the "I Have a Dream Speech," and the words are beautiful, the metaphors are gorgeous. But what makes that speech great is not so much the words, it's the ideas behind it.

It's the powerful notion that King was talking about of the sort of idea of, obviously, equality and very much grounded in very basic American values. So, I think, really, the best speechwriters figure out ways to combine the two together to make really great speeches. But in the end, I mean, I think what it comes down to is you could have bad speech givers give great speeches if they find just the right words to inspire people.

PESCA: You were a speechwriter for Bill Clinton? Is that right?

Mr. COHEN: Bill Richardson, actually.

PESCA: Bill Richardson, OK.

Mr. COHEN: A little different.

PESCA: Yeah. Yeah, but he has a nice beard now. I think that's freed him up a little bit.

Mr. COHEN: I think a little bit, yeah.

PESCA: Well, here's my question. I just want to lay that out there, because we know you're going to have ideological differences with George W. Bush and Michael Gerson. But Michael Gerson, his former speechwriter, now Washington Post columnist, has been lauded for writing great speeches for the president. My question is, can they really be considered great speeches if, when you look at them, it has George Bush promising things, like standing with people all over the world who want democracy, but not necessarily delivering on those things? I mean, we haven't intervened in Burma, last time I checked.

Mr. COHEN: Yeah. It's one of those interesting dynamics. I mean, he - Gerson's speeches are really good, and he is a great speechwriter because he writes well for his principle. I mean, he understands Bush's style. He writes in such a way that - and he doesn't write for him anymore, obviously, but when he did, he understood how to write them effectively. But of course, yes, your point's absolutely valid. His second inaugural speech is a great speech that was not followed through at all. It doesn't change it being a great speech. Maybe it affects whether or not we think he's a great president or not, and I think...

PESCA: Well, I would argue it might. I would argue it might affect a great speech, because you could write the most soaring words, but if they're just empty words, then they're not that soaring. The reason that you think it's so inspiring, it's like a president saying it who can do something about the situation.

Mr. COHEN: Sure. That's absolutely true. Some speeches, if they sort of ring hollow, are not going to be as effective. I think, for an inaugural speech like that, that kind of soaring rhetoric tends to work. Although, I think, for a lot of people, myself included, sort of looked at it with a jaundiced eye, and for good reason.

PESCA: Senator Obama is a very busy man, so if he had a sec - ten seconds - one sentence that you could give him, advice-wise, what would you tell him?

Mr. COHEN: It's funny, you know, I was just thinking about this recently. You know, he's running sort of what I kind of call the Roosevelt card, in the sense that Roosevelt, in '32, ran basically on not necessarily embracing liberalism, which Bush has a fond amount of liberalism...

PESCA: Oh, but the thing is he needs a second - a sentence, do you got one quick? I'm sorry.

Mr. COHEN: He has to remember that people are voting to reject conservatism and not embrace liberalism.

PESCA: Love it. Michael A. Cohen, author of "Live From the Campaign Trail." Thanks very much, Michael. This is the Bryant Park Project from NPR News.

Copyright © 2008 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Persuasive Presidential Speech: Expert & Effective Guide

Table of Contents

A solid presidential speech can be an effective tool to inspire and rally your supporters, but it also requires careful consideration and preparation. This article will guide you if you are wondering  how to write a persuasive presidential speech .

As president, your speeches are crucial to communicating with the people you represent. Writing a persuasive presidential address is a task that requires comprehensive planning and a strategic approach. Your words must inspire action, connect people, and shape the future, whether you’re President of the United States or a school association.

Here are a few helpful tips for crafting a well-written persuasive presidential speech.

How to Write a Persuasive Presidential Speech

When it comes to writing a presidential speech , simplicity is key. Your audience should be able to understand your message without getting lost in complex language or wordy sentences. 

The following are some guidelines to assist you in convincing your audience and effectively communicating your message:

1. Create an Outline

Create an outline of your main talking points. This will assist you in remaining focused on the issues that are most important to your audience.

2. Keep Your Sentences Short and concise.

Keep sentences related to your main message short and to the point. This will help your audience stay engaged and make it easier for them to understand your message.

3. Show Gratitude

Be grateful for your audience’s attendance and make it feel like you are speaking to them individually. This will help build a personal connection with your audience and make them more receptive to your message.

4. Be Clear About How you Will Solve any Problems You are Addressing.

Outline the problems your audience is facing and how you propose to solve them using the problem-solution structure. This will make it easier for your audience to comprehend your strategy and why you are the best person for the task.

5. Focus on the positives

If you are writing a campaign speech, let your speech focus on the positive aspects of your campaign and avoid insults or negativity. This will help you maintain a positive image and avoid alienating your audience.

6. Use repetitive phrases

To emphasize important concepts, use recurring words and phrases throughout the speech. Your message will become more effective due to the audience’s ability to remember it.

7. End with a call to action

Motivate the audience to take action and thank them for listening to your speech. This will help you end on a high note and inspire your audience to support your campaign.

8. Take a cue from great speakers.

Take inspiration from successful public speakers and politicians. Observing the techniques and strategies used by successful leaders can help you craft a more effective speech.

How to Start a Presidential Speech

The introduction of a presidential speech is crucial in setting the tone and capturing the audience’s attention . Here are some tips for starting your speech effectively:

• Begin with a greeting and acknowledge any important individuals in the audience. This will help you establish a personal connection with your audience and show respect for their presence.
• Briefly explain the reason for your speech and consider using humor to break the ice, if appropriate. This act will help you connect with your audience and increase their receptivity to your message.

Planning Your Speech

Effective planning is key to delivering a strong presidential speech. When preparing your speech, take into account the following steps:

1. Choose a few key issues to address .

These should be problems that are important to your audience and that you are passionate about solving.

2. Highlight your involvement in your community. 

Show your audience that you are passionate about the community and active in it. Clubs, student government, events you’ve attended or helped plan, and volunteer work you’re working on make your audience more interested.

3. Emphasize your leadership skills

Find and use an approach that emphasizes your leadership skills and decision-making abilities. Use examples from your experience to demonstrate your ability to lead and make informed decisions. This will help your audience see that you have the skills and qualities necessary to be a successful leader.

4. Use Simple and Clear Transitions

Use simple transitions to help the audience follow along with your speech and comprehend its organization and main points. Link your point in simple ways. This will make it easier for your audience to pay attention and follow along with your speech.

5. Use Powerful Language and Imagery

Use powerful language and imagery to make an emotional connection with the audience. Using descriptive language and evocative imagery can help your audience feel more connected to your message and more invested in your campaign.

6. Practice and seek feedback

Practice your speech and consider seeking feedback from friends or advisors. By practicing your speech, you can improve your delivery and fine-tune your message. Seeking feedback from others can also help you identify areas for improvement and make your speech more effective.

Delivering Your Speech

Once you have composed and planned your speech, it’s time to focus on delivering it effectively. These tips will help you deliver a confident and compelling presidential speech:

• Use confident body language and facial expressions . By standing tall, making eye contact, and using confident gestures, you can project confidence and credibility to your audience.
• Use a clear and strong speaking voice . Practice speaking slowly and clearly to help your audience understand your message and stay engaged.
• Use appropriate pauses and emphasis. Use pauses to impact your message. By varying your pace and emphasizing key points, you can keep your audience’s attention and make your message more powerful.
• Use props or visual aids to help illustrate your points.  By using props or visual aids, you can help your audience better understand your message and make it more memorable.
• Engage with your Audience.  By asking questions, making jokes, and interacting with your audience, you can build a personal connection and make your speech more engaging.
• Show Passion . Show your passion for the issues you are addressing. This will help your audience see that you are committed to making a difference and care about their concerns.

Presidential Campaign Speech Example

My fellow Americans, I am Adam Brown, and today I stand before you as a candidate for the esteemed position of school president. I understand that some of you may have concerns about my qualifications. I am the youngest student ever to run for this office. However, I assure you that I can lead our student body to new heights of success and achievement.

I possess many qualities that make me uniquely suited to this role. First and foremost, I am a compassionate and inclusive leader. I’m always willing to listen to the voices and perspectives of my peers before making any decisions. I’m also a hardworking and persistent individual with a track record of successfully completing any task I set my mind to.

I am an active and engaged member of our school community, always seeking ways to get involved and make a lasting impact. I bring a fresh perspective and new ideas, having come from another school and ready to bring fresh air to our own.

If you elect me as your school president, I promise to work tirelessly on behalf of our student body. I will always put your needs and interests first. I will never let you down and will always strive to be the best leader I can be. Thank you for considering me for this vital role.

As a president or aspiring president, your speeches are important for inspiring and mobilizing people to take action. With these tips on  how to write a persuasive presidential speech , you can effectively communicate your message and convince your audience.

If you’re running for school president or leading a country, these tips can help you deliver a compelling speech.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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6 Key Components of a Winning Stump Speech

As a candidate for elected office you’re going to be giving plenty of speeches, so you’ll need to have your stump speech down pat.

Strong public speaking conveys confidence and leadership to voters.  

It assures donors and supporters that you’re the right person for office.

Unfortunately, too many candidates are not good public speakers.

They don’t have a key message or theme.

Their words wander all over the place.

They don’t make sense and wind up confusing their audience.

I witnessed this the one night by a candidate who is running his own campaign.

He had good ideas. He had a solid resume.

His speech however did not effectively convey that he’s up for the job.

With a little fine-tuning he would be much better.

A good stump speech makes a huge difference in a candidate’s race, their fundraising, and in gathering endorsements.

That’s why I always work with my candidates on their stump speeches.

I’ve even turned the things I teach candidates into a premium course The Secrets of a Winning Stump Speech .

Most of my clients have never ran for office before.

They’re not used to public speaking, even in front of small groups.

Over the course of my career, I’ve noticed that there are six key components that make for a good stump speech.

If you follow these, you’ll be in good shape as a candidate and might even surprise yourself as a public speaker.

1.  Who You Are and What You’re Running For

Never assume that the voters know who you are.

They likely don’t.

Your mission as a candidate for office is to build your name recognition and support for your candidacy.

Even if you’ve been introduced by someone, always begin your stump speech by telling your audience who you are and the office your running for.

If you’re married, say so and tell them how long you’ve been married.

If you have children, list your kids and how old they are, and what kind of things they’re into.

Should your spouse, children, parents, or other family members be present, be sure to point them out by name and thank them for their support for your campaign — especially if it’s your spouse.

It’s a cardinal sin in the political world to not introduce or thank your spouse.

2.  Where You Come From

Voters like to elect real people from real places with real lives.

After you introduce yourself and the office you’re running for, tell them where you grew up, a little about your family life, and how that impacted your life.

If you’re running in a community where you’ve lived all of your life, or most of it, make sure that’s highlighted in your stump speech.

Mention the schools you went to, where you played sports, your first job in town, your favorite place to eat, or that your parents still live there.

This creates an instant connection with the voters and will make it easier for them to become supporters.

3.  What You’ve Dones

Experience matters to voters.

They want to know that you’ve accomplished something in your life.

In your stump speech, tell them about where you graduated from college (if you did), your military service (if you served), the jobs you’ve had (if you’ve never had a job or a business  — why are you even running?)

Voters want to know these things for two reasons:

1) it shows you can set goals and accomplish them

2) it demonstrates you’re not afraid of hard work

This is especially true in today’s political environment when the perception of elected officials is that they’re only in office to cash for themselves and their family members, rather than work hard and accomplish something for their constituents.

Have you noticed that critics of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump each use this line of attack?

Talk about your professional experience — the things you’ve done and learned that have prepared you for office.

If you volunteer or are active in community organizations, put this in your stump speech.

But please be careful not to come off as bragging.

That will turn off voters rather than endear them to you.

Yes, Donald Trump violates this admonition often, and it reflects negatively his approval ratings and poll numbers.

If Trump who can get away with so much that other candidates cannot is still damaged by this, don’t think you’ll fare any better.

4.  What You Want to Accomplish

Voters like candidates who have a plan.

They want to know why you’re running for office and what you intend to do once you’re elected.

The best way to clarify this is by understanding what your campaign is about in one sentence, as detailed in this article.

When giving your stump speech, incorporate your One Sentence into your remarks and build upon it.

It’s best to have three specific things you want to accomplish.

Your goals should align with three problems that need to be fixed.

Hopefully you’ve done some polling or other type of opinion research so you’ll know what issues and problems are foremost on your voters’ minds.

State each problem, describe how you’d like things to be better, and outline the steps you believe that can be taken to get there.

While you need to show that your plan is realistic, be careful not to get into too many specifics with your solutions to these problems.

While you need to know the specifics for when you are elected, and when people ask you for details, giving specifics and details in your stump speech will bore your audience.

Bored voters don’t convert into supporters.

Excited voters do, plus they tell their friends to vote for you.

5.  It’s Not About I, It’s About We

One of the biggest pitfalls candidates for elected office can face is making it all about themselves.

While you may be the one running, elections are not about candidates.

They are about voters.

Elections are where the voters get to have their say on people and policy.

If you make it about you, you’ll fall into the “I, me, mine” trap, become labeled as a “politician” and turn off the voters you need.

When giving your stump speech always change the word “I” to the word “we” when it’s possible.

Clearly, when talking about where you grew up, went to school, work, and your family, you’re going to use “I.”

But when you are talking about what you want to do in office, things that you’ve been a part of in your community, or accomplishments you were involved in as part of a larger organization, use the word “we.”

Speaking to your audience with the word “we” creates a bond and buy-in with your ideas.  That’s the effect that you’re after with your stump speech.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton severely violated this rule.

She had supporters say, “I’m with her.”

It didn’t work because she was asking the voters to focus on her as the candidate — rather than focusing on the voters and the shared mission they were on together.

Donald Trump spun that around masterfully and told his supporters “I’m with you.”

6. Close Strong

Closing your stump speech the right way is important.

After you’ve listed what you want to do in office, tell the audience that you can’t do this without their help.

Weaving “we” throughout your stump speech ties this in nicely for your finish.

If you’re talking to voters, ask them for their votes.

If you’re talking to donors, ask them for their contributions.

If you’re talking to leaders of an organization that endorses, ask them for their support.

There’s no reason for anyone to give you what you want unless you specifically ask for it.

As one professor I had always said, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”

Make the ask then it’s time for you to go.

End by thanking your audience for their time.

Always do this. Tell them you appreciate taking the time to listen to you.

Grateful candidates tend to be winning candidates.

Candidate Take-Aways

If you follow these six rules you’ll be able to craft an effective stump speech.

Go figure yours out and write it out word for word.

After you write it out, go and learn it.

Learn it and practice your stump speech, but don’t memorize it.

You don’t want to come off like a robot.

If it helps, write an outline of our speech and refer to that when you’re speaking.

The first speech you give will likely be difficult and you may hate doing it.

That’s fine.

Keep giving your stump speech.

You’ll get better at it each time you speak.

Before you know it you won’t need an outline to refer to, you won’t be nervous, and people will be coming up to you when you’re finished telling you what a great speaker you are.

Now if you’d like to go deeper and learn exactly how to write, rehearse, and deliver a solid stump speech, t ap this link for instant access to the premium course Secrets of a Winning Stump Speech.

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10 Modern Presidential Speeches Every American Should Know

By: Allison McNearney

Updated: October 18, 2023 | Original: February 16, 2018

Presidential speeches reveal the United States’ challenges, hopes, dreams and temperature of the nation, as much as they do the wisdom and perspective of the leader speaking them. Even in the age of Twitter, the formal, spoken word from the White House carries great weight and can move, anger or inspire at home and around the world.

Here are the 10 most important modern presidential speeches selected by scholars at the Miller Center —a nonpartisan affiliate of the University of Virginia that specializes in presidential scholarship—and professors from other universities, as well.

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address

When: 1933, during the Great Depression

What Roosevelt Said: “This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself… Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war.”

Why It Was Important: Roosevelt is embarking on something audacious, proposing that the national government has an obligation to provide an economic safety net for its citizens to protect them from the unpredictability of the market. In making a case for bold intervention in markets, he’s also making a case for a stronger executive at the top. But for all the disruptive talk in this speech, Roosevelt delivers reassurance. I think a hallmark of the speeches that we remember the most by presidents from both parties are ones that not only address the circumstances at hand, but also give people some hope.

— Margaret O’Mara, professor of history, University of Washington

2. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Fireside Chat 'On Banking'

When: March 1933

What Roosevelt Said: “My friends, I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking…confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith. You must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system, and it is up to you to support and make it work. It is your problem, my friends. Your problem no less than it is mine. Together, we cannot fail.”

Why It Was Important: Beginning with the simple phrase, “My friends,” the stage was set for the personalization of the presidency that continued throughout FDR’s administration. Roosevelt received an outpouring of support from the public and used the power of media to connect with his constituents. Recognizing publicity as essential to policymaking, he crafted a very intricate public relations plan for all of his New Deal legislation. The media allowed him to present a very carefully crafted message that was unfiltered and unchallenged by the press. Many newspapers were critical of his New Deal programs, so turning to radio and motion pictures allowed him to present his version of a particular policy directly to the people. Today, we see parallels in the use of Twitter to bypass opponents and critics of the administration to appeal directly to the American people. And that all started with FDR and his first fireside chat.

— Kathryn Cramer Brownell, Assistant Professor of History, Purdue University

3. Dwight Eisenhower’s 'Atoms for Peace' Speech to the United Nations

What Eisenhower Said: “I feel impelled to speak today in a language that, in a sense, is new. One which I, who have spent so much of my life in the military profession, would have preferred never to use: That new language is the language of atomic warfare…Against the dark background of the atomic bomb, the United States does not wish merely to present strength, but also the desire and the hope for peace. To the makers of these fateful decisions, the United States pledges before you, and therefore before the world, its determination to help solve the fearful atomic dilemma. To devote its entire heart and mind to find the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life.”

Why It Was Important: Eisenhower believed in the political power of nuclear weapons, but in this speech, he talks about their dangers. He speaks about the importance of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and proposes that the U.S. and Soviet Union cooperate to reduce their nuclear stockpiles. Keep in mind that there were just 1,300 nuclear weapons in the world in 1953 compared with more than seven times that number today. But Eisenhower is also a realist. He understands the importance of nuclear deterrence and he reminds his audience that his proposal comes from a position of American strength, not weakness.

— Todd Sechser, Professor of Politics, University of Virginia and Senior Fellow, Miller Center

4. Dwight Eisenhower’s Farewell Address

What Eisenhower Said: “Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportion…In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic process.”

Why It Was Important: That speech gave a name to our modern era. Eisenhower was telling us that we now live in a time when government, the military and the corporate world all have joined together into a powerful alliance that shapes the basic democratic functioning of the country. Eisenhower understood that Americans wanted both security and liberty, and it’s a fundamental paradox of the American experiment. In order to have security, we need to have a large defense establishment. But he asks, who is going to be the guardian of our freedoms in a world where we have to have a permanent arms industry? What he was saying in the speech is that we have to learn how to live with it, and control it, rather than having it control us.

— Will Hitchcock, Randolph P. Compton Professor at the Miller Center and professor of history, University of Virginia

5. Lyndon B. Johnson’s 'Great Society' Speech at the University of Michigan

When: May 22, 1964

What Johnson Said: “For a century, we labored to settle and to subdue a continent. For half a century, we called upon unbounded invention and untiring industry to create an order of plenty for all of our people. The challenge of the next half-century is whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of our American civilization. Your imagination and your initiative and your indignation will determine whether we build a society where progress is the servant of our needs, or a society where old values and new visions are buried under unbridled growth. For, in your time, we have the opportunity to move not only toward the rich society and the powerful society, but upward to the Great Society. “

Why It Was Important: LBJ called on all Americans to move upward to a Great Society in which wealth is used for more than personal enrichment and is instead used to improve communities, protect the natural world, and allow all Americans, regardless of race or class, to fully develop their innate talents and abilities. The message of Johnson’s speech resonates today because we have lost not only that self-confidence and that idealism but also the vision to recognize that prosperity can be used for something greater than the self.

— Guian McKee, Associate Professor of Presidential Studies, the Miller Center

6. John F. Kennedy’s Address on the Space Effort

When: September 1962

What Kennedy Said: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the Industrial Revolution, the first waves of modern invention and the first wave of nuclear power. And this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space, we mean to be a part of it, we mean to lead it.”

Why It Was Important: We were in a new age of technology and space exploration. President Kennedy made Americans feel that there was nothing that we couldn’t do, no challenge we couldn’t conquer. It was before Vietnam, before Watergate, before the deaths of our heroes like Jack and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King —when we had a sense in this country that if we all joined together we could fulfill our loftiest goals.

— Barbara Perry, Director of Presidential Studies, the Miller Center

7. Ronald Reagan’s Speech Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of D-Day

When: June 6, 1984

What Reagan Said: “The rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers at the edge of the cliffs shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades, and the American rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs they began to seize back the continent of Europe… (to veterans) You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and Democracy is worth dying for because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.

Why It’s Important: That day in June of 1984, before  Band of Brothers  and  Saving Private Ryan  ever came to be, President Reagan paid tribute to the heroism of those we now call the Greatest Generation, the men and women who liberated Europe and ensured freedom for generations to come.  But for the first time, he also tied resistance to totalitarianism in World War II to opposition to the Soviet Union during the Cold War . President Reagan’s words at the end of that speech, again in the second person, to our Allies that “we were with you then, and we are with you now,” when he called upon the West to “renew our commitment to each other, to our freedom, and to the alliance that protects it” kept the coalition in place that later defeated the Soviet Union and ended the Cold War. The “boys of Pointe du Hoc” saved the world, and, in many ways, they did so more than once.

— Mary Kate Cary, Senior Fellow, the Miller Center

8. Ronald Reagan’s Address on the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

When: January 1986

What Reagan Said: “The future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted but to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them…The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye, and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God.”

Why It Was Important: In our current era of political divisiveness, we tend to think of presidents as partisan leaders. But the president’s role as “comforter in chief” is one of the most important functions. The great presidents are distinguished by their ability to set aside partisanship in times of tragedy to speak words that comfort a nation and remind us that, despite our differences, we are all, in the end, Americans.

— Chris Lu, Senior Fellow, the Miller Center

9. George W. Bush’s 'Get On Board' Speech

When: After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks

What Bush Said: “When they struck they wanted to create an atmosphere of fear, and one of the great goals of this war is…to tell the traveling public: Get on board. Do your business around the country. Fly and enjoy America’s great destination spots. Get down to Disney World in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life the way we want it to be enjoyed.”

Why It Was Important: In short, Bush was saying don’t let the terrorists deter you from spending—the economy needs you. More specifically, Bush’s remarks demonstrated the importance that consumption had come to play in the economy by the twenty-first century. He was carrying out what had become an essential responsibility of the 21st-century president. Even as Bush modeled what it meant to be a strong commander in chief, he juggled another role that had become almost as important: “consumer in chief.”

— Brian Balogh, Dorothy Compton Professor of History, the Miller Center

10. Barack Obama’s 'A More Perfect Union' Speech

What Obama Said: “Contrary to the claim of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve to think as to believe we can get beyond our racial divisions on a single election cycle or with a single candidate, particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own. But I have asserted a firm conviction, a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people, that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice. We have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union…What we know, what we have seen, is that America can change. That is the true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope, the audacity to hope, for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.”

Why It Was Important: Conventional wisdom wouldn’t recommend a speech on race. But Obama ran to the challenge, not away from it. Uniquely positioned to do so, he welcomed listeners to places many have never experienced—a predominantly black church, a cringe-worthy conversation with a beloved relative of a different race, the kitchen tables of white Americans who feel resentful and left behind—and he recounted Americans often divergent perspectives. He asked us to be honest about our past while connecting it to the structural barriers faced by African Americans and other people of color today…Direct, honest, but nuanced, Obama believed that most Americans were ready to hear the truth and make a choice, to move beyond racial stalemate, face our challenges, and act accordingly.

 — Melody Barnes, a Senior Fellow, the Miller Center

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Political Campaign And Stump Speech Examples Reveal The Candidate

Candidates for political office make stump or campaign speeches to help voters learn about themselves and their positions throughout the campaign. Here are some examples of political campaign and stump speeches.

In the dynamic world of politics, one powerful tool remains a constant in winning over voters’ hearts and minds: the stump speech. This iconic oratory tradition has shaped countless political campaigns, delivering a potent blend of charisma, policy promises, and persuasive rhetoric.

From fiery appeals for change to heartfelt tales of personal struggles, stump speeches have become the backbone of political communication.

This article explores compelling examples of stump speeches throughout history, unveiling their enduring impact on electoral campaigns and their crucial role in shaping the political landscape.

Table of Contents

What Is A Stump Speech In A Political Campaign?

A stump speech is a standard, rehearsed speech a political candidate delivers during their campaign. It typically outlines the candidate’s core message, policy positions, and personal background, aiming to connect with voters, inspire support, and differentiate themselves from opponents.

A stump speech is essentially an elevator speech where the candidate makes a pitch to constituents.

How Does A Stump Speech Vary From A Campaign Speech?

While a campaign speech is a broader, more comprehensive address covering various topics and contexts, a stump speech is specifically tailored to connect with local audiences during campaign stops.

A stump speech focuses on key themes, repeated consistently across different locations, with an emphasis on connecting personally with voters, conveying authenticity, and generating enthusiasm for the candidate’s platform.

What Should A Politician Say About Themselves?

Politicians should highlight their relevant qualifications, experience, and achievements when speaking about themselves , demonstrating their ability to address the issues. They should also convey their personal values, integrity, and dedication to public service, establishing trust and credibility with the electorate.

How Do You Start Off A Campaign Speech?

“Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens, I stand before you today with a deep sense of gratitude and determination to embark on a journey together toward a brighter future for our community.

“Thank you all for gathering here today as we embark on a transformative campaign to shape a better tomorrow for our beloved community. With your support and collective efforts, we can build an inclusive, prosperous future filled with opportunities for all.”

What Should You Say In A Campaign Speech?

In a campaign speech, it is crucial to articulate your vision, share specific policy proposals, and address the concerns and aspirations of your constituents. Highlight your experience, values, and dedication to serve while emphasizing the need for unity, progress, and collaborative solutions to tackle the challenges our community faces.

Here is an excerpt:

“In this campaign, we must address the pressing issues affecting our constituents daily, such as education, healthcare, and economic stability, while fostering unity and collaboration to create a stronger, more resilient community for generations to come.

Together, we can bring about meaningful change, empower our citizens, and build a brighter future that reflects the hopes and dreams of each and every one of us.”

How Long Should A Campaign Speech Be?

A campaign speech should be concise and focused, aiming for around 5 to 10 minutes, allowing you to effectively communicate your message while maintaining the audience’s attention and engagement. Remember, it is crucial to prioritize quality content over excessive length to make a lasting impact on your listeners.

What Should You Do After Finishing A Stump Speech?

After delivering a stump speech, engaging with the audience is essential, and you must also show genuine interest in their concerns and feedback. Take the opportunity to connect with individuals, answer questions, and build relationships to establish trust and support for your campaign.

What Should Be Said In The Conclusion Of A Stump Speech?

In the conclusion of a stump speech, it is crucial to summarize your main points and reiterate your core message, leaving a lasting impression on your audience. You can also end the address by inspiring and rallying your supporters, calling them to action, and emphasizing how important their involvement is to the campaign.

Different ways to end a stump speech can include:

• Call to action: Encourage your audience to get involved, vote, volunteer, or contribute to your campaign, emphasizing the collective power of their actions.
• A personal story or anecdote: Share a heartfelt story your audience can connect with on an emotional level, reinforcing your commitment to their concerns and aspirations.
• Inspiring quote: Close your speech with a memorable and inspiring quote that encapsulates your campaign’s values or captures the essence of your message.
• Vision for the future: Paint a vivid picture of the future you envision for your community, highlighting the positive impact your campaign can make and leaving your audience hopeful and motivated.

The best way to end a campaign speech ultimately depends on your personal style, the context, and the specific objectives of your campaign. Consider what resonates most with your audience and aligns with your campaign’s tone and goals.

Stump Speech Examples That Define Candidates

These nine stump speeches are notable for their ability to connect with audiences, convey a powerful message, and leave a lasting impact on listeners:

• Barack Obama’s 2008 “Yes We Can” speech as presidential candidate became iconic, inspiring hope and calling for change. Ex-President Obama’s message of unity and progress resonated with millions of Americans.
• Martin Luther King Jr.’s history 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington advocated for racial equality and justice for African Americans. His powerful words continue to inspire generations.
• Delivered during World War II, Winston Churchill’s “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech rallied the British people and affirmed their determination to resist Nazi aggression, symbolizing their resolve and resilience.
• Elizabeth Warren’s speeches on income inequality and economic fairness, such as her 2012 speech at the Democratic National Convention , have gained attention for advocating for a more equitable society.
• One of Donald Trump’s most notable stump speeches was the one delivered at the Republican National Convention in July 2016, where he formally accepted the party’s nomination for running for president. This speech emphasized his platform on immigration, national security, and job creation while highlighting his outsider status and promising to “Make America Great Again.” It resonated with many of his supporters and helped solidify his message during the campaign.
• One of Joe Biden’s most memorable speeches was his address in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in August 2020. In this speech, Biden presented his economic recovery plan, emphasizing the need for unity, addressing systemic racism, and rebuilding the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He focused on his vision for “ Build Back Better” and stressed the importance of creating jobs, supporting working families, and tackling the climate crisis.
• A notable Hillary Clinton speech was her address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016. In this speech, Clinton accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president and focused on themes of unity, inclusivity, and progress. She discussed her policy proposals, highlighted her experience and qualifications, and called for the American people “to come together to address the challenges facing the nation.”
• Ronald Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” speech is often regarded as one of the most impactful political speeches in American history and played a significant role in shaping his political career and eventually leading to his own presidency in 1981. Reagan delivered this speech supporting Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign on October 27, 1964, just days before the U.S. presidential election.
• Abraham Lincoln’s most famous stump speech was his Cooper Union Address, delivered on February 27, 1860, in New York City. The speech primarily focused on the issue of slavery and its expansion, but Lincoln also touched upon foreign policy concerns. In the Cooper Union Address, Lincoln argued against the spread of slavery into new territories, emphasizing its moral and constitutional implications.

Adam Howarth

Adam covers the topic of Public Speaking for Digital Authority. From his first experience of oratory with his school debating society to his more recent experiences of promoting the local business scene in Wrexham, Wales, he has always been involved in public speaking.

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Campaign Speech

When you think of campaign speeches, the first thing that pops out of your mind is election period– be it a presidential election or a school-associated election. But just like a persuasive speech , you must be able to get your message across the public otherwise, they would never vote for you. Sure, you are famous and well-loved by the public, but what makes you different from the rest of the other renowned and beloved politicians and other student leaders? That is where you need to stand out from the rest of your competitors.

• Speech Examples
• Special Occasion Speech

All competitors promise the same thing– programs that will benefit the masses and a better state of living. Take for example the victory of current Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. In the 2016 national elections, he won in a landslide vote. Despite his many controversies and jokes bordering on insults, he is seen as a genuine genuine person who speaks from within (no matter how offensive he may seem). But perhaps what made him win the elections were the promises he made to the Filipino people such as: shifting to a federal form of government, addressing abortion and contraception issues, creating an improved agrarian and tax reform program, and forging a partnership with China while maintaining strong relationships with the United States, among others. You may also see youth speech .

Campaign speeches do not only try to persuade the masses to vote for them, but also to do their best to excite, and motivate, and compensate for weaknesses in other parts of the campaign. Good speakers try their best to make it look natural, but truth be told, it is actually harder than it looks. There are some specific techniques that you can apply in order to make your speech more effective. Whatever purpose your campaign speech will be used for, make sure that you deliver it in a way that will convince everyone that you are the right candidate for the job. You may also see  Self-Introduction Speech .

Listed below are some campaign speech examples you can use:

1. delivering your own student council speech.

Speak slowly.  Never, ever rush your campaign speech. If you do so, you might end up not making sense at all. Even when your content is top-notch, but if your delivery and speaking skills are not really good enough, it will not mean a thing, especially to your audience. Research actually shows that people fear delivering a speech more than death itself. It is perhaps because of the anxiety and tension placed on you as you give your speech. To deal with that, just breathe in the middle of your speech. The moment you begin inhaling and exhaling, use that time to recover the words that you are going to say and then, continue your speech.

Talk to the audience like you’re having a conversation . Talk casually, but not too casually. Remember, when you deliver a campaign speech, the audience is not going to be just your friends, but also your colleagues, peers, former instructors, and people with authority or power. Though it does not hurt to crack a joke once a while to lighten the atmosphere, make sure that it is not only the jokes they recall. Speak casually, yet speak in a way that the public’s undivided attention is needed. You may also see orientation speech .

Keep your words simple and direct. Students are known to have a short attention span which makes it a challenge for the candidates to get all their points across without boring the audience halfway. Deliver it in a way that is short and easy enough to make your audience understand all the points that you are trying to emphasize, especially with your promises. You may also see presentation speech .

Read it aloud to see how it sounds.  Best to try and practice your speech in front of a mirror. Try to visualize yourself speaking in front of the student body. Once you’ve done so, rehearse like it is going to be your first and last speech you will be delivering to the students. If ever you need assistance in doing so, it is best to grab a friend to help guide you on the points you should emphasize. You may also see motivational speech .

2. Structuring a Campaign Speech

Tailor your message to your audience in specific ways. Before you start writing, think about the audience you are addressing. Who is this speech for: the students or the general public? Remember, content is king and presentation is queen. Even though there is no right or wrong way in presenting your speech, each type of audience is different that the same campaign speech would have the same expected impact twice. Understand your audience well enough to make adjustments to your speech as to custom-fit the necessary points you wish to deliver towards them.

Outline your speech. All forms of writing has a beginning, middle and end. Outlining your thoughts first will help you stay on track as you write the speech. The beginning needs to catch people’s attention and raise the questions you’re going to answer. The middle needs to provide the answers, and the end connects the answers back to the questions. In very simple terms: You tell them what you’re going to tell them. Then, you tell them. Then you tell them what you told them.

Make your point quickly. Once you begin your speech with a theme or a main idea, go directly with what you are trying to say. For example, if you beat around the bush too much, you will not be going anywhere. You have to convince them to listen to you. There’s a lot of ways to get this done. You can use a story, a challenge, a joke, or just vividly describe a problem. You just need to get the audience’s attention quickly. Earn their attention and don’t expect it to come to you. You may also see informative speech .

Support your theme. Once you’ve got their attention, don’t let go. The middle of your speech needs to explain the issues you raised in the introduction speech and convince people that you can do something about them, but you need to vary the way you tackle the issues.

You want to have a good mix of facts, feelings, and action. If you only talk facts, your audience will get bored. Only talk feelings, and you’ll wear them out. Only talk action, and it invites disbelief, because you haven’t offered enough factual and emotional support for your argument. You may also see thank-you speech

Raise the stakes at the end. The conclusion is just as important as the introduction. It’s the last chance you have to leave an impression, so make sure they remember you by raising the stakes. Make it bigger than that—something that makes them feel weaker for not supporting you and stronger for supporting you. You may also see appreciation speech .

Play to your strengths. Identify which appeals you have on your side and emphasize those aspects of your argument. Should you be lucky enough to have all three, you don’t have much more to do than make sure all the words of your speech are in the right order. However, most arguments are going to be weaker or stronger in one or more areas.You may also see declamation speech .

If your biggest appeal is associational, your argument is less about specific points than it is about you. Design your speech to emphasize your biography and why it makes you trustworthy. People elect a person, not a set of ideas.

If your biggest appeal is emotional, keep your speech short, so that the audience doesn’t notice the logical flaws. Foe example, adjust your energy level to the audience’s. If they’re agitated, start slowly. If they’re bored, then start off at a higher energy level. Always work to an emotional crescendo, however. Never start at the emotional level you want to finish at. You may also see informative speech .

If your biggest appeal is logical, break up the facts with feeling. You can’t risk boring your audience to death, so you need to break up your logical propositions into bite-sized chunks. Think of it as the spoonful of sugar principle—a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.You may also see welcome speech .

Make your audience understand with clear logical appeals. Logical appeals are actually the strongest appeals, but they are the slowest to take effect. It takes longer to make someone understand a problem than it does to make them mad–or make them believe you’re a part of their group.You may also see farewell speech .

Stoke the passions of your audience with an emotional appeal. Emotional appeals are some of the most powerful appeals, particularly when you want to turn your audience against something or someone.

Whether you end up winning or losing at the end of the day, accept that defeat with grace and humility. Never allow that loss to discourage you in doing better the next time around. Adapt, learn, grow, and observe. Even in victory, there is always room for improvement. The art of persuading others is an art that takes time to master. It is a slow and long process, but you will eventually get there. Keep that head high and walk in confidence! You may also see leadership speech .

Campaign Speech Generator

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The Perfect Republican Stump Speech

We asked former republican speechwriter barton swaim to write a ​totally pandering stump speech for an imaginary gop presidential candidate — one who ​espouses only positions that a majority of republicans agree with (we also did the same with democrats ). ​here’s the speech he wrote, including notes to explain his phrasing, behind-the-scenes pro tips on appealing to republican voters and the data he used to decide which positions to take..

By Barton Swaim

Research by Harry Enten and Sam Henick , graphics by Ella Koeze , production by Gus Wezerek

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Who’s ready to stand up for America? [applause] Who’s ready to take this country back? [applause] Who’s ready to send a message to the elites in Washington? [slightly waning applause]

You know, the Democrats want to make this election complicated. They want to convince you that taking more money out of the private sector and giving it to bureaucrats in Washington will somehow improve the economy.

How would that work? They’ll tell you, “It’s complicated; just trust us.”

They want to convince you that giving Iran’s extremist thugs whatever they want — and trusting that they won’t build a nuclear weapon — will somehow make the Middle East more stable.

How, exactly? “Well, it’s complicated. Just trust us. Just trust the Obama administration. Just trust the Democratic leadership in Congress, like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.”

They’re going to try to convince you that putting government in charge of your health insurance is somehow going to improve our health care system. You might wonder how putting government in charge of anything makes it more efficient or improves its quality.

It hasn’t exactly worked that way with the Postal Service, but hey — it’s complicated. You’ll just have to trust them.

[pause; wait for a few people to boo]

It’s actually not complicated, and Americans aren’t going to trust them anymore.

In fact, this election boils down to a few very simple principles. To understand these principles, you don’t need an advanced degree in the latest trendy subject from an Ivy League school. You don’t need to get your opinions from the New York Times. You don’t need to be some policy wonk in Washington, and you don’t need to be a member of the intelligentsia.

You really just need two things to understand what this election is about: You need your God-given intelligence, and you need a deep and abiding love for this country.

The principles are these.

On the economy, the best thing the government can do is get out of the way.

We’ve seen it time and again in American history: When we remove the burdens of over-regulation and allow Americans to spend and invest more of their own money, we unleash their potential to create prosperity and opportunity for everybody — especially those struggling to make ends meet.

Our Democratic friends seem to think we can improve our economy by passing a few laws. So they want to raise the minimum wage. That’s great. I worked in a job making minimum wage once, and if you had asked me if I thought the minimum wage should be raised, I would have probably said “sure.” (I was 15, OK? Cut me some slack.) But Democrats know as well as you do that mandating an increase in the minimum wage — while it may sound great — stunts the private sector’s ability to get new people into the workforce. So people already in the workforce get raises, and people looking for a job will find it that much harder because employers can’t afford new workers.

We know government has a duty to look out for the poor. But never at the expense of making the poor dependent on public aid. We need to encourage states to reform welfare eligibility rules to ensure we’re not encouraging dependency.

Now President Obama and his allies in Congress want to raise the threshold for overtime pay. So they actually think — they actually think — that politicians and bureaucrats in Washington have a better idea of who ought to get paid what salaries than the people running businesses right here in [whatever town we’re in].

On trade, we must embrace the reality that we’re in a global economy while never failing to safeguard the American economy.

The Democratic Party is still held hostage by the labor unions — coercive and outdated pressure groups that still think American workers can’t compete with any other country in the world.

We can’t turn a blind eye to currency manipulation and human-rights abuses, but as Republicans we know that the American economy is the best in the world and that we can compete with anybody, anywhere, any time.

On government spending, we need to speak the simple truth: Spending more money will not somehow reduce the federal deficit or magically reduce the budget.

It’s sad that we even have to point this out. President Obama and his Democratic allies on Capitol Hill told us in 2009 that if we spent several hundred billion dollars on an “economic stimulus,” we’d improve the economy and somehow reduce the deficit.

It didn’t happen.

We were told that passing Obamacare, with its massive expansion of Medicaid, would somehow help to balance the budget.

Obviously, that didn’t happen. Because you don’t spend more to balance the budget. You spend less.

We’ve got to take a more realistic approach to spending in this country. That starts with taking a hard look at welfare programs that encourage dependency and simply don’t work. We need to act quickly on deficit reduction — we can’t keep kicking the can down the road on tough budget questions.

Our budget deficit is killing us — we’re spending exponentially more than we have, and sooner or later it’s going to catch up with us. And so to bring the deficit down, we’re going to have to make some decisions that — let’s face it — are gonna make a lot of people mad. We’re going to have to cut programs, and any time you do that, special interests will fight like demons to keep you from doing it. But if we’re going to save this country from a fiscal apocalypse, that’s what we’re going to have to do, and I need you to stay engaged when the fight comes.

Any time there’s a budget crisis, the Democrats’ first move is to raise taxes. But the first move has always got to be cutting government spending.

There’s a time and a place to talk about revenue, but for the Democrats, raising taxes is the answer to every question, the solution to every problem. As president, I’ll make sure Washington understands this: The bloated budget of the federal government gets cut before a single American pays more in taxes.

On foreign policy, the right approach is actually a very simple one. We need to strengthen our allies and distrust our enemies — not the reverse.

This administration gets it the wrong way around. We strengthen our enemies by, for example, cutting arms deals with them, knowing full well those enemies will use the provisions of the deal to seek and obtain the nuclear weapons we want to keep out of their hands.

Let me be absolutely clear: The Iran nuclear deal is a joke. The Iranians intended to violate the letter and spirit of that agreement the moment they signed it.

And while we’re strengthening our avowed enemies in Iran, we’re doing next to nothing to help our allies in Israel, Ukraine and elsewhere. President Obama has openly feuded with the prime minister of Israel, doing everything but actually campaigning against him. Meanwhile the administration lets Vladimir Putin virtually annex half of Ukraine without offering anything more than empty rhetoric as an objection: We’re not supplying our Ukrainian allies with weaponry, we’re not strengthening our naval presence in the Black Sea, we’re doing almost nothing to further NATO’s plans for a missile defense system that would check Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.

I will change that.

When President Obama came into office, he said he wanted to bring a new approach to the world, and many of us were ready to see what he could accomplish. But he has systematically encouraged our enemies and insulted our allies. We don’t need to take America back to some Cold War mentality, but we do need to speak and act with moral clarity about the naked aggression of Russia; about terrorist governments in Syria, the Palestinian territories and North Korea; and about the expansionist ambitions and ongoing human-rights abuses of China.

And this administration’s confused and irresolute foreign policy has resulted in total incompetence on the question of Syrian refugees. Clearly the United States can’t sit by and do nothing while families flee the savage violence of ISIS and the Assad regime. Many of our ancestors fled violence when they came to these shores — think of persecuted religious minorities in the 1600s or Jews seeking refuge from Western Europe in the 1920s and ’30s — so we’re not going to turn a blind eye to these people.

At the same time, we can’t — as the administration is proposing to do — simply shuffle thousands of men with possible terrorist connections into the United States and hope they don’t cause any trouble once they’re here. The attacks in Paris have reminded us that terrorism is alive and well in the West, and now is not the time to let down our guard. So yes, we’ve got to welcome people fleeing persecution, but we absolutely cannot let men with terrorist ambitions take advantage of our hospitality.

We’ve got to address this problem at its source — Syria. Does that mean sending troops into Syria? I don’t think we know the answer to that yet, but I’ll tell you what it doesn’t mean: It doesn’t mean we should declare an intention to stay out of Syria. You don’t proclaim your intentions to your enemies in the way this administration has done. Never. [with annoyed expression] Why would we give Assad and ISIS that kind of assurance?

On immigration, again the principle is very simple: Let’s keep those who work hard and contribute to our economy, and let’s keep the lawbreakers out.

This administration has not led on immigration. It has followed, and as a result it has failed badly. We were told — for years we were told — the president would produce a plan to deal with the catastrophe that is our immigration system. All we got was an executive order saying illegals didn’t have to obey the law.

No plan. No proposed legislation. No negotiation with Congress. Just an executive order.

That’s not “immigration reform,” and it’s not leadership. [shouting] That’s sheer lawless autocracy.

President Obama, we still have a Congress in this country, and we fought a war to get rid of a king. Illegal executive orders are no substitute for leadership.

On health care, we need to put the individual in charge, not bureaucrats. It’s as simple as that.

The misnamed Affordable Care Act did precisely the opposite by empowering the federal government to commandeer the nation’s health insurance market. When I’m president, item No. 1 is going to be reverse the entire bureaucratic nightmare we call Obamacare.

We can’t just say “get rid of Obamacare,” though. We’ve got to replace it with commonsense free-market reforms — reforms like allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines and getting rid of mandated insurance benefits that drive up costs for everyone.

On abortion, we need to regain the moral clarity we’ve lost.

We need to remember what the pro-life movement understood nearly a half-century ago, when abortion was first legalized across the nation by judicial fiat. And that is this: that human life is sacred, that we as a nation have a right to protect human life with our laws, and that the unborn aren’t to be treated as morally insignificant collections of cell tissue and sold like meat at a supermarket.

When I’m president, I will make it my mission to see that Planned Parenthood is not only defunded but investigated.

That brings us to the courts. We need people on the bench who understand that they’re not cultural warriors — they’re judges.

Unfortunately the Court again overstepped its bounds by unilaterally redefining marriage. Whatever your view on same-sex marriage, I think we can all agree that five justices in Washington, D.C., have neither the wisdom nor the right to redefine an institution.

I reject that understanding of the court’s role. As president, I can promise you that I’ll appoint federal judges and Supreme Court justices who understand their role: to rightly interpret the laws and the Constitution, not to invent new moral imperatives and impose them on an entire society.

If you feel the same way on these issues, and I know the vast majority of Americans do, I need you to get out there and do your part. I need you to stay engaged, [dramatic hand gesture, as if pointing to a plane in the distance] all the way to November.

Because remember: This election isn’t about me, or Hillary Clinton, or anyone else. It’s about where we’re headed as a nation, and I believe we’re headed up toward economic freedom, self-governance, strength abroad and prosperity at home.

Thank you, and may God bless America.

Illustration by Joel Plosz.

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How to Write a Campaign Speech for Kids

How to give an annual day speech in school.

Writing a campaign speech for kids isn't all child's play. Children are smart and informed voters, and can tell when you are lying about giving out free chocolate every Friday after you are elected. Your speech has to stand out and catch their attention, usually in under two minutes. Writing a good and appropriate children's campaign speech increases your chances for winning the election.

Start off with a good, clean, short joke. The children hear speech after speech and are going to start to tune out what is said. You need to say something to catch their attention. Getting them to laugh will give them a little break.

Introduce yourself and declare the office that you are running for. Not making yourself known could be a big mistake later when the children are voting and remember who you are.

Talk about what you will do if elected. Everyone has ideas about how the school could be run better — maybe more vending machines in the cafeteria, maybe off-campus lunches, maybe getting to wear shorts on Friday. Tell your peers how you will work hard to change things for the better.

Thank the students for their time. Remember to be gracious and to treat the audience and the other candidates alike.

Keep the speech short. Usually, you will be given a time limit of up to two minutes. Make sure that you do not run over or you could be disqualified.

• Coin a slogan that you can use on your posters and in your speech.
• Do not make any promises that you are not willing to keep. Nobody likes a liar.

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• Write Out Loud: How to Write a Speech for Kids

Chance E. Gartneer began writing professionally in 2008 working in conjunction with FEMA. He has the unofficial record for the most undergraduate hours at the University of Texas at Austin. When not working on his children's book masterpiece, he writes educational pieces focusing on early mathematics and ESL topics.

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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Remarks by President   Biden at a Campaign Reception | Chicago,   IL

Private Residence Chicago, Illinois

5:27 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT:  I think I should leave now.  (Laughter.)

Thank you, Michael and Cari, and — for the introduction, but even more than that, for your friendship.  You know, this is an unusual business.  Some of the people you meet, that you work with, both help you in your — in your campaigns and also work with you become your closest friends, like Billy Daley.  He doesn’t want to — he wants to deny it, but he can’t.  (Laughter.)

Folks, look, you know, you hosted me back in 2019, the first con- — the first event we did for the 2020 campaign.  And this is the first event in Chicago we’ve done for this campaign.  So, thank you again.

And I know your husband is not here.  He’s doing the solar eclipse, but no one has helped me more than your husband and you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

And, look, the governor is — has a hell of a job to do.  But — but I know that — that one thing about us we have in common: We both married way above our station.  (Laughter.) 

And, as I said, I want to thank my friend Billy for being my friend for such a long time.  Bill, you’re a hell of a guy, and there’s no way to get rid of me — (laughter) — none, none, none. 

Look, it’s awful- — always special to be back in Chicago.  Election night 2008 was a — was a special moment.  We were excited to bring the convention here.  And 2024, here again in August. 

Trust me when I say you governor and the entire Illinois delegation, including my buddy Dick Durbin, were determined to make it happen.  I’m not exaggerating.  (Laughter.)  Not even a little, tiny bit.

And I want to thank Michael for your serving as president of the host committee and for all you do to support us.

Look, I’m looking forward to the con- — this convention, for real.  You know, as some of you in here know me very well, I — you know, you always want to win when you run.  That’s always just the competitive nature of it.  But this is an election that I feel more obliged to win than even want to win, because the alternative is not very good.  The alternative for the country is, I think, really somewhat worrisome.

You know, we head into spring.  We’re genuinely excited about the momentum building in our campaign.  So far, 1.5 million contributors have contributed to the campaign — 1.5 million.  Five hundred fifty thousand new contributors since the last election.  97 percent of those contributors contributed under $200.

And we’re ramping up the campaign headquarters, field offices, hiring staff all across the country.  Before Trump and the Republicans have opened one single office, we’ve opened hundreds.

And while the press doesn’t write much about it, we have 18 national polls in the recent past, just since — I guess it was about four weeks — three, four weeks now — where those 19 polls, we’re ahead of Trump.  They never write that, but we’re ahead of Trump since my State of the Union Address, including the battleground states, like Michigan and Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania, one of the most reputable polls has us winning by 10 points.  I don’t take any of this for granted because I don’t think the polls are able to accurately predict like they used to because of the nature of how hard it is to get in contact with people.

But, look, I know not everyone is feeling the enthusiasm.  And so, just the other day, I — a defeated-looking man came up to me and said, “Mr. President, I’m being crushed by debt.  I’m completely wiped out.”  And I said to say, “Sorry, Donald, I can’t help.”  (Laughter.)  “I can’t — I can’t do much about it.”

Look, Trump is in trouble, and he knows it.  Just today, he released a video where he’s scrambling on the abortion issue — scrambling on the issue.  He’s worried voters are going to hold him accountable for the — overturning Roe v. Wade and for the cruelty and chaos that it’s created.

Well, the bad news is, for him, he bragged about overrowing [overturning] Roe v. Wade.  The vo- — voters are going to hold him accountable.  Voters will hold him accountable in the — for the 14 states where abortion is now illegal in all cases, even rape or incest, because of — Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land.  Voters are going to hold him accountable for the extreme six-week bans that exist, the women who have been turned away in emergency rooms, the women who have mo- — lost — nearly lost their lives or had their — had to flee their states to get care they needed.

For 50 years, women in America did not have to worry about a fundamental right.  It didn’t matter where they lived.  It didn’t matter whether — wh- — where they were.  It didn’t matter.  It was a fundamental right, and Trump took it away.  Now women in America today have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had.

And this is outrageous, in my view.  Mark my words, it’s going to be — move millions of voters — women and men — to the polls this year.  And I’ve said many times: Trump and the MAGA crowd don’t have a clue about the power of women in America.  But they’re not ab- — they’re about to find out.  They’re about to find out.

Look, no one — I’ll just be very blunt about it; the press is here — no one trusts Donald Trump.He’s made a political deal to get rid of Roe v. Wade.  Now he hasn’t — he’s already realized that political deal with his MAGA friends may be imposing a national ban, and if they put one on his desk, he said he’d sign it. 

That’s never going to happen, if I’m elected.  But as long as I’m president, I’m going to veto any national ban on choice.  Kamala and I are determined to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land.  If you give us a Democratic Congress next time around, we’re going to do just that.

And, folks, look, chaos is nothing new to Trump.  His presidency was chaos.  Trump is trying to make the country forget how dark and unsettling things were when he was president. 

But we’ll never forget.  We’ll never forget lying about COVID, telling Americans to drink bleach.  (Laughter.)  No, it’s not a — if you did- — if it didn’t happen, it’d sound bizarre.  But it was bizarre.

We’ll never forget his love letters to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and his admiration for Putin, which he still exhibits.  We’re never going to forget waiting for the tear-gassed innocent protestors outside the White House, just so he could hold a Bible upside down and — at a nearby church.

And, by the way, now he compares himself to — to Jesus Christ.  I find it fascinating.  I find it fascinating.  He also talks about how he’s like Nelson Mandela — persecuted like Nelson Man- — I mean, saying these things.  (Laughter.)

If you didn’t — if you haven’t heard them come out of his mouth, you’d think I’m making it up. 

Well, we’re never going to forget the insurrection on January the 6th, one of the darkest days in history.  And he did not a single thing to stop it — not a single thing — one of the worst derelictions of duty of any President of the United States in the history of the United States. 

And, look, anybody want to go back to that?  I don’t think so.  Look — look how far we’ve come: 13 million new jobs; over 300 jobs — three hundred thou- — 300,000 jobs just this last month; 26 months of — two years of unemployment under 4 percent; more people have health insurance today than ever before in the history of the country. 

And we looked at Big Pharma.  We looked at them for a long time.  We’ve tried like hell to get them under control.  But finally — finally, we won.  Medicare can now negotiate what price they’ll pay with Big Pharma, bringing down the cost of insulin from $400 a month to $35 a month.  And so much more to come.

We’ve made historic investments in rebuilding the country, in computer chips, combating climate change, gun violence.  But the first — I put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, as I promised I’d do.  And I could go on.

But the — but all — but this is all at stake.  Trump wants to get rid of all of it.  He’s made no bo- — all of it — all of it.  Trump wants to terminate — I love his phrase, “terminate” — the Affordable Care Act.  Why?  Because Obamacare — and when Bill was helping the President — is — is what the Affordable Care — Healthcare Act is.  It’s Obamacare on steroids.  But he can’t — because it was Barack Obama, he wants to get rid of it. 

From the very beginning, he’s determined to get rid of cheaper prescription drugs.  Why?  Because the drug companies hate them. 

They’re determined to get rid of the climate — he’s coming after the climate bill.  Why?  Because the companies hate it.

And he’s determined to get rid of so- — to reduce Social Security, rai- — raise the age to get rid of Medicare. 

Look, the fact of the matter is the biggest threat to — Trump poses to our demo- — is to our democracy.  And, you know, all — all that is at risk in 2024: the freedoms, our democracy.

Trump only embraces the violence of — not only embraces — embraces the violence of January 6th, he’s running on it.  Do you ever see his ads?  He’s running on it.  He calls the insurrectionists who are in prison now — he calls them “patriots.”  And he says, if reelected, he wants to pardon them.

Now Trump says if he loses again, there will be another “bloodbath” — his phrase, not mine.  It’ll be a “bloodbath” if he loses again.

Well, folks, we must say with one voice as Americans — as Democrats, independents, Republicans — there’s no place for political violence in America — none, zero, never.  Period. Let me close with this.  This election is about competing visions for America.  Trump’s vision is one that is really full of anger and hate and revenge and retribution.  He looks at America and sees a failing nation — his phrase, not mine — his phrase: “a failing nation.”  He’s dead wrong.

I have a very different view of America — and I mean this from the bottom of my heart — one of hope and optimism.  I see an America where we defend democracy, we don’t diminish it.  I see an America where we protect the freedoms — the freedom to vote, the freedom to choose — not take them away.

I see an America where the economy grows from the middle out and the bottom up, not just the top down, and where working — and where working people finally have a shot — finally have a shot, where healthcare is a right not a privilege.  I see a future where we save the planet from a climate crisis and our country from gun violence and still grow significantly. 

And this — look, folks, this election is about democracy, freedom in America.  I wish the stakes weren’t this high, but they are.  That’s why I need you.  I know we can do this together.

I’ve never been more optimistic about our future.  And I [we] have to remember who we are.  We’re the United States of America. 

I told a couple of you in the past that, before Dr. Kissinger died, 10 days before, I got a phone call: Would I talk to him?  So, I called him, and he said something fascinating to me.  And I knew him because I was a young senator when — during the Vietnam War, when he was Secretary of State and we used to argue like hell. 

And he said, you know — he said, “Not since Napoleon — not since Napoleon has Europe not looked over their shoulder at Russia with dread and fear and concern, until you guys came along.”  And he said, “What you’re done, you’ve strengthened NATO, you’ve expanded NATO, you’ve set into motion where the next six decades can be de- — decades of peace in Europe, not insecurity, because of what you’ve done.”

Well, what’s he doing now?  He refuses to — we had the ability to get a deal where we finally continued to support Ukraine.  He got on the phone and called the Republican senators and said, “Don’t vote for it.  Don’t be for it.”  Why?  Because he doesn’t want to offend Putin.  He has a secret plan.  I bet I know what the secret is.  That what you’re going to do is — he’s going to work out something, if he’s president, where he gets Ukraine to give up a big chunk of its land that has been invaded in order to get peace. 

Look, folks, I’ve been doing this job in politics for a fair amount of time.  I know that sounds strange for a 40-year-old guy to say that.  (Laughter.)  But all kidding aside, we are, as Madeleine Albright said, the essential nation.  The rest of the world looks to us.

Who fills the vacuum if we’re not there?  I mean it sincerely.  And we’re not — we’re not sending American troops.  Who fills the vacuum, though, if we’re not there?  What happens if we’re not there?

Every international meeting I attend — and I knew — I think Bill would agree that the reason Barack asked me to be vice president was because of my background in foreign policy.  I’ve known most of these heads of state for a long time.  I know all of them now as well. 

Every international meeting I attend — and Madeleine Albright was right about us being essential nation — not because of me, because I’m the President of the United States of America, every one — one of them, they’ll get to me in the corner before the meeting is adjourned and grab my arm and say, “You can’t let him win.  My democracy is at stake.”  And not about me.  They really, genuinely worry about their democracies.

What happens?  What happens in Europe?  What happens if we don’t do what we’ve been doing able to keep China where it was?  What happens if we don’t continue to maintain these allegiances?

Folks, look, there’s a great deal at stake, but I’m confident — I’m absolutely confident the American people are ready to face the challenge.  And we — because if we don’t, we’re going to have a real problem.  And I think they know it.

So, what you’ve done is you put me in a position to be able to fund a campaign.  As I said, we have significant contributions from significant group of people all across the country.  And they’re Democrat, Republicans, and independents.

And so — and, by the way, I promise you, we’re putting it to good use.  We’re opening hundreds of headquarters and so on and so forth all across the country.  And we’re just getting this rooted in everyday campaign techniques that are going out, particularly in the states that are the toss-up states.

So, I think we’re going to be in good shape, but only because of you, if it occurs.  We have to win.  We have to win.  Democracy, I think, depends on it, for real.

So, thank you very much for your confidence.  And I promise you, I’ll do everything in my power not to let you down.  (Applause.)

5:41 P.M. CDT

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Biden bets on a beefed-up campaign operation: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of  From the Politics Desk , an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, we examine how Joe Biden is building a massive campaign operation. Plus, national political correspondent puts Donald Trump's new abortion stance in historical context.

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Biden is beefing up his campaign. Trump appears to be lagging behind. 

By peter nicholas, allan smith, vaughn hillyard, adam edelman and ben kamisar.

President Joe Biden has been scooping up record-making donations and plowing the money into an expanding campaign operation in battleground states that appears to surpass what Donald Trump has built thus far.

Flush with $71 million cash at the end of February — more than twice that of Trump’s campaign — Biden parlayed his fundraising advantage into a hiring spree that now boasts 300 paid staffers across nine states and 100 offices in parts of the country that will decide the 2024 election, according to details provided by the campaign.

Trump’s advisers would not disclose staffing levels, but his ground game still seems to be at a nascent stage. His campaign hired state directors in Pennsylvania and Michigan last week, people familiar with the recruitment process said.

Do you have a news tip? Let us know

Combined, the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have fewer than five staff members in each of the battleground states, said two Republicans familiar with the committee and the Trump campaign’s organizational structures in 2020 and 2024.

At this point in 2020, the Trump Victory organization already had state directors, regional directors and field organizers on the ground in battleground states, testing field operations and activating volunteers, the two people said.

“This is like comparing a Maserati to a Honda — 2020 had staff and the bodies in place to turn out the vote,” one said. “This current iteration is starting from ground zero, and we’re seven months out from the election. It makes no sense and puts them at a huge disadvantage to Biden, who is staffing up in droves.”

The dynamic illustrates how Trump and Biden are waging different bets on the path to victory in November.

Biden’s view is that a muscular campaign operation will impress upon voters that he’s championed popular policies and will propel them to completion if re-elected, his advisers said. The question is whether brick-and-mortar offices and phone banks will be enough to overcome nagging doubts about his age and fitness.

Trump faces a different predicament. His political strength has always been rooted more in an emotional bond with his loyal base than in any political apparatus. He’s running strong in the polls, but is awash in dramas, distractions and several ongoing trials. 

Read more →

Trump tries to chip away at the growing gender gap

Analysis by steve kornacki.

Trump is set to run this fall with an abortion stance that no Republican nominee has taken since 1976 — which, perhaps not coincidentally, was the last election before the emergence of the “gender gap” that has loomed over American politics for decades now.   

Trump announced Monday that he wants the issue left to the states, declining to take a stand on a federal abortion ban. It’s similar to the position that President Gerald Ford staked out when he sought a full term 48 years ago. That was the first presidential election held in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had deemed abortion a constitutional right.

In response to that decision, the GOP’s ascendant conservative wing demanded a constitutional amendment to override Roe and prohibit nearly all abortions. But Ford sought a middle ground and argued that Roe should simply be reversed and the matter remanded to each state. While Ford did narrowly lose to Jimmy Carter that year, the most striking feature of the result — at least from today’s vantage point — is the complete lack of a gender gap. Among both men and women, per exit polling data, Carter edged out Ford by the exact same margin.

This hasn’t happened since. Four years later, Ronald Reagan, who had run against Ford from the right in the 1976 primaries, won the GOP nomination and staked out more conservative turf on cultural issues. Out from the GOP platform went support for the Equal Rights Amendment; in was a call to ban abortion through a constitutional amendment. That fall, Reagan defeated Carter in a landslide, but among women his margin was just one point. It was with men that Reagan ran up the score, crushing Carter by 17 points.

The gender gap was born. And as every subsequent GOP platform has pledged support for a “human life amendment” to the Constitution, it has endured.

Certainly, abortion isn’t the sole reason for the gender gap. The 1980 GOP platform was part of a broader rightward shift and a long-term cultural, demographic and geographic reorienting of the party’s coalition. And it’s also true that on the issue of abortion itself, there isn’t a massive gender gap. A Pew Research Center survey last year showed broad support for legal abortion in most or all cases, with men only marginally less supportive than women.

The backdrop for the current abortion debate differs from 1976 in a significant way, with Roe v. Wade now struck down. Still, Trump’s position, like Ford’s, does put him at odds with conservatives who favor federal action to restrict or even outlaw abortion across the country. Whether this will sway any voters in his favor is an open question. But with the gender gap climbing to all-time highs in the last two elections, Trump is calculating that this will at least help him chip away at it.

🗞️ Today’s top stories

• 🌵 Abortion in Arizona: The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a near-total abortion ban dating back to 1864 is enforceable. Voters in the battleground state may be able to weigh in on the issue this fall, as abortion rights groups seek to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. Read more →
• ☀️ Speaking of Arizona: The Arizona Senate race will be one of the most competitive in the country, and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is making a play for the middle by shirking the “progressive” label . Gallego and Republican Kari Lake also spoke with New York magazine for a deep dive on the race. Read more →
• 🫸 Major hurdles: Biden has promised to restore Roe v. Wade as part of his re-election campaign, but he would need to defy a litany of challenges to make that happen. Read more →
• 🏃 High turnover: Election officials are leaving their jobs at the highest rates in decades, new research reveals, putting thousands of new officials in place to oversee a tense and high-stakes 2024 presidential contest. Read more →
• 🚗 It’s electric: “Bloodbath,” “kill” and “assassination” are some of the words Trump has used to warn about a push toward electric vehicles, a top issue in battleground Michigan. Read more →
• ⚖️ Impeachment trial delayed: House Speaker Mike Johnson will delay sending articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate until next week. Read more →
• 🏀 Toasting a Huskies win: The UConn Huskies’ victory in the NCAA men’s basketball championship over Purdue will also net Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont root beer, a sugar cream pie and a pork tenderloin from Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb. Read more →

That’s all from The Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at [email protected]

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Dear Fellow Shareholders,

Across the globe, 2023 was yet another year of significant challenges, from the terrible ongoing war and violence in the Middle East and Ukraine to mounting terrorist activity and growing geopolitical tensions, importantly with China. Almost all nations felt the effects last year of global economic uncertainty, including higher energy and food prices, inflation rates and volatile markets. While all these events and associated instability have serious ramifications on our company, colleagues, clients and countries where we do business, their consequences on the world at large — with the extreme suffering of the Ukrainian people, escalating tragedy in the Middle East and the potential restructuring of the global order — are far more important.

As these events unfold, America’s global leadership role is being challenged outside by other nations and inside by our polarized electorate. We need to find ways to put aside our differences and work in partnership with other Western nations in the name of democracy. During this time of great crises, uniting to protect our essential freedoms, including free enterprise, is paramount. We should remember that America, “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” still remains a shining beacon of hope to citizens around the world. JPMorgan Chase, a company that historically has worked across borders and boundaries, will do its part to ensure that the global economy is safe and secure.

In spite of the unsettling landscape, including last year’s regional bank turmoil, the U.S. economy continues to be resilient, with consumers still spending, and the markets currently expect a soft landing. It is important to note that the economy is being fueled by large amounts of government deficit spending and past stimulus. There is also a growing need for increased spending as we continue transitioning to a greener economy, restructuring global supply chains, boosting military expenditure and battling rising healthcare costs. This may lead to stickier inflation and higher rates than markets expect. Furthermore, there are downside risks to watch. Quantitative tightening is draining more than $900 billion in liquidity from the system annually — and we have never truly experienced the full effect of quantitative tightening on this scale. Plus the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East continue to have the potential to disrupt energy and food markets, migration, and military and economic relationships, in addition to their dreadful human cost. These significant and somewhat unprecedented forces cause us to remain cautious.

2023 was another strong year for JPMorgan Chase, with our firm generating record revenue for the sixth consecutive year, as well as setting numerous records in each of our lines of business. We earned revenue in 2023 of $162.4 billion 1 and net income of $49.6 billion, with return on tangible common equity (ROTCE) of 21%, reflecting strong underlying performance across our businesses. We also increased our quarterly common dividend of $1.00 per share to $1.05 per share in the third quarter of 2023 — and again to $1.15 per share in the first quarter of 2024 — while continuing to reinforce our fortress balance sheet. We grew market share in several of our businesses and continued to make significant investments in products, people and technology while exercising strict risk disciplines.

Throughout the year, we demonstrated the power of our investment philosophy and guiding principles, as well as the value of being there for clients — as we always are — in both good times and bad times. The result was continued growth broadly across the firm. We will highlight a few examples from 2023: Consumer & Community Banking (CCB) extended its #1 leadership positions and grew share year-over-year in retail deposits, credit card sales and credit card outstandings (adding close to 3.6 million net new customers to the franchise); the Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB) maintained its #1 rank in both Investment Banking and Markets and gained more than 100 basis points of Investment Banking market share; Commercial Banking (CB) added over 5,000 new relationships (excluding First Republic Bank), roughly doubling the prior year’s achievement; and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM) saw record client asset net inflows of $490 billion, over 20% higher than its prior record.

In 2023, we continued to play a forceful and essential role in advancing economic growth. In total, we extended credit and raised capital totaling $2.3 trillion for our consumer and institutional clients around the world. On a daily basis, we move nearly $10 trillion in over 120 currencies and more than 160 countries, as well as safeguard over $32 trillion in assets. By purchasing First Republic Bank, we brought much-needed stability to the U.S. banking system while allowing us to give a new, secure home to over half a million First Republic customers.

As always, we hold fast to our commitment to corporate responsibility, including helping to create a stronger, more inclusive economy — from supporting work skills training programs around the world to financing affordable housing and small businesses to making investments in cities like Detroit that show how business and government leaders can work together to solve problems.

We have achieved our decades-long consistency by adhering to our key principles and strategies (see sidebar on Steadfast Principles below), which allow us to drive good organic growth and promote proper management of our capital (including dividends and stock buybacks). The charts below show our performance results and illustrate how we have grown our franchises, how we compare with our competitors and how we look at our fortress balance sheet. Please peruse them and the CEO letters in this Annual Report, all of which provide specific details about our businesses and our plans for the future.

STEADFAST PRINCIPLES WORTH REPEATING (AND ONE NEW ONE)

Looking back on the past two+ decades — starting from my time as Chairman and CEO of Bank One in 2000 — there is one common theme: our unwavering dedication to help clients, communities and countries throughout the world. It is clear that our financial discipline, constant investment in innovation and ongoing development of our people have enabled us to achieve this consistency and commitment. In addition, across the firm, we uphold certain steadfast tenets that are worth repeating.

First, our work has very real human impact. While JPMorgan Chase stock is owned by large institutions, pension plans, mutual funds and directly by single investors, in almost all cases the ultimate beneficiaries are individuals in our communities. More than 100 million people in the United States own stocks; many, in one way or another, own JPMorgan Chase stock. Frequently, these shareholders are veterans, teachers, police officers, firefighters, healthcare workers, retirees, or those saving for a home, education or retirement. Often, our employees also bank these shareholders, as well as their families and their companies. Your management team goes to work every day recognizing the enormous responsibility that we have to all of our shareholders.

Second, shareholder value can be built only if you maintain a healthy and vibrant company, which means doing a good job of taking care of your customers, employees and communities. Conversely, how can you have a healthy company if you neglect any of these stakeholders? As we have learned over the past few years, there are myriad ways an institution can demonstrate its compassion for its employees and its communities while still strengthening shareholder value.

Third, while we don’t run the company worrying about the stock price in the short run, in the long run we consider our stock price a measure of our progress over time. This progress is a function of continual investments in our people, systems and products, in good and bad times, to build our capabilities. These important investments will also drive our company’s future prospects and position it to grow and prosper for decades. Measured by stock performance, our progress is exceptional. For example, whether looking back 10 years or even farther to 2004, when the JPMorgan Chase/Bank One merger took place, we have outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the Standard & Poor’s Financials Index.

Fourth, we are united behind basic principles and strategies (you can see the principles for How We Do Business on our website and our Purpose statement in my letter from last year) that have helped build this company and made it thrive. These allow us to maintain a fortress balance sheet, constantly invest and nurture talent, fully satisfy regulators, continually improve risk, governance and controls, and serve customers and clients while lifting up communities worldwide. This philosophy is embedded in our company culture and influences nearly every role in the firm.

Fifth, we strive to build enduring businesses, which rely on and benefit from one another, but we are not a conglomerate. This structure helps generate our superior returns. Nonetheless, despite our best efforts, the walls that protect this company are not particularly high — and we face extraordinary competition. I have written about this reality extensively in the past and cover it again in this letter. We recognize our strengths and vulnerabilities, and we play our hand as best we can.

Sixth, and this is the new one , we must be a source of strength, particularly in tough times, for our clients and the countries in which we operate. We must take seriously our role as one of the guardians of the world’s financial systems.

Seventh, we operate with a very important silent partner — the U.S. government — noting as my friend Warren Buffett points out that his company’s success is predicated upon the extraordinary conditions our country creates. He is right to say to his shareholders that when they see the American flag, they all should say thank you. We should, too. JPMorgan Chase is a healthy and thriving company, and we always want to give back and pay our fair share. We do pay our fair share — and we want it to be spent well and have the greatest impact. To give you an idea of where our taxes and fees go: In the last 10 years, we paid more than $46 billion in federal, state and local taxes in the United States and over $22 billion in taxes outside of the United States. Additionally, we paid the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation over $10 billion so that it has the resources to cover failure in the American banking sector. Our partner — the federal government — also imposes significant regulations upon us, and it is imperative that we meet all legal and regulatory requirements imposed on our company.

Eighth and finally, we know the foundation of our success rests with our people. They are the front line, both individually and as teams, serving our customers and communities, building the technology, making the strategic decisions, managing the risks, determining our investments and driving innovation. However you view the world — its complexity, risks and opportunities — a company’s prosperity requires a great team of people with guts, brains, integrity, enormous capabilities and high standards of professional excellence to ensure its ongoing success.

I remain proud of our company’s resiliency and of what our hundreds of thousands of employees around the world have achieved, collectively and individually. Throughout these challenging past few years, we have never stopped doing all the things we should be doing to serve our clients and our communities. As you know, we are champions of banking’s essential role in a community — its potential for bringing people together, for enabling companies and individuals to attain their goals, and for being a source of strength in difficult times. I often remind our employees that the work we do matters and has impact. United by our principles and purpose, we help people and institutions finance and achieve their aspirations, lifting up individuals, homeowners, small businesses, larger corporations, schools, hospitals, cities and countries in all regions of the world. What we have accomplished in the 20 years since the Bank One and JPMorgan Chase merger is evidence of the importance of our values.

CELEBRATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BANK ONE/JPMORGAN CHASE MERGER

J.P. Morgan Chase

By 2004, J.P. Morgan Chase already represented the consolidation of four of the 10 largest U.S. banks from 1990: The Chase Manhattan Corp., Manufacturers Hanover, Chemical Banking Corp. and, most recently, J.P. Morgan & Company. And some of their predecessor companies stretched back into the 1800s, one even into the late 1700s.

Bank One had been even busier on the acquisition front, especially across the United States. By 1998, then Banc One had more than 1,300 branches in 12 states when it announced a merger with First Chicago NBD, a Chicago-based bank created just three years earlier by the merger of First Chicago and Detroit-based NBD. Now headquartered in Chicago, the new Bank One became the largest bank in the Midwest, second largest among credit card companies and fourth largest in the United States. But the merger didn’t go as planned, with Bank One issuing three different earnings warnings. In March 2000, Bank One reached outside its executive ranks, and my tenure began as Chairman and CEO, working to overhaul the company and help bring it back to profitability and growth.

The story begins ... A merger 20 years ago helped transform two giant banks

Fast forward to 2003, and another wave of consolidation was well underway in U.S. banking. Most of the nation’s larger banks were trying to position themselves to be an “endgame winner.” In the biggest deal, Bank of America agreed to buy FleetBoston Financial Corp. for more than $40 billion. Those two banks — already amalgamations of several predecessor companies — touted the breadth of their combined retail branch network.

But they were hardly alone. In 2003, some 215 deals were announced among U.S. commercial banks and bank holding companies for a total value of $66 billion, according to Thomson Financial, which tracks merger data.

In July 2004, J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank One merged — as part of a 225-year journey — to form this exceptional company of ours: JPMorgan Chase. At its merger in 2004, the combined bank was the fourth largest bank in the world by market capitalization. But with patient groundwork over the years — fixing systems and upgrading technology, managing the notable acquisitions of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual (WaMu) and continuing to reinvest, including in our talent — we have made our company an endgame winner.

In earlier years, banks worried about their survival. While the past two decades have brought some virtually unprecedented challenges, including the great financial crisis and a pandemic followed by a global shutdown, they did not stop us from accomplishing extraordinary things. Our bank has now emerged as the #1 bank by market capitalization.

Each of our businesses is among the best in the world, with increased market share, strong financial results and an unwavering focus on serving our clients, communities and shareholders with distinction and dedication. The strengths that are embedded in JPMorgan Chase — the knowledge and cohesiveness of our people, our long-standing client relationships, our technology and product capabilities, our presence in more than 100 countries and our unquestionable fortress balance sheet — would be hard to replicate. Crucially, the strength of our company has allowed us to always be there for clients, governments and communities — in good times and in bad times — and this strength has enabled us to continually invest in building our businesses for the future.

You can see from the following charts what gains and improvements we have achieved along the way.

Read footnoted information here

Within this letter, I discuss the following:

I. SUMMARY OF OUR 2023 RESULTS AND THE PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE US

• Steadfast principles worth repeating (and a new one)
• A timeline of accomplishments
• Financial performance

II. UPDATE ON SPECIFIC ISSUES FACING OUR COMPANY

• The critical impact of artificial intelligence
• Our journey to the cloud
• Acquiring First Republic Bank and its customers
• Navigating in a complex and potentially dangerous world
• What we learned: A five-point action plan to move forward on the climate challenge
• Powering economic growth in Florida
• Giving the bank regulatory and supervisory process a serious review
• Protecting the essential role of market making (trading)

III. STAYING COMPETITIVE IN THE SHRINKING PUBLIC MARKETS

• The pressure of quarterly earnings compounded by bad accounting and bad decisions
• The hijacking of annual shareholder meetings
• The evolving influence of proxy advisors
• The benefits and risks of private credit
• A bank’s strength: Providing flexible capital

IV. MANAGEMENT LESSONS: THINKING, DECIDING AND TAKING ACTION — DELIBERATELY AND WITH HEART

• Benefiting from the OODA loop
• Decision making and acting (have a process)
• The secret sauce of leadership (have a heart)

V. A PIVOTAL MOMENT FOR AMERICA AND THE FREE WESTERN WORLD: STRATEGY AND POLICY MATTER

• Coalescing the Western world — A uniquely American task
• Strengthening our position with a comprehensive, global economic security strategy
• Manager’s Journal: "A Politician's Dream Is A Businessman's Nightmare"
• We should have more faith in the amazing power of our freedoms
• How we can help lift up our low-income citizens and mend America's torn social fabric

Update on Specific Issues Facing Our Company

Each year, I try to update you on some of the most important issues facing our company. First and foremost may well be the impact of artificial intelligence (AI).

While we do not know the full effect or the precise rate at which AI will change our business — or how it will affect society at large — we are completely convinced the consequences will be extraordinary and possibly as transformational as some of the major technological inventions of the past several hundred years: Think the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computing and the Internet, among others.

THE CRITICAL IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Since the firm first started using AI over a decade ago, and its first mention in my 2017 letter to shareholders, we have grown our AI organization materially. It now includes more than 2,000 AI/machine learning (ML) experts and data scientists. We continue to attract some of the best and brightest in this space and have an exceptional firmwide AI/ML and Research department with deep expertise.

We have been actively using predictive AI and ML for years — and now have over 400 use cases in production in areas such as marketing, fraud and risk — and they are increasingly driving real business value across our businesses and functions. We're also exploring the potential that generative AI (GenAI) can unlock across a range of domains, most notably in software engineering, customer service and operations, as well as in general employee productivity. In the future, we envision GenAI helping us reimagine entire business workflows. We will continue to experiment with these AI and ML capabilities and implement solutions in a safe, responsible way.

While we are investing more money in our AI capabilities, many of these projects pay for themselves. Over time, we anticipate that our use of AI has the potential to augment virtually every job, as well as impact our workforce composition. It may reduce certain job categories or roles, but it may create others as well. As we have in the past, we will aggressively retrain and redeploy our talent to make sure we are taking care of our employees if they are affected by this trend.

Finally, as a global leader across businesses and regions, we have large amounts of extraordinarily rich data that, together with AI, can fuel better insights and help us improve how we manage risk and serve our customers. In addition to making sure our data is high quality and easily accessible, we need to complete the migration of our analytical data estate to the public cloud. These new data platforms offer high-performance compute power, which will unlock our ability to use our data in ways that are hard to contemplate today.

Recognizing the importance of AI to our business, we created a new position called Chief Data & Analytics Officer that sits on our Operating Committee.

Elevating this new role to the Operating Committee level — reporting directly to Daniel Pinto and me — reflects how critical this function will be going forward and how seriously we expect AI to influence our business. This will embed data and analytics into our decision making at every level of the company. The primary focus is not just on the technical aspects of AI but also on how all management can — and should — use it. Each of our lines of business has corresponding data and analytics roles so we can share best practices, develop reusable solutions that solve multiple business problems, and continuously learn and improve as the future of AI unfolds.

Clearly, AI comes with many risks, which need to be rigorously managed.

We have a robust, well-established risk and control framework that helps us proactively stay in front of AI-related risks, particularly as the regulatory landscape evolves. And we will, of course, continue to work hard with our regulators, clients and subject matter experts to make sure we maintain the highest ethical standards and are transparent in how AI helps us make decisions; e.g., to counter bias among other things.

You may already be aware that there are bad actors using AI to try to infiltrate companies’ systems to steal money and intellectual property or simply to cause disruption and damage. For our part, we incorporate AI into our toolset to counter these threats and proactively detect and mitigate their efforts.

OUR JOURNEY TO THE CLOUD

Getting our technology to the cloud — whether the public cloud or the private cloud — is essential to fully maximize all of our capabilities, including the power of our data. The cloud offers many benefits: 1) it accelerates the speed of delivery of new services; 2) it simultaneously reduces the cost of compute power and enables, when needed, an extraordinary amount of compute capability — called burst computing; 3) it provides that compute capability across all of our data; and 4) it allows us to be able to constantly and quickly adopt new technologies because updated cloud services are continually being added — more so in the public cloud, where we benefit from the innovation that all cloud providers create, than in the private cloud, where innovation is only our own.

Of course, we are learning a lot along the way. For example, we know we should carefully pick which applications and which data go to the public cloud versus the private cloud because of the expense, security and capabilities required. In addition, it is critical that we eventually use multiple clouds to avoid lock-in. And we intend to maintain our own expertise so that we’re never reliant on the expertise of others even if that requires additional money.

We invested approximately $2 billion to build four new, modern, private cloud-based, highly reliable and efficient data centers in the United States (we have 32 data centers globally). To date, about 50% of our applications run a large part of their processing in the public or private cloud. Approximately 70% of our data is now running in the public or private cloud. By the end of 2024, we aim to have 70% of applications and 75% of data moved to the public or private cloud. The new data centers are around 30% more efficient than our existing legacy data centers. Going to the public cloud can provide 30% additional efficiency if done correctly (efficiency improves when your data and applications have been modified, or “refactored,” to enable new cloud services). We have been constantly updating most of our global data centers, and by the end of this year, we can start closing some that are larger, older and less efficient.

ACQUIRING FIRST REPUBLIC BANK AND ITS CUSTOMERS

The purchase of First Republic Bank was not something that we would have done just for ourselves. But the regulators relied on us to step forward (we worked hand in hand with the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the U.S. Treasury), and the purchase of First Republic helped stabilize and strengthen the U.S. financial system in a time of crisis.

The acquisition of a major company entails a lot of complexity. People tend to focus on the financial and economic outcomes, which is a reasonable thing to do. And in the case of First Republic, the numbers look rather good. We recorded an accounting gain of $3 billion on the purchase , and we told the world we expected to add more than $500 million to earnings annually, which we now believe will be closer to $2 billion. However, these results mask some of the true costs. First, approximately one-third of the incremental earning was simply deploying excess capital and liquidity, which doesn’t require purchasing a $300 billion bank — we simply could have bought $300 billion of assets. Second, as soon as the deal was announced, approximately 7,600 of our employees went from working on tasks that would benefit the future of JPMorgan Chase to working on the merger integration. Overall, the integration involves effectively combining more than 165 systems (e.g., statement, deposit, accounting and human resources) and consolidating policies, risk reporting, and other various rules and procedures. We hope to have most of the integration done by the middle of 2024.

Fortunately, we were very familiar and comfortable with all of the assets we were acquiring from First Republic. What we didn’t take on was First Republic’s excessive interest rate exposure — one of the reasons it failed — which we effectively hedged within days of the acquisition.

Our people did a great job of respectfully managing this transition, knowing that circumstances were particularly tough for our new colleagues, whom we tried to welcome with open arms. We did everything we could to redeploy individuals whose jobs were lost because of the merger (we directly hired over 5,000 people). Our approach has always been to go into an acquisition knowing we can learn things from other teams, and in this case, we did: First Republic had done an outstanding job serving high-net-worth clients and venture capitalists, and we are developing what is effectively a new business for us following First Republic’s servicing model. We will serve these high-net-worth clients through a single point of contact, supported by a concierge service model, across our distribution channels — including more than 20 new JPMorgan Chase branded branches.

NAVIGATING IN A COMPLEX AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WORLD

In the policy section, we talk about how we may be entering one of the most treacherous geopolitical eras since World War II. And I have written in the past about high levels of debt, fiscal stimulus, ongoing deficit spending and the unknown effects of quantitative tightening (which I am more worried about than most) so I won’t repeat those views here. However, the impacts of these geopolitical and economic forces are large and somewhat unprecedented; they may not be fully understood until they have completely played out over multiple years. In any case, JPMorgan Chase must be prepared for the various potential impacts and outcomes on our company and our people.

We remain wary of economic prognosticating.

While all companies essentially budget on a base case forecast, we are very careful not to run our business that way. Instead, we look at a range of potential outcomes for which we need to be prepared. Geopolitical and economic forces have an unpredictable timetable — they may unfold over months, or years, and are nearly impossible to put into a one-year forecast. They also have an unpredictable interplay: For example, the geopolitical situation may end up having virtually no effect on the world’s economy or it could potentially be its determinative factor.

We have ongoing concerns about persistent inflationary pressures and consider a wide range of outcomes to manage interest rate exposure and other business risks.

Many key economic indicators today continue to be good and possibly improving, including inflation. But when looking ahead to tomorrow , conditions that will affect the future should be considered. For example, there seems to be a large number of persistent inflationary pressures, which may likely continue. All of the following factors appear to be inflationary: ongoing fiscal spending, remilitarization of the world, restructuring of global trade, capital needs of the new green economy, and possibly higher energy costs in the future (even though there currently is an oversupply of gas and plentiful spare capacity in oil) due to a lack of needed investment in the energy infrastructure. In the past, fiscal deficits did not seem to be closely related to inflation. In the 1970s and early 1980s, there was a general understanding that inflation was driven by “guns and butter”; i.e., fiscal deficits and the increase to the money supply, both partially driven by the Vietnam War, led to increased inflation, which went over 10%. The deficits today are even larger and occurring in boom times — not as the result of a recession — and they have been supported by quantitative easing, which was never done before the great financial crisis. Quantitative easing is a form of increasing the money supply (though it has many offsets). I remain more concerned about quantitative easing than most, and its reversal, which has never been done before at this scale.

Equity values, by most measures, are at the high end of the valuation range, and credit spreads are extremely tight. These markets seem to be pricing in at a 70% to 80% chance of a soft landing — modest growth along with declining inflation and interest rates. I believe the odds are a lot lower than that. In the meantime, there seems to be an enormous focus, too much so, on monthly inflation data and modest changes to interest rates. But the die may be cast — interest rates looking out a year or two may be predetermined by all of the factors I mentioned above. Small changes in interest rates today may have less impact on inflation in the future than many people believe.

Therefore, we are prepared for a very broad range of interest rates, from 2% to 8% or even more, with equally wide-ranging economic outcomes — from strong economic growth with moderate inflation (in this case, higher interest rates would result from higher demand for capital) to a recession with inflation; i.e., stagflation. Economically, the worst-case scenario would be stagflation, which would not only come with higher interest rates but also with higher credit losses, lower business volumes and more difficult markets. Under these many different scenarios, our company would continue to perform at least okay. Importantly, being prepared means we can continue to help our clients no matter what the future portends.

The mini banking crisis of 2023 is over, but beware of higher rates and recession — not just for banks but for the whole economy.

When we purchased First Republic in May 2023 following the failure of two other regional banks, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, we thought that the current banking crisis was over. Only these three banks were offsides in having the toxic combination of extreme interest rate exposure, large unrealized losses in the held-to-maturity (HTM) portfolio and highly concentrated deposits. Most of the other regional banks did not have these problems. However, we stipulated that the crisis was over provided that interest rates didn’t go up dramatically and we didn’t experience a serious recession. If long-end rates go up over 6% and this increase is accompanied by a recession, there will be plenty of stress — not just in the banking system but with leveraged companies and others. Remember, a simple 2 percentage point increase in rates essentially reduced the value of most financial assets by 20%, and certain real estate assets, specifically office real estate, may be worth even less due to the effects of recession and higher vacancies. Also remember that credit spreads tend to widen, sometimes dramatically, in a recession.

We seek to be engaged globally and carefully manage complex countries and geopolitical issues.

JPMorgan Chase does business in more than 100 countries, and we have people on the ground in over 60 countries. In almost all those locations, we do research on their economy, their markets and their companies; we bank their government institutions and their companies; and we bank multinational corporations, including the U.S. multinational corporations within their borders. This is a critical role — not only in helping those countries grow and improve but also in expanding the global economy.

Many of these countries are quite complex with different laws, customs and regulations. We are occasionally asked why we bank certain companies and even certain countries, particularly when countries have some laws and customs that are counter to many of the values held in the United States. Here’s why:

• The U.S. government sets foreign policy. And when it does, we salute. Wherever we do business, we follow the law of the United States, as it applies in that country (in addition to the laws of the country itself), in all respects. Think of trade rules, sanctions, anti-money laundering and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, among others. By and large, these things help improve those countries. In most cases, the U.S. government does not want us to leave because it agrees, generally, that the engagement of American business enhances our relationships with other countries and helps those countries themselves.
• Engagement makes the world a better place. We all should want the world to continue to improve. Isolation and lack of engagement do not accomplish that goal. While we believe that it makes sense for the United States to push for constant improvement around the world — from advocating for human rights to fighting corruption — this is rarely accomplished through coercion, and, in fact, is enhanced by engagement.
• We need to be prepared for emerging challenges and position ourselves to understand them. We created a new role — Head of Asia Pacific Policy and Strategic Competitiveness — to focus specifically on key policy issues critical to the firm’s (and, in fact, the country’s) competitiveness, such as trade restrictions, supply chains and infrastructure. We also created a new strategic security forum to focus on emerging and evolving risks, including trade wars, pandemics, cybersecurity and actual wars, to name just a few.

OUR EXTENSIVE COMMUNITY OUTREACH EFFORTS, INCLUDING DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

JPMorgan Chase makes an extraordinary effort as part of our “normal” day-to-day outreach to engage with individual clients, small and midsized businesses, large and multinational firms, government officials, regulators and the press in cities all around the world. This dialogue is part of the normal course of business but it is also part of building trust and putting down roots in a community.

We believe that companies, and banks in particular, must earn the trust of the communities and countries in which they operate. We believe — and we are unashamed about this — that it is our obligation to help lift up the communities and countries in which we do business. We believe that doing so enhances business and the general economic well-being of those communities and countries and also enhances long-term shareholder value. JPMorgan Chase thrives when communities thrive.

This approach is integral to what we do, in great scale, around the world — and it works. We are quite clear that whether our efforts are inspired by the goodness of our hearts (as philanthropy or venture-type investing) or good business, we try to measure the actual outcomes.

It’s also interesting to point out that many of our efforts were spawned from our work around Advancing Black Pathways, Military and Veterans Affairs, and our work in Detroit. While we’ve banked Detroit for more than 90 years, our $200 million investment in its economic recovery over the last decade demonstrated that investing in communities is a smart business strategy. We are one of the largest banks in Detroit, from consumer banking to investment banking, and it’s quite clear that not only did our efforts help Detroit, but they also helped us gain market share. The extent of Detroit’s remarkable recovery was recently highlighted when Moody’s upgraded the city’s credit rating to investment grade — an extraordinary achievement just over 10 years after the city filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

For JPMorgan Chase, Detroit was an incubator for developing models that help us hone how we deploy our business resources, philanthropic capital, skilled volunteerism, and low-cost loans and equity investments, as well as how we identify top talent to drive successful business and societal improvements. I hope that, as shareholders, you are proud of our focus on promoting opportunity for all, both within and outside our organization, which includes economic opportunity. Some of our initiatives are listed below.

• Business Resource Groups. To deepen our culture of inclusion in the workplace, we have 10 Business Resource Groups (BRG) across the company to connect more than 160,000 participating employees around common interests, as well as to foster networking and camaraderie. Groups welcome anyone — allies and those with shared affinities alike. For example, some of our largest BRGs are Access Ability (employees with disabilities and caregivers), Adelante (Hispanic and Latino employees), BOLD (Black employees), NextGen (early career professionals), PRIDE (LGBTQ+ employees) and Women on the Move.
• Women on the Move. At JPMorgan Chase, they sure are! Women represent 28% of our firm’s senior leadership globally. In fact, our major lines of business — CCB, AWM and CIB, which would be among Fortune 1000 companies on their own — are all run by women (one with a co-head who is male). More than 10 years ago, a handful of senior women at the company, on their own, started this global, firmwide, internally focused organization called Women on the Move. It was so successful that we expanded the initiative beyond the company; it now empowers clients and consumers, as well as women employees and their allies, to build their careers, grow their businesses and improve their financial health. The Women on the Move BRG has more than 70,000 employees globally.
• Advancing Black Pathways. This comprehensive program, which just reached the five-year mark, focuses on strengthening the economic foundation of Black communities because we know that opportunity is not always created equally. The program does so by, among other accomplishments, helping to diversify our talent pipeline, providing opportunities for Black individuals to enter the workforce and gain valuable experience, and investing in the financial success of Black Americans through a focus on financial health, homeownership and entrepreneurship. An important part of the program’s work is achieved through our investment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). We now partner with 18 schools across the United States to boost recruitment connections, expand career pathways for Black students and other students, and support their long-term development and financial health. As a measure of the program’s success, in four years we have made nearly 400 hires into summer and full-time analyst and associate roles at the firm.
• Military and Veterans Affairs. This firmwide effort sponsors recruitment, mentorship and development programs to support the military members and veterans working at JPMorgan Chase. Back in 2011, we joined with 10 other companies to launch the Veteran Jobs Mission (VJM), whose membership has since grown to more than 300 companies representing various industries across the United States and has hired over 900,000 veterans and military spouses. In 2023, VJM announced the creation of its Advisory Board, which is composed of 14 corporate leaders, to provide strategic direction and oversight of VJM as it continues to expand its commitment to support economic opportunities for veterans and military spouses, including its goal to hire 2 million veterans and 200,000 military spouses by 2030. JPMorgan Chase alone has hired in excess of 18,000 veterans since 2011 and currently employs more than 3,100 military spouses.
• Creating opportunity for people with disabilities. The firm’s Office of Disability Inclusion continues to lead strategy and initiatives aimed at advancing economic opportunity for people with disabilities. In 2023, we joined lawmakers and business leaders in Washington, D.C., to show support for passage of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Savings Penalty Elimination Act. Modernizing the SSI program, by updating asset limits for the first time in nearly 40 years, would allow millions of people with disabilities who receive SSI benefits the opportunity to build their savings without putting their essential benefits at risk. We also provided business coaching to more than 370 entrepreneurs with disabilities.
• Virtual call centers. When we sought to expand our customer service specialists program across the United States, we turned to Detroit, launching our first virtual call center in 2022. Investments in Detroit’s workforce development infrastructure helped us hire 90 virtual customer service specialists for a program that has outperformed many of our traditional call centers around the world. Following this success, we expanded our hiring efforts and this virtual program to Baltimore to create new jobs that jump-start careers. And now we’re evaluating the possibility of expanding even further.
• Entrepreneurs of Color Fund. A critical challenge we have seen in so many communities is that traditional lending standards render too many entrepreneurs — particularly entrepreneurs of color and those serving these communities — ineligible for credit. In response, we helped launch the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOCF) in Detroit, a lending program designed to help aspiring small business owners gain access to critical resources needed for growth that are often not equitably available — capital, technical assistance and mentorship, among others. These challenges aren’t unique to Detroit so we worked with community development financial institutions to replicate the EOCF program in 10 markets across the United States in 2023, deploying more than 2,900 loans and $176 million in capital to underserved entrepreneurs across the country.
• Senior business consultants. To help entrepreneurs and small businesses make the transition from community lending to accessing capital from traditional financial institutions, we created a new job — senior business consultant — to provide support. Senior business consultants in branches that focus on underserved communities offer coaching and help business owners with everything from navigating access to credit to managing cash flow to generating effective marketing. Since 2020, these consultants have mentored more than 5,500 business owners, helping them improve their operations, grow revenue and network with others in the local business community.
• Advancing Cities The organizing principles that define the business and community investments we make and how we best achieve an overall impact in local economies were heavily influenced by our experience in Detroit. Seeing Detroit’s comeback begin to take shape several years ago, we created Advancing Cities to replicate this model for large-scale investments to other cities around the world. From San Francisco to Paris to Greater Washington, D.C., we’ve applied what we learned in Detroit to communities where conditions are opportune for success and require deeper investments — where community, civic and business leaders have come together to solve problems and get results.
• JPMorgan Chase Service Corps. Ten years ago, we launched the JPMorgan Chase Service Corps to strengthen the capacity-building of nonprofit partners. We brought employees from around the world to Detroit to assist with its recovery — from creating a scoring model for a nonprofit to helping prioritize neighborhoods for development funding to devising an implementation plan for an integrated talent management system. Since that time, the Service Corps has expanded, with more than 1,500 JPMorgan Chase employees contributing 100,000 hours to support over 300 nonprofits globally.
• Community Centers/Branches and Community Managers. A local bank branch, especially in a low-income neighborhood, can be successful only when it fits the community’s needs. That is why over the last several years we have shifted our approach to how we offer access to financial health education, as well as low-cost products and services to help build wealth. Since 2019, we have opened 16 Community Center branches, often in areas with larger Black, Hispanic or Latino populations, and have plans to open three more by the end of 2024. These branches have more space to host grassroots community events, small business mentoring sessions and financial health seminars, which have been well-attended — to date, over 400,000 people have taken advantage of the financial education seminars. In each of these Community Center branches, we hired a Community Manager (who acts as a local ambassador) to build relationships with community leaders, nonprofits and small businesses. The Community Manager concept and practice have become so successful that we have also placed these managers in many of our traditional branches in underserved communities. We now have 149 Community Managers throughout our branch network.
• Work skills development. Detroit showed us how talent in communities is often overlooked. We saw this in the early days of our investment when we visited our partners at Focus: HOPE, a training program designed to help Detroiters develop skills for high-demand jobs. Quickly, it became clear that the training and education system in Detroit was disconnected from employers and their talent needs. By investing in programs like Focus: HOPE, we have been able to help bridge local skills gaps by training people for in-demand jobs in communities like Dallas, Miami and Washington, D.C. Between 2019 and 2023, we supported more than 2 million people through our extensive learning and career programming around the world.
• Increasing our rural investment. We are proud to be the only bank with branches in all 48 contiguous states, which include many rural communities. Nearly 17 million consumers living in rural areas hold over $100 billion in deposits with us and $175 billion in loans. We are also a leading wholesale lender in these communities, helping to fuel local economies through relationships with local companies, governments, hospitals and universities. Since 2019, we have made material progress in extending our footprint to reach more rural Americans, including expanding our branch network into 13 new states with large rural populations. Now we are raising the bar. With our new strategy, we have a goal to have a branch available to serve 50% of a state’s population within an acceptable driving distance, including in heavily rural states such as Alabama and Iowa. This focus is part of our recently announced plan to build an additional 500 branches and hire 3,500 employees over the next three years. Through this expansion, we will partner across lines of business and our Corporate Responsibility organization to help advance inclusive economic growth and bring the full force of the firm to America’s heartland.

We’ve nearly completed our five-year, $30 billion Racial Equity Commitment — it will now become a permanent part of our business.

What began in 2020 as a five-year, $30 billion commitment is now transforming into a consistent business practice for our lines of business in support of Black, Hispanic, Latino and other underserved communities. By the end of 2023, we reported over $30 billion in progress toward our original goal. However, our focus is not on how much money is deployed — but on long-term impact and outcomes. And going forward, these programs will be embedded in our business-as-usual operating system.

• Affordable rental housing. Through our Affordable Housing Preservation program, we approved program funding to date of approximately $21 billion in loans to incentivize the preservation of over 190,000 affordable housing rental units across the United States. Additionally, we financed approximately $5 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing.
• Homeownership. In 2023, we expanded our $5,000 Chase Homebuyer Grant program to include over 15,000 majority Black, Hispanic and Latino communities — and in January 2024, we increased our grant amount to $7,500 in select markets. Since our grant program began in 2021, we have provided about 8,600 grants totaling $43 million. We also have provided home purchase and refinance loans in 2023 worth over $4.6 billion for more than 14,000 Black, Hispanic and Latino households across the economic spectrum.
• Small business. The Business Card Special Purpose Credit Program, launched in January 2023, has provided over 10,900 cards, totaling over $43 million in available credit lines to underserved entrepreneurs and communities across the United States.
• Supplier diversity. In 2023, our firm spent approximately $2.3 billion directly with diverse suppliers — an increase of 10% over 2022. As a part of our racial equity commitment, over $450 million was spent in 2023 with more than 190 Black-, Hispanic- and Latino-owned businesses.
• Minority depository institutions and community development financial institutions. To date, we have invested more than $110 million in equity in diverse financial institutions and provided over $260 million in incremental financing to community development financial institutions to support communities that lack access to traditional financing. JPMorgan Chase also helped these institutions build their capacity so they can provide a greater number of critical services like mortgages and small business loans.

We’re thoughtfully continuing our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Of course, JPMorgan Chase will conform as the laws evolve. We will scour our programs, our words and our actions to make sure they comply.

That said, we think all the efforts mentioned above will remain largely unchanged. And, in fact, around the world, cities and communities where we do business applaud these efforts. We also believe our initiatives make us a more inclusive company and lead to more innovation, smarter decisions and better financial results for us and for the economy overall.

We are often asked in particular about “equity” and what that word means. To us, it means equal treatment, equal opportunity and equal access … not equal outcomes. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging and trying to bridge social and economic gaps, whether they be around wealth or health. We would like to provide a fair chance for everyone to succeed — regardless of their background. And we want to make sure everyone who works at our company feels welcome.

We want to articulate how we weigh in on social issues and what it means for our customers.

Before I comment about culture issues, I have a confession to make: I am a full-throated, red-blooded, patriotic, free-enterprise (properly regulated, of course) and free-market capitalist. Our company is frequently asked to take a position on an issue, rule or legislation that might be considered “cultural.” When that happens, we take a deep breath and study the matter. Many of the laws in question have many specific requirements, some of which you would agree with but not others. But we are being asked to support the entire law. In cases like these, we simply make our own statement that reflects our educated view and values; however, we do not give our voice to others.

We believe in the values of democracy, including freedom of speech and expression, and are staunchly against discrimination and hate. We have not turned away — and will not turn away — customers because of their political or religious affiliations nor would we tell customers how they should spend their money.

Our commitment to these ideals is also reflected in our employees. The talent at our firm is a vibrant mix of cultures, beliefs and backgrounds. We are, of course, fully committed to freedom of speech. There are things that you can say that would be permitted under freedom of speech but would not be allowed under our Code of Conduct. For example, we do not allow intimidation, threats or highly prejudicial behavior or speech. Our Code of Conduct clearly stipulates that certain statements and behavior, while allowed under freedom of speech, can lead to disciplinary action at our company — from being reprimanded to being fired.

WHAT WE LEARNED: A FIVE-POINT ACTION PLAN TO MOVE FORWARD ON THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE

In May 2023, we gathered with knowledgeable and influential people from the energy industry writ large to the government and financial services arena in Scottsdale, Arizona, for an action forum. The goal was to explore various aspects of the climate challenge and try to devise effective solutions that could help lead to meaningful progress. The climate challenge is immense and complex. Addressing it requires more than making simplistic statements and rules; rather, energy systems and global supply chains need to be transformed across virtually all industries. And there is also a deep need for new research and development. Energy systems and supply chains provide the foundation of the global economy and must be treated with care.

At the same time, the opportunity here is immense. The investment required to meet climate goals — estimated at over $5 trillion annually — could generate economywide growth and opportunity at a scale the world has not seen since the Industrial Revolution.

The task for industry, policymakers and finance is to help formulate solutions that support the transition to a low-carbon economy, balancing affordable, reliable access to energy with generating economic growth.

To find a way forward, we sought input from diverse stakeholders in pursuit of a North Star. In Scottsdale and in discussions with clients across industries about what’s needed to achieve a low-carbon economy, these five action steps and reforms were top of mind:

• Supportive government policy and leadership to advance the transition. Policy that promotes favorable economic conditions to make the transition viable is a critical first step for clients. This includes government leadership via mandates, incentives or subsidies to support jobs and investment in the transition; actions on permitting and interconnection reform; and regulatory clarity and certainty, especially around long-term investments. As one vital example, current grid infrastructure is insufficient to accommodate the growth in renewables.
• Public/private partnerships in scaling bankable projects. Scaling investments needs to happen both for commercially proven technologies (e.g., wind and solar) and for emerging technologies (e.g., green hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel and carbon capture). Developing “bankable” clean energy projects will require the application of smart financial tools, as well as further policy support. It will take public/private partnerships and innovation to create catalytic forms of capital that can step into these gaps, absorb first-mover risks and provide the necessary funding. The cost of capital is too high for some companies — and public funds ought to be deployed in a smart way that effectively attracts private capital.
• Public education and engagement. Without question, clients told us that public commitment to and investment in energy-related infrastructure is one of the most important parts of combating the climate crisis and running their businesses. Supporting the buildout of energy-related infrastructure with speed and scale is critical. Public acceptance of building and advancing the infrastructure needed to meet climate goals is at the heart of progress. While the energy transition is poised to deliver benefits to communities across the world, securing acceptance and support to build clean energy infrastructure at scale is challenging. Access to job-creating renewable energy projects can help rural communities thrive by advancing local economies. Ensuring public support and social license to operate requires better engagement strategies, including widespread stakeholder education about the benefits of these technologies for local communities.
• Communication about concrete successes. Across industries, market participants need to do a better job of celebrating and championing concrete successes and tangible milestones. This includes highlighting success stories around emerging technologies and the complex nature of the carbon transition. Stakeholders also should better convey the benefits of clean energy — across all technologies — to help combat misinformation and foster a more informed dialogue.
• Work skills training. Businesses depend on healthy, thriving communities so the carbon transition needs to work for everyone. This includes helping to ensure that workers are trained in the skills for the future, such as through improved engineering schools and job training programs. Work across the entire supply chain is essential to moving at pace. As one example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates we will need more than 70,000 additional electricians per year through 2031; it is currently unclear how the market will meet that demand. If the deployment of heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers accelerates, demand for electricians will be even higher. A concerted focus to train electricians can help the United States meet some of its climate goals while providing well-paying jobs that do not require a four-year college degree. Also, broadly speaking, businesses are in a better position to make investments with confidence when labor requirements across the value chain — from design and manufacturing to installation — are satisfied.

We recently reconsidered certain memberships.

JPMorgan Chase recently exited Climate Action 100+ and the Equator Principles. “Why?” we are asked. While we don’t necessarily disagree with some of the principles many organizations have, we make our own business decisions. We think we have some of the best-in-class environmental, social and risk standards because we have invested in our own in-house experts and matured our own risk management processes over the years. As a result, we are going to go our own way and make our own independent decisions, gathering the best learnings of experts in the field, and, of course, we will follow all legal requirements.

We are engaged but recognize our role: three more important points.

First, everyone should understand that conquering the climate problem needs proper government action, particularly around taxes, permitting, grids, infrastructure building and proper coordination of policies — we are not there yet. Second, there is no known technology that can fill the gap between our “aspirations” and the current trajectory of the world. We hope and believe that this will be found (for example, through carbon capture, improved batteries, hydrogen or other measures). This new technology will also require proper government research and development funding, as the effort cannot be accomplished by private enterprise alone. And third, we are going to use the word “commitment” much more reservedly in the future, clearly differentiating between aspirations we are actively striving toward and binding commitments.

For JPMorgan Chase to play the right role in tackling the climate challenge, we have organized a special group around the green economy and related infrastructure investment. This group will coordinate and inform our work across all established industry groups (from auto to real estate, energy, agriculture and others) and includes hundreds of employees devoted to these efforts.

POWERING ECONOMIC GROWTH IN FLORIDA

From Tallahassee to Miami and from Tampa to Palm Bay, JPMorgan Chase has been committed to Florida for more than 130 years and has enjoyed being the bank for all communities. Each year, we contribute billions of dollars to the economy, hire and train local residents, help to revitalize neighborhoods and remove barriers to opportunity for Floridians across the state. Our partnerships with businesses, nonprofits, government entities and community organizations have enabled us to drive sustainable impact and help them achieve their goals. We couldn’t be more proud to help make opportunity happen in Florida.

This year, we forged a relationship with Inter Miami CF, one of the most recognizable sports teams in the world. Through this partnership and the newly named Chase Stadium, we’re continuing to contribute to South Florida and its local communities. In Tampa, home to nearly 6,000 of our employees, we’re triggering an additional $210 million in economic activity and creating over 660 local construction jobs through the renovation of our Highland Oaks campus and downtown Tampa office. We’re proud that one-third of all Floridians do business with us through deposits, credit cards or a mortgage. Through each of our investments across the state, we’re ensuring that residents have the resources and tools they need to thrive.

Our support to government, higher education, healthcare and nonprofit organizations:

• We serve over 150 government, higher education, healthcare and nonprofit clients throughout the state, and over the last five years, we have provided more than $20.2 billion in credit and capital to them.
• Our clients range from the city of Jacksonville to the Orlando Utilities Commission, the University of South Florida, Broward Health and the District School Board of Pasco County — a decades-long client.
• We are the lead treasury bank for the Wounded Warrior Project, one of the largest veteran service organizations in the United States. Headquartered in Jacksonville, the organization caters to wounded veterans and service members who served in the military on or after 9/11.

Our support to investment and middle-market banking clients:

• Over the last five years, we have provided in excess of $318 billion in credit and capital to local clients, such as utility, technology and tourism companies.
• We have more than 12,500 large and midsized clients across the state.

Our support to local financial firms:

• Over the last five years, we have provided more than $24 billion in credit and capital for financial institutions, such as local banks, insurance companies, asset managers and securities firms.
• We bank over 50 of Florida’s regional, midsized and community banks, helping them play an essential role in maintaining the state’s economy and serve local communities.

Our support to small business:

• At the end of 2023, balances for loans extended to Florida’s small businesses totaled more than $1.2 billion — funds being used to help those businesses scale and grow, contribute to the economy and create local jobs.
• Across the state, we have over 654,000 small business customers.
• In 2023, our bankers and senior business consultants spent more than 375,000 hours advising and supporting Florida business owners.

Our support to consumer banking needs:

• We operate 1,445 ATMs and 410 branches across the state.
• In 2023, we supported more than 6.1 million customers with mortgages, auto loans and savings, checking and credit card accounts, giving JPMorgan Chase one of the largest consumer banking market shares in the state.
• We managed more than $70 billion in investment and annuity assets for local clients.

Our business and community investments:

• $3 million to The Miami Foundation’s Resilient 305: Building Prosperity Collaborative to increase access to quality jobs and develop small businesses through training, investments and capacity-building.
• $1.6 million to the Community Justice Project, which empowers community-based legal advocates to help delay displacement and improve conditions for housing stability for renters across nine Florida counties.
• A $1 million investment to Florida Memorial University, South Florida’s only HBCU, to help traditionally underresourced students pursue a career in technology.

Our support as a local employer:

• We employ more than 14,000 residents throughout the state, including nearly 1,900 veterans and over 660 people with a criminal background who deserve a second chance.
• In Florida, the average salary of our employees is more than $87,000 (plus a starting comprehensive annual benefits package worth nearly $17,600) compared with the statewide per capita income of nearly $40,300.

GIVING THE BANK REGULATORY AND SUPERVISORY PROCESS A SERIOUS REVIEW

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) was finished 14 years ago, and we believe it accomplished a lot of good things. But it’s been quite a while since then, and we’re still debating some very basic issues. It’s time to take a serious, hard, honest look at what has been done and what can be improved.

It’s good to remember that the United States has the best financial system in the world, with diversified, deep and experienced institutions, from banks, pension plans, hedge funds and private equity to individual investors. It has healthy public and private markets, transparency, rule of law and deep research. The best banking system in the world is a critical part of this, and, integrated with the overall financial system, is foundational to the proper allocation of capital, innovation and the fueling of America’s growth engine.

This is not about JPMorgan Chase — we believe we can manage through whatever is thrown our way. This is about the impact on all parts of the system — from smaller banks to larger regional banks that may not have the resources to handle all of these regulatory requirements. It’s also about the effect on the financial markets and the economy from the rapidly growing shadow banking system, as well as the ultimate impact on the customers, clients and communities we serve. This is about what’s right for the system.

The banking and financial system is innovative, dynamic and constantly changing.

The banking system is not static: There are startup banks, mergers, successful upstarts and fintech banks, and even Apple, which effectively acts as a bank — it holds money, moves money, lends money and so on. Nonbanks are competing with traditional banks, and, in general, this dynamism and churn are good for innovation and invention — with success and failure simply part of the robust process. Innovation runs across payments systems, budgeting, digital access, product extensions, risk and fraud prevention, and other services. Different institutions play different roles, and, importantly, small banks and big banks serve completely different strategic functions. Large banks bank multinational corporations around the world, make healthy markets, and wield technology and a product set that are the best in the world. A small bank simply cannot bank these same multinational governments and safely move the amount of money and securities that large banks do. Regional and community banks have exceptional local knowledge and presence and are critical in serving thousands of towns and certain geographies.

It is also important to recognize that the banking system as we know it is shrinking relative to private markets and fintech, which are growing and becoming increasingly competitive. And remember that many of these new players do not have the same transparency or need to abide by the extensive rules and regulations as traditional banks, even if they offer similar products — this often gives them significant advantage.

To deal with this fluid environment, banks of all sizes develop their own strategies, whether to specialize, expand geographically or embark on mergers and acquisitions. There are certain banking services where economies of scale are a competitive advantage, but not all banks need to become bigger to gain this benefit (there are many highly successful banks that are smaller). What is clear is that banks should be allowed to pursue their individual strategies, including mergers and acquisitions, as they see fit. Overall, this process should be allowed to happen — it’s part of the natural and healthy course of capitalism — and it can be done without harming the American taxpayer or economy.

While we all want a strong banking and financial system, we should step back and assess how all the regulatory steps we have taken measure up against the goals we all share. Since Dodd-Frank was signed into law in 2010, thousands of rules and reporting requirements written by 10+ different regulatory bodies in the United States alone have been added. And it would probably be an understatement to say that some are duplicative, inconsistent, procyclical, contradictory, extremely costly, and unnecessarily painful for both banks and regulators. Many of the rules have unintended consequences that are not desirable and have negative impacts, such as increasing the cost of credit for consumers (hurting lower-income Americans the most).

The whole process, including the Basel III endgame, could be much more productive, streamlined, economical, efficient and safe.

Both regulators and banks should want the same thing — a healthy banking system, serving its clients and striving for continuous improvement. We all should also want the enormous benefits that would come from good collaboration between regulators and bank management teams and boards.

Over time, these relationships have deteriorated, and, again, are increasingly less constructive. There is little real collaboration between practitioners — the banks — and regulators, who generally have not been practitioners in business. While we acknowledge the dedication of regulators who work with banks on a daily basis, management teams across the industry are putting in a disproportionate amount of time addressing requests for extra details, documentation and processes that extend far beyond the actual rules — and distract both regulators and management from more critical work. We should be more focused on the truly important risks for the safety of the system. And unfortunately, without collaboration and sufficient analysis, it is hard to be confident that regulation will accomplish desired outcomes without undesirable consequences. Instead of constantly improving the system, we may be making it worse. A few additional points:

• The Basel III endgame disadvantages American banks. The Basel III endgame has been 10 years in the making, and it still has not been completed. In my view, many of the rules are flawed and poorly calibrated. If the Basel III endgame were implemented in its current form, it would hamper American banks: As proposed, it would increase our firm’s required capital by 25%, making our requirement 30% higher than it would be under the equivalent European Union proposal. That means for every loan and asset financed in the United States by a major American bank, that bank would have to hold 30% more capital than any international competitor. The proposed regulations would also damage market making (see the following section). There are many other flaws but suffice it to say that much of the work being done today to analyze the effects should have been done before the proposed rulemaking. One of the single most important lessons from the great financial crisis is that there is enormous value to having a bank that is well-managed and has diverse revenue sources. Yet regulation since then both punishes consolidation and diversification — and punishes performance — through many features of the GSIB surcharge.
• Built over many years, the framework is now full of duplication. The following is only a partial list: American gold-plating and conceptual inconsistencies among Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR), recovery and resolution plans, liquidity requirements, global systemically important bank (GSIB) requirements, and safety and soundness principles. The many overlapping rules contribute to the bureaucracy that generates an extraordinary amount of make-work (an 80,000-page CCAR and shockingly another, coincidentally, 80,000-page recovery and resolution plan).
• The new rules do virtually nothing to fix what caused the failure of SVB and First Republic. For example, they don’t improve certain liquidity requirements, limit HTM accounting or reduce allowable interest rate exposure.
• The current regulatory approach to liquidity might simply run counter to the stated intent. Regulations should recognize the value and importance of lending and borrowing against good collateral and using central bank resources, such as the discount window. Adhering to current liquidity requirements permanently ties up good liquidity in a way that makes the system more fragile and more risky.
• It is not clear what the full intent of the Basel III endgame was – it will have unintended consequences. Without real analysis of expected outcomes, additional regulation will likely reduce the number of banks offering certain services and increase costs for all market participants and activity, including loans, market making and hedging (by farmers, airlines and countries, among others). And new rules might even increase consolidation as companies race to achieve economies of scale in certain products and services.

Unfortunately, some recent regulations are ending up in court. You can imagine that no one wants to sue their regulators. Banks would not sue if they did not think they were right — or if they thought they had any other recourse — which they effectively do not. This is definitely not what anyone should want. A more constructive relationship with regulators would reduce confusion and uncertainty and would lead to better outcomes for banks, their shareholders, and their clients, customers and communities.

Collaboration between banks and regulators could improve the use of resources and create better outcomes.

True collaboration could dramatically improve the banking system. For example:

• Redirect enormous resources from things that don’t matter to things that do. As mentioned, it takes 80,000 pages to describe a CCAR test and 80,000 pages to detail recovery and resolution. The talent and resources at the banks and regulators could be better used elsewhere. Such overload is distracting and takes your eye off the ball on real, emerging risks, including China, trade, payment systems and cybersecurity, among others.
• Reduce bureaucratic processes that provoke a tendency to herd mentality. For example, CCAR is just a point-in-time stress test, and it can lull you into a false sense of security — for reference, we do more than 100 stress tests each week. On interest rate exposure, focusing on the documentation of details may stop you from thinking about big interest rate exposure. Sometimes analyzing “what ifs” and fat tail risks is better than excessive and rigid models and documentations.
• Examine risks outside the regulatory system that are rarely analyzed and largely unaddressed. These risks include data and privacy, as well as consumer banking and payment systems, which are growing fast in the unregulated market. In addition, there are potential risks from private credit markets (which I talk about later in this section).
• Let’s imagine what’s possible with real collaboration. Working together, we can improve how the FDIC manages failing institutions, how to limit contagion and restore confidence to depositors, how liquidity requirements can create more flexible funding for banks under stress, how the banking and Federal Reserve’s payment system can become more interoperable, how clearinghouse risk can be reduced, how stress tests can protect the system from a wider variety of outcomes, how costs and therefore consumer costs can be reduced (not increased), how anti-money laundering requirements can be simplified and improved at the same time, and how financial products can be brought to the unbanked. We can fix the housing and mortgage markets. For example, mortgage regulations around origination, servicing and securitization could be simplified, without increasing risk, in a way that would reduce the average mortgage by 70 or 80 basis points. The Urban Institute estimates that a reduction like this would increase mortgage originations by 1 million per year and help lower-income households, in particular, buy their first home, thereby starting them on the best way to build household net worth. There are many more things that can be improved — and we really should start working on them.

We need a detailed review and probably a complete revamp.

I know this might be wishful thinking, but now would be a good time to step back and have a thorough and candid review of the thousands of new rules passed since Dodd-Frank. After this review, we should ask what is it that we really want: Do we want to try to eliminate the possibility of bank runs? Do we want to change and create liquidity rules that would essentially back most uninsured deposits? Do we want the mortgage business and leveraged lending business to be inside or outside the banking system? Do we want products that are inside and outside the banking system to be regulated the same way? Do we want to reasonably give smaller banks a leg up in purchasing a failing bank? And while Dodd-Frank did some good things, shouldn’t we take a look at the huge overlapping jurisdictions of various regulators? This overlap creates difficulties, not only for banks, but for the regulators, too. Any and all of this is achievable, and, I believe, could be accomplished with simpler rules and guidelines and without stifling our critical banking system.

PROTECTING THE ESSENTIAL ROLE OF MARKET MAKING (TRADING)

Before we discuss market making and financial markets, readers should understand that market making occurs in almost all businesses. There are healthy markets in farm animals, foreign products, commodities, energy, logistics, healthcare and so on. Healthy markets increase customer choice and reduce cost. They almost always involve holding inventory and taking some risk, which is simply a part of the process. America’s financial markets are the biggest in the world — U.S. public debt and equity markets total $137 trillion, constituting the biggest “market” in the world, and are larger than America’s gross domestic product (GDP) of $27 trillion.

Market participants are not “Wall Street.” They are large and small, mainly sophisticated, global investors (pension plans, mutual funds, governments and individuals) representing retirees, veterans, individuals, unions, federal workers and others. They all benefit from our efficient, low-cost and transparent markets.

Some regulators seem to think that market making is a speculative, hedge fund-like activity — and this thinking is what might be leading them to constantly increase capital requirements. The proposed capital rules could fundamentally alter market-making activities that are critical to a thriving economy, particularly in difficult markets when market making is even more important . The new rules would raise capital requirements by 50% for major banks — which could undermine market stability, make banking services costlier and less accessible, and push even more activity to a less regulated banking system.

Our financial system and markets are the best in the world and benefit ALL participants; exceptionally good market making in the secondary market makes our primary markets the best in the world.

We should recognize that the United States has the biggest, deepest and most liquid capital markets in the world. For these markets to function, it is critical for transparency and liquidity to be in the secondary market . Market making provides this, promoting the flow of capital to real economy investments and supporting all sectors of the economy, including companies, state and local governments, universities, hospitals, pension plans and overall job creation. Without market making in the secondary market, it would be extremely difficult for companies to raise capital through the primary market — equity and debt offerings — which have totaled approximately $3.6 trillion on average over the past few years. The incredible strength of these markets enables companies of all sizes to grow and expand especially during times of volatility and stress. It also enables consumers to access cheaper credit and governments (local, state and federal) to reduce their borrowing costs.

JPMorgan Chase spends $700 million per year in extensive research coverage of nearly 5,200 companies across 83 countries. This massive effort continuously educates investors and decision makers around the world and often leads to improved governance and management. It also critically complements the firm’s market-making activities and further promotes transparency, enabling investors to make thoughtful choices around investing in capital markets.

I would also like our shareholders to know that our market making is backed by approximately $7 billion in support expenses, including over $2 billion in technology spend alone each year. This investment allows us to maintain global trading systems and constantly improve upon risk management and efficiency.

JPMorgan Chase deploys approximately $70 billion in capital to maintain our Markets franchise. This capital supports $500 billion in securities inventory (largely hedged) — and this inventory allows us to buy and sell $2 trillion (notional) in securities daily for our clients.

Market making entails risk but is not particularly speculative.

The main objective of market makers is to continuously quote prices and diligently manage an inventory to transact at those prices, which includes assuming certain risks to support heavy volumes and orderly trading. Market makers have a moral obligation to try to make markets in good times and in bad. Part of our brand promise is to stand ready as the willing buyer and seller. In this, we have never failed. In addition, in most cases regarding government debt, where we serve as a government securities dealer, we are legally obligated to make markets. This constant visibility into prices provided by market makers fosters investor confidence, keeps fees low and promotes economic growth by attracting more investors.

Many large market participants — for example, hedge funds and high-frequency traders, among others — have no obligation to make markets. In fact, many of these market participants often “step out” of the markets and dramatically reduce liquidity specifically when market conditions are difficult.

Market making is not particularly speculative since market makers generally hedge their positions, as you will see from some real life examples of the economics and risks. We earn revenue of approximately $100 million on a typical day. In the average year, the total is nearly $30 billion. On our $2 trillion in notional daily trading, this amounts to only one hundredth of a cent charged to the investor for these services — an extraordinarily low cost compared with any other market in the world.

Now let’s take a look at the actual risk and results versus the hypothetical risk and results. The hypothetical global market shock of the CCAR stress test has us losing $18 billion in a single day and never recovering any of it. Let’s compare that to actual losses under real, actual market stress.

Now consider these historical data points: First, over the last 10 years, the firm’s market-making business has never had a quarterly loss and has lost money on only 30 trading days. These loss days represent only 1% of total trading days, and the average loss on those days was $90 million. Second, when markets completely collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic (from March 2 through March 31, 2020, the stock market fell 16%, and bond spreads gapped out dramatically), J.P. Morgan’s market-making activities made money every day prior to the Federal Reserve’s major interventions, which stabilized the markets. During that entire month, we lost money on only two days but made $2.5 billion in Markets revenue for the month. And third, in the worst quarter ever in the markets following the 2008 failure of Lehman Brothers, we lost $1.7 billion, but we made $5.6 billion in Markets revenue for the full year. The firm as a whole did not lose money in any quarter that year. In 2009, there was a complete recovery in Markets, and we made $22 billion in Markets revenue.

You can see that our actual performance under extreme stress isn’t even close to the hypothetical losses of the stress test.

Another major fallacy is that derivatives are objects of financial destruction. In reality, derivatives are an essential part of managing financial risk and are used by investors, corporations, farmers, businesses, countries, governments and others to manage their risks. And more than 85% of derivatives are fairly basic forms of foreign exchange or interest rate swaps.

One last fallacy is that the repo markets are all about speculation. While it’s true that repo is used by certain investors to leverage up their positions, about 75% of repo is essential to normal money market functioning, i.e., is done by broker-dealers financing their actual inventory positions, money market funds investing their cash backed by highly rated collateral and clients hedging their positions.

Market makers add confidence, liquidity and transparency to U.S. capital markets — market making helps stabilize markets and can reduce volatility.

In addition, more liquidity, not less liquidity, will be needed to maintain market stability. Large banks keep an inventory of securities they can deploy in times of stress to help soothe markets; however, with the implementation of new regulations, banks now hold 70% as much inventory in securities as they did before the 2008 financial crisis, while the total size of the market has almost tripled. Higher capital requirements will accelerate this trend even further, impacting banks’ ability to deliver support to clients and markets in times when it is needed the most.

Washington’s Basel III endgame proposal damages market making, hurts Americans and drives activity to less transparent, less regulated markets.

If this proposal is enacted as drafted:

• Everyday consumer goods could be impacted. Households contending with inflation could also feel the effects of higher capital requirements on market-making activities when they shop. From beverage companies that need to manage aluminum costs to farms that need to protect against environmental risks, if the cost of hedging those risks increases, it could be reflected in what consumers pay for everything from a can of soda to meat products.
• Mortgages and small business loans will be more expensive. Consumers seeking a mortgage — including first-time homebuyers and historically underserved, low- to moderate-income borrowers with smaller down payments — will face higher interest rates or will have a tougher time accessing one. This will occur not only because the cost of originating and holding these loans is higher but also because the cost of securitizing them will rise for banks, nonbanks and government agencies. Not only that, but the proposal will likely lead to reductions in the size of unfunded credit card lines, which will put pressure on FICO scores and thereby make it more difficult for some people to access other forms of retail credit such as mortgages. Again, this will have the greatest impact on low- to moderate-income borrowers who rely most heavily on credit cards for day-to-day spending and to build their credit history. It could even be argued that existing regulations go too far and that there is an opportunity to help underserved communities by dialing down regulations that lead to higher borrowing costs. This should be studied and the pros and cons analyzed. The same can be said for small business loans, which will become more expensive and less accessible.
• Saving for retirement or college will be harder. The cost of products that families count on to save for retirement or college will go up as a result of this proposal. Asset managers, money market funds and pension funds all buy, sell and safekeep securities and other financial instruments for American investors. Under the proposed rules, the cost of banking products used on behalf of clients each day — including brokerage, advisory, clearing and custody services — will go up and feed through to customers. That will lead to lower returns on retirement accounts, college funds and other long-term savings.
• Government infrastructure projects and corporate development will become more expensive. Federal, state and local governments, as well as corporations and other institutions, rely on large banks for access to U.S. capital markets to fund development. If accessing capital markets becomes more expensive, it will have a ripple effect on the hiring of American workers, investment in research and development, and funding to build hospitals, roads and bridges, including the planned infrastructure projects from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

More market activity will move to unregulated institutions, out of sight from regulators and without the same level of consumer protections that Americans expect from their banks. Other market participants that don’t have holistic client relationships are less likely to provide liquidity to help stabilize markets.

In volatile times, banks have been able to intermediate to help their clients and to work with the regulators. With new regulations, they may be less able to do so. There have been several times in the past few years where banks had ample liquidity and capital but were unable to rapidly increase their intermediation in the markets due to very rigid liquidity and capital requirements. Finally, the proposed rules increase the chance that the Federal Reserve will have to step in again — and this is not something they should want to do on a regular basis but only in an extreme emergency.

Staying Competitive in the Shrinking Public Markets

In previous letters, I have described the diminishing role of public companies in the American financial system. From their peak in 1996 at 7,300, U.S. public companies now total 4,300 — the total should have grown dramatically, not shrunk. Meanwhile, the number of private U.S. companies backed by private equity firms — which does not include the rising number of companies owned by sovereign wealth funds and family offices — has grown from 1,900 to 11,200 over the last two decades. This trend is serious and may very well increase with more regulation and litigation coming. Along with a frank assessment of the regulation landscape, we really need to consider: Is this the outcome we want?

There are good reasons for private markets, and some good outcomes result from them. For example, companies can stay private longer if they wish and raise more and different types of capital without going to the public markets. However, taking a wider view, I fear we may be driving companies from the public markets. The reasons are complex and may include factors such as intensified reporting requirements (including investors’ growing needs for environmental, social and governance information), higher litigation expenses, costly regulations, cookie-cutter board governance, shareholder activism, less compensation flexibility, less capital flexibility, heightened public scrutiny and the relentless pressure of quarterly earnings.

Along with the universal proxy — which makes it easier to put poorly qualified directors on a board — the pressures to retreat from the public market are mounting. In addition, corporate governance principles are becoming more and more templated and formulaic, a negative trend. For example, proxy advisors may automatically judge directors unfavorably if they have a long tenure on the board, without a fair assessment of their actual contributions or experience. Another example is the constant battle by some proxy advisors who try to split the chairman and CEO role when there is no evidence this makes a company better off — in fact, today, lead directors generally hold most of the authorities previously assigned to the chairman. The governance of major corporations is evolving away from guidance by governance principles that focus on a company’s relationship to long-term economic value toward a bureaucratic compliance exercise. Good corporate governance is critical, and a little common sense would go a long way.

THE PRESSURE OF QUARTERLY EARNINGS COMPOUNDED BY BAD ACCOUNTING AND BAD DECISIONS

There is something very positive about detailed and disciplined quarterly financial and operating reporting. But company CEOs and boards of directors should resist the undue pressure of quarterly earnings, and it is clearly somewhat their fault when they don’t. However, it is naïve to think that the pressure doesn’t exist because companies that “disappoint” can face extensive criticism, particularly those with a new or young CEO. It’s possible for companies to take short-term actions to increase earnings, such as selling more product cheaply at the end of a quarter, cutting certain investments that may be terrific but can show accounting losses in the first year or two, or just deploying more aggressive accounting methods at times. Once shortcuts like this begin, people all over the company understand that it is okay to “stretch” to meet your numbers. This could put you on a treadmill to ruin. Obviously, a company should not resort to these tactics, but it does happen in the public markets — and it’s probably less likely in the private markets.

THE HIJACKING OF ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS

One of the reasons it is less desirable to be a public company is because of the spiraling frivolousness of the annual shareholder meeting, which has devolved into mostly a showcase of grandstanding and competing special interest groups. We should treat shareholders with tremendous respect — and we do. At JPMorgan Chase, we are constantly talking with our investors — our directors, our lead director and our corporate governance experts visit most of our major investors whether they be direct owners or asset managers who manage the money for others. Meeting with your shareholders and investors is critical, but the annual shareholder meeting itself has become ineffective. We should try to come up with a far more constructive alternative.

THE UNDUE INFLUENCE OF PROXY ADVISORS

There are essentially two main proxy advisors in the United States. One is called Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), and the second is called Glass Lewis. These proxy advisors started out providing reams of data from companies to help their institutional investor clients vote on proxy matters (information on executive compensation, stock returns, detail on directors, policies and so on). However, they soon also began to provide advice on how shareholders should vote on proxy matters. And, in fact, institutional investors generally execute their voting on an ISS or Glass Lewis platform, which often includes a clear statement of the advisory service’s position.

I should also point out, because it may be relevant, that ISS is owned by Deutsche Boerse, a German company, and Glass Lewis is owned by Peloton Capital, a Canadian private equity firm. I question whether American corporate governance should be determined by for-profit international institutions that may have their own strong feelings about what constitutes good corporate governance.

While asset managers and institutional investors have a fiduciary responsibility to make their own decisions, it is increasingly clear that proxy advisors have undue influence.

Asset managers (who manage money on behalf of others) and institutional investors (e.g., pension plans and endowments) may rely on a variety of information sources to support their valuation decision-making process. While data and recommendations may form pieces of the information mosaic, their votes should ultimately be based on an independent application of their own voting guidelines and policies. To the extent they use recommendations from proxy advisors in their decision-making processes, they should disclose that they do so and should be satisfied that the information upon which they are relying is accurate and relevant. However, many companies would argue that this information is frequently not balanced, not representative of the full view and not accurate. In addition, companies complain that they often cannot get the data corrected, and, therefore, a vote may go uncorrected.

Almost all asset managers receive proxy advisor data and recommendations; while some asset managers vote completely independently of this information, the majority do not. Most asset managers have formed corporate governance or stewardship committees that are responsible for their voting, and these committee positions are often held not by portfolio managers and research analysts (i.e., the people buying and analyzing the individual securities) but by stewardship experts. While it is good to have stewardship experts, the reality is that many of these committees default large portions of what they do to proxy advisors and, more troubling, make it harder for actual portfolio managers to override this decision making.

Some have argued that it’s too hard and too expensive to review the large number of proxies and proxy proposals — this is both lazy and wrong. If issues are important to a company, they should be important to the shareholder — for the most part, only a handful of proposals are important to companies.

We are making enhancements to J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s proxy voting processes to amplify the role of portfolio managers and to address the perception of asset managers’ reliance on third-party advisor voting recommendations.

Enhancements to the firm’s internal proxy voting process will include:

• More portfolio manager participation in proxy committee decision making. The firm has significantly expanded the representation of portfolio managers on its North American Proxy Committee in an effort to increase the diversity of viewpoints represented on the committee. As part of this change, and in recognition that portfolio managers, as fiduciaries, may differ in their views on how to vote on particular proposals depending on a mandate’s investment strategy and guidelines, we are broadening our capabilities to support voting results that may vary across our platform.
• Diminished role of proxy advisor recommendations. J.P. Morgan Asset Management makes its own independent proxy voting decisions (based on deep fundamental research) and stands behind the depth and rigor of its processes and historical information advantage. In most cases, the firm will only use proxy advisory firms for research, data and technical mechanics of vote transmission and not for outsourced recommendations. By the end of 2024, J.P. Morgan Asset Management generally will have eliminated third-party proxy advisor voting recommendations from its internally developed voting systems. Additionally, the firm will work with third-party proxy voting advisors to remove their voting recommendations from research reports they provide to J.P. Morgan Asset Management by the 2025 proxy season.
• Other enhancements. We are working to give a company and its management even greater access to the ultimate decision makers; to raise critical issues to a company as early as possible in a constructive and proactive way; and to be willing to tell companies how we have voted once our decision is made rather than waiting until votes are finally counted.

Taken together, these steps are designed to respond to a growing perception (and, I believe, reality) that the asset management industry generally places undue reliance on proxy advisors in how proxies are voted. We believe these actions will strengthen our relationships with our clients and with companies while helping to build trust between shareholders, investors and companies.

THE BENEFITS AND RISKS OF PRIVATE CREDIT

I have already mentioned some of the benefits of private credit, and I’ll now mention some more. Many people in the private credit arena are very smart and creative and want to help the companies they invest in navigate through market shoals. They can move quickly, discreetly and flexibly. Most generally understand that bad accounting drives bad decisions, and their goal is to make the right decisions for the future of the company.

On the other hand, not all players are that good. And problems in the private credit market caused by the bad players can leak onto the good ones, even though private credit money is locked up for years. If investors feel mistreated, they will cry foul, and the government will respond by putting a laser focus on the business. It’s a reasonable assumption that at some point regulations will focus on the private markets as they do on the public markets.

This scrutiny will include a look at how private credit values its assets, which isn’t as transparent as public market valuations. In addition, private market loans commonly lack liquidity in the secondary market and are not generally supported by in-depth market research.

New financial products that grow extremely rapidly often become an area of unexpected risk in the markets. Frequently, the weaknesses of new products, in this case private credit loans, may only be seen and exposed in bad markets, which private credit loans have not yet faced. When credit spreads gap out, when interest rates go up and when some leveraged companies suffer in the recession, we will find out how those loans survive stress testing. In addition, they can create a little bit of a “credit crunch” for borrowers since it might be hard for private creditors to roll over loans under those conditions. Under stress conditions, private creditors would have to charge exorbitant prices that companies simply cannot afford in order to book the new loan at par. Banks are in a slightly different position.

A BANK’S STRENGTH: PROVIDING FLEXIBLE CAPITAL

Banks generally try to be there for their borrowers in difficult times — striving to roll over loans, renegotiate terms and raise additional capital. Banks do this for multiple reasons: They normally feel an obligation to help their clients, they have long-term relationships and they can commonly earn other sources of revenue from client-driven transactions. Banks can also flex their capital and lending base as needed by their clients. This is because a bank can and should make decisions to help companies through good times and bad, seeking to retain them as long-term clients across many areas of the bank. They can and do take “losses” that help the client maintain the franchise. But an asset manager must act as a “fiduciary” of other people’s money and cannot lend based on a moral obligation or potential future relationship.

Recently, we have been witnessing a convergence between the public and private markets. But it’s too soon to say how this ultimately will play out, particularly if we go through a recessionary cycle.

Management Lessons: Thinking, Deciding and Taking Action – Deliberately and with Heart

I always enjoy sharing what I’ve learned from watching others, reading and experiencing through my own journey.

BENEFITING FROM THE OODA LOOP

The military, which often operates in extreme intensity of life and death and in the fog and uncertainty of war, uses the term “OODA loop” (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act — repeat), a strategic process of constant review, analysis, decision making and action. One cannot overemphasize the importance of observation and a full assessment — the failure to do so leads to some of the greatest mistakes, not only in war but also in business and government.

A full assessment is critical.

To properly manage any business situation, you need to perform a full and complete assessment of it. In business, you have to understand your competitors, their distribution, their economics, their innovations, and their strengths and weaknesses. You also need to understand customers and their changing preferences, along with your own costs, your people and their skills. Then there’s knowing how other factors fit in, like technology, risk, motivations … hope you get the point. For countries, you need a thorough grasp of their economies, strengths and weaknesses, population and education, access to raw materials, laws and regulations, history and culture. Research, data and analytics should be at a very detailed level and constantly reassessed. Only after you complete this diligent study can you start to make plans with a high degree of success.

Get on the road – it builds knowledge and culture.

I have frequently wondered about all the nonstop road trips, client meetings, briefings, greetings, bus trips, and visits to call centers, operating centers and branches, regulators and government officials, among others: Did they make a difference? The answer is absolutely yes because they enabled a process of constant learning, assessment and modification of best practices — gaining insights from employees to clients to competitors. Employees will tell you what you are doing well or poorly if you simply ask them, and they know you want to hear the real answer. Curiosity is a form of humility — acknowledging that you don’t know everything. Responding to curiosity allows other people to speak freely. Facts and details matter and inform a deeper and deeper analysis that allows you to continually revise and update your plans. This, of course, also means that you are constantly admitting prior mistakes.

You need to shed sacred cows, seek out blind spots and challenge the status quo.

Very often companies or individuals develop narratives based upon beliefs that are very hard to dislodge but are often wrong — and they can lead to terrible mistakes. A few examples will suffice. Stripe, Inc. built a payments business by working with developers — something we never would have imagined but might have figured out if we had tried to seek out what others were doing in this area. Branches were being closed, both at Bank One and Chase, because the assumption was that they would not be needed in the future. We underinvested for years in the wealth management business because we were always focused on the value of deposits versus investments. Question everything.

Use your brains to figure out the truth — not to justify what you already think.

It’s often hard to change your own attitudes and beliefs, especially those you may have held on to for some time. But you must be open to it. When you learn something that is different from what you thought, it may affect many conclusions you have, not just one. Try not to allow yourself to become rigid or “weaponized,” where other employees or interest groups jazz you up so much that you become a weapon on their behalf. This makes it much harder to see things clearly for yourself. When people disagree with you, seek out where they may be partially right. This opens the door for a deeper understanding and avoids binary thinking.

It's hard to see certain long-term trends, but you must try.

There is too much emphasis on short-term, monthly data and too little on long-term trends and on what might happen in the future that would influence long-term outcomes. For example, today there is tremendous interest in monthly inflation data, although it seems to me that every long-term trend I see increases inflation relative to the last 20 years. Huge fiscal spending, the trillions needed each year for the green economy, the remilitarization of the world and the restructuring of global trade — all are inflationary. I’m not sure models could pick this up. And you must use judgment if you want to evaluate impacts like these.

Also, a block of time as short as one year is an artificial framework for judging the impact of long-term trends that could easily play out over years. A helpful exercise is to think “future back,” in which you imagine different future outcomes, including the ones you want, and then work backward to events that are happening today (or that might happen or that you cause to happen), closely examining the connections between those events and your projected or desired outcomes. Those connections inform your risk and R&D planning. Similarly, when companies compare the attributes of their products and services with their competitors, they usually only consider where they are versus their competitors. But nothing is static — they should consider where their competitors will be in the future. Conditions are always changing, crises are always emerging. When analyzing the playing field, it is better to assume that your competitors are strong and are already in the process of improving and innovating. This minimizes the chance of arrogance leading to complacency.

DECISION MAKING AND ACTING (HAVE A PROCESS)

There is a time for an individual to decide and act.

Sometimes you should take the time to measure twice and cut once. And then sometimes making a quick decision is better than delaying. You should try to distinguish between the two. For example, with decisions that are hard to reverse, it’s usually better to go slow. With other decisions where you can test, learn, probe and change direction, it’s often better to go fast. It’s been my experience that it’s hard for some people to actually decide and act. This could be from analysis paralysis, lack of “perfect” information, fear of failure or the feeling that full consensus is needed before a decision can be reached. But whatever it is, it can slow down and possibly seriously damage a company.

To get people to think like decision makers and take a strong point of view, we like to ask, “What would you do if you were king or queen for a day?” It helps shift the direction to individual decision making. We also ask questions like, “What would you wish for if you knew X was going to happen?” (for example, higher interest rates). Decision making takes a mix of courage, grit and guts.

One exercise that I find useful (and sometimes painful) is to draw up a list of important decisions that need to be made — the ones I often avoid confronting. So I take time every Sunday to think about these tough issues and almost always make progress. Progress doesn’t always mean that you come to the final conclusion — sometimes it’s just a very rational next step that can put you on a path to the final decision.

Try to have a good decision-making process.

Try to give yourself the time to decide. Make sure you speak with the right people and make sure the right people are in the room. Information should be fully shared. People should be made very comfortable with open debate. Quite often, the “right” answer is simply waiting to be found — you don’t have to guess.

Crowdsourcing, compromise, consensus and committees have benefits and risks.

There are huge benefits to crowdsourcing intelligence. It is a form of full assessment, a strategy for getting the best ideas and challenging the status quo. We should do this for almost every major decision. It is perfectly fine on some occasions to compromise and gain consensus, particularly on decisions that are not critical and can easily be reversed. Often people spend too much time debating issues that are simply not that important; it’s better to decide and move on. Also, before you compromise, you should know exactly what you want to achieve and the consequences of any tradeoffs. However, sometimes compromise and consensus cannot work and only lead to a feel-good decision that is probably wrong — this could be the road to ruin.

The use of committees can be good when done properly. For example, if our risk committees could do a full assessment and crowdsource all potential risks, that would lead to better decision making. I will give one very personal and painful example, which is when we had a major trading scandal, called The London Whale. The scandal was not caused by the complexity of the trade but rather the failure to go to the proper Risk committee for a thorough review, which should have happened but didn’t. I have no doubt that had the trade been raised there, the flaws would have been exposed immediately, thereby dramatically reducing or eliminating the problem. On the other hand, the opposite can happen when a committee, with everyone staring at each other, devolves into herd-like behavior with people looking for confirmation and ending up with a compromise that is a poor choice.

Good leadership involves great observation and the ability to act, but there is more …

THE SECRET SAUCE OF LEADERSHIP (HAVE A HEART)

You need to earn trust and respect with your employees.

You can be great at assessment, you can be brilliant and you may often be willing to act. But all of that is not good enough for “complete” leadership. To become a true leader, you need to be trusted and you must earn your respect, every day. People have to know that you do not have ulterior motives and that you’re trying to do the right thing — not trying to burnish your personal reputation. Good people want to work for people they respect, and they will not respect people who take all the credit and share all the blame. People need to know that even when you make mistakes, you’re willing to admit them and take corrective action. And there is more …

The importance of vision, communication and inspiration.

The reason I’ve always hesitated to talk about “vision” is because often it is the basic BS of corporate speak — that somehow if you impart your vision to people, they will take the mountain. What it really is all about is this: After you’ve done your full assessment and decision making, you can then continuously educate, explain, train, simplify, propel and fight. But this only works if people know you are in the trenches with them, if they understand the mission and if they are there side by side with your effort.

We know that bureaucracy can lead to politics, corporate stasis and terrible decisions. So you can communicate your vision about how to fight bureaucracy by telling stories about the silly things we do — but with a smile — and then by showing people that you will actually fix the problems.

Finally, your vision needs to be clear, coherent and consistent. Within an organization, people very quickly pick up the pattern of management saying one thing but doing another. Because if words and actions are inconsistent (for example, and I could give many, when we say we want employees to be treated with respect, but we allow a jerk to be their boss), confidence in leadership will be eroded.

Heart cannot be overstated.

Heart matters. And it makes a difference when people know and see that you actually care. One example: Many years ago when I was new to JPMorgan Chase, I learned that the company’s security guards had been outsourced — to save money. Since after outsourcing, when the same guards continued coming to work every day at the same salary, I wondered, “How could this be?” (FYI, this was brought to my attention by the head of the Service Employees International Union, who came to see me over the objection of my management team.) The reason we were saving money is because the healthcare benefits were cut in half for the guards and their family members (currently worth approximately $15,000 a year), and the savings were split with us. This was a heartless thing to do — and the second I found out, I reversed the decision. JPMorgan Chase’s success will not be built off the backs of our guards — it will be the result of fair treatment of all of our employees — and we’re thankful that many of those guards are still with our company today.

You know heart and soul when you see it in effect on sports teams or with “the boys in the boat” — it’s a beautiful thing to watch. It’s not as obvious, but it happens in business, too.

It’s essential to build trust with your customers, constituencies and, yes, even competitors.

Of course, I’m not bringing this up as a matter of corporate governance or a corporation’s purpose: A business should, over the long run, try to maximize shareholder value. It is completely obvious that running a decent business —treating everyone ethically and earning trust and respect in all your communities — is not only fundamental to shareholder value but also to a healthy society.

A Pivotal Moment for America and the Free Western World: Strategy and Policy Matter

In past years, I have written extensively about public policy issues. It is important to engage in these conversations, particularly around domestic economic policy because policy matters . While JPMorgan Chase can execute specific plans to improve outcomes for customers and communities, there is no replacement for effective government policies that add to the general well-being of the country. A stronger and more prosperous country will make us a stronger company.

As CEO of this company, every year I visit numerous countries around the globe. I meet with foreign government leaders, presidents and prime ministers, business leaders, and civic and academic experts, which allows me to learn a significant amount about how public policy is executed around the world. It also reinforces some of the critical values and virtues that are essential to a healthy country.

Every time I see the American flag, it reminds me of the values and virtues of this country and its founding principles conceived in liberty and dedicated to the notion that all men and women are created equal. Talk with someone who has recently become a naturalized citizen or watch a ceremony where groups of people take the oath to America, and you will see extraordinary joy and newfound pride. They now live free, with individual rights protected by the Constitution and with their life and the well-being of their family and community protected by the U.S. military. As Americans, we have much to be grateful for and much to defend.

If you read the newspaper from virtually any day of any year since World War II, there is abundant coverage on wars — hot and cold — inflation, recession, polarized politics, terrorist attacks, migration and starvation. As appalling as these events have been, the world was generally on a path to becoming stronger and safer. When terrible events happen, we tend to overestimate the effect they will have on the global economy. Recent events, however, may very well be creating risks that could eclipse anything since World War II — we should not take them lightly.

February 24, 2022 is another day in history that will live in infamy. On that day, 190,000 Russian soldiers invaded a free and democratic European country — importantly, somewhat protected by the threat of nuclear blackmail. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent abhorrent attack on Israel and ongoing violence in the Middle East should have punctured many assumptions about the direction of future safety and security, bringing us to this pivotal time in history. America and the free Western world can no longer maintain a false sense of security based on the illusion that dictatorships and oppressive nations won’t use their economic and military powers to advance their aims — particularly against what they perceive as weak, incompetent and disorganized Western democracies. In a troubled world, we are reminded that national security is and always will be paramount, even if its importance seems to recede in tranquil times.

The fallout from these events should also lay to rest the idea that America can stand alone. Of course, U.S. leaders must always put America first, but global peace and order are vital to American interests. Only America has the full capability to lead and coalesce the Western world, though we must do so respectfully and in partnership with our allies. Without cohesiveness and unity with our allies, autocratic forces will divide and conquer the bickering democracies. America needs to lead with its strengths — not only its military but also its economic, diplomatic and moral forces. And now we must do so as America’s leadership is being challenged around the world. There is nothing more important.

Policy and strategy matter, and it’s important to be engaged.

In our increasingly complex world, there is a vital interrelationship between domestic and foreign economic policy, particularly around trade, investment, national security and other issues. And, of course, while American voters and leadership set U.S. foreign policy, being a constructive part of the global conversation has become more important than ever.

If you doubt how important public policy is for the health of a country, you need to look no further than the recent history of Greece, Ireland or Singapore. Each of these countries, starting from deeply challenging places, implemented effective government and policies that have done a great job of lifting up their people when many thought it wasn’t possible. Sweden is another great example of a country with good broad-based policies that have succeeded at precisely what we all may want — a dynamic, innovative, free-market economy (Sweden actually has fewer government-owned enterprises than America) and safety nets that work. Conversely, you need to look no further than North Korea or Venezuela to see the complete destruction and havoc that terrible public policies (often in the name of the people) can cultivate.

Strategy by its nature must be comprehensive. In the rest of this section, I try to answer the question: What must we do to ensure that the world stays safe, not only for America but for freedom and democracy? A comprehensive strategy entails four important pillars, and we must succeed at each:

• Maintain American leadership (including military).
• Achieve long-term economic success with our allies.
• Strengthen our nation domestically.
• Deepen focus and resolve on addressing our most pressing challenges.

COALESCING THE WESTERN WORLD — A UNIQUELY AMERICAN TASK

Only America has the full capabilities of military might, economic power and the principles that most people around the world yearn for — based on “liberty and justice for all” and the proposition that all people are created equal. America remains the bastion of freedom and the arsenal of democracy.

There is no alternative to American leadership.

In the free and democratic Western world, and, in fact, for many other countries, there is no real or good alternative to America. The only other potential superpower is China. Other nations know they can rely on the founding principles of America. If we reach out our hand, most nations will happily take that hand. America is still the most prosperous nation on the planet, which not only can guarantee our military strength but also positions us to help our allies develop and grow their nations (though we should minimize the “our way or the highway” type of behavior). This leadership is needed today to help Ukraine stay free in its battle with Russia.

Most of the world wants American leadership.

America continues to be the envy of much of the world, and as we’ve seen with the challenges at our borders, there is a reason people want to come here and not to autocratic nations. If you opened America’s borders to the rest of the world, I have little doubt that hundreds of millions of people would want to move here. By contrast, not many would want to emigrate to autocratic nations. Also, I have little doubt that if most investors across the globe could only invest in one country, they would choose the United States. Beyond our country’s borders, people and nations around the world understand the role that America has played in promoting world peace — known as Pax Americana. For the most part, Pax Americana has kept the world relatively peaceful since World War II and helped lead to enormous global economic prosperity, which has helped lift 1.3 billion people out of poverty.

Modern America does not engage in economic coercion or foreign wars to steal land or treasure. The fact that some of our foreign excursions might have been misguided does not negate this. We helped rebuild Europe and Japan after the devastation of World War II, and we, with our allies, have helped create global institutions to maintain peace. We are still trusted.

First and foremost, the Western world needs unquestioned military might — peace through strength.

“We know only too well that war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, but when they are weak,” said Ronald Reagan in 1980.

So far, the Western world has done a good job in strengthening military alliances in response to the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is essentially the front line that needs immediate support. Providing that support is the best way to counter autocratic forces that would seek to weaken the Western world, particularly America. But the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East could become far worse and spread in unpredictable ways. Most important, the specter of nuclear weapons — probably still the greatest threat to mankind — hovers as the ultimate decider, which should strike deep fear in all our hearts. The best protection starts with an unyielding resolve to do whatever we need to do to maintain the strongest military on the planet — a commitment that is well within our economic capability.

American leadership requires not only the military but also the full “symphony of power.”

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, in his book Exercise of Power, writes extensively in the first chapter about “the symphony of power.” He makes the critical point that America has often overused and misused military power and has massively underused other muscles — diplomacy, intelligence, communication (explaining to the world the benefits of democracy and free enterprise) and comprehensive economic policy.

America has the most extensive group of partners, friends and allies — both military and economic — that the world has probably ever seen. We should put this to better use.

The American public ought to hear more about why this is so important.

International isolationism has run through American foreign policy throughout our history, frequently with good reason. The chant, “Don’t get involved in foreign wars” was often right. That said, the American public should remember that even after the Revolutionary War, we did, in fact, have British and French armies on our soil. The sinking of American merchant and passenger ships during World War I and the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II brought isolationism to a close for a time. America is never far from being dragged into terrible conflicts. Global wars come to our shores whether we like it or not — we need to stay engaged.

In perilous periods of history when our allies and other democracies were under serious assault, great American leaders have inspired the American people — through words and actions — to stand up to help and defend them. Staying on the sidelines during battles of autocracy and democracy, between dictatorship and freedom, is simply not an option for America today. Ukraine is the front line of democracy. If the war goes badly for Ukraine, you may see the splintering of Pax Americana, which would be a disaster for the whole free world . Ukraine’s struggle is our struggle, and ensuring their victory is ensuring America first . It is imperative that our national leaders explain to the American people what is at stake and make a powerful case – with energy, consistency and clarity – for our strong enduring commitment to Ukraine’s survival for as long as it takes (and it could take years).

One last point: Ukraine needs our help immediately, but it’s important to understand that much of the money that America is directing to Ukraine is for purchasing weapons and equipment, most of which will be built in America. Not only is our aid helping Ukraine, but it is going directly to American manufacturers, and it is helping the country rebuild our military industrial capacity for the next generation.

STRENGTHENING OUR POSITION WITH A COMPREHENSIVE, GLOBAL ECONOMIC SECURITY STRATEGY

Sustaining America’s economic strength is a bedrock for our long-term military strength. There are many things we need to do to strengthen the U.S. economy, and I talk about that later in this section. This discussion is about foreign economic policies – the economic battlefield.

The whole Western world is rethinking and reimagining its military strategies and alliances. We need to do the same for our economic strategies and alliances, but we should be guided by a comprehensive global strategy that deals with critical issues. Done properly, such a strategy would help strengthen, coalesce and possibly be the glue that holds together Western democratic alliances over decades.

Foreign economic policy involves trade and investment, export controls, secure and resilient supply chains, and the execution of sanctions and any related industrial policies. It must also include development finance — think of the “Belt and Road” efforts in China — which are critical to most developing nations. This framework should tell us not only how to deal with our allies but also how to work with nonaligned nations around the world. These strategies should not be aimed against any one country (such as China) but rather be focused on keeping the world safe for democracy and free enterprise.

Economic national security is paramount — both for the United States and for our allies.

It is a valid point that the Western world — both government and business — essentially underestimated the growing strength and potential threat of China. It’s also true that China has been comprehensively and strategically focused on these economic issues, all while we slept. But let’s not cry over spilled milk — let’s just fix it.

We missed the potential threat from three vantage points. The first is companies’ overreliance on China as the sole link in their supply chain, which can create vulnerabilities and reduces resiliency. But to the extent this involves everyday items, like clothes, sneakers, vaccine compounds and consumer goods, this dependency is not as critical or complex and will eventually be sorted out.

The second is the most critical. The United States cannot rely on any potential adversaries for materials essential to our national security — think rare earths, 5G and semiconductors, penicillin and materials critical to essential pharmaceuticals, among others. We also cannot be sharing vital technologies that can enhance an adversary’s military capabilities. The United States should properly and narrowly define these issues and then act unilaterally, if necessary, to fix them.

The third is also complex, which is countering unfair competition or “mercantilist” behavior in critical industries; think electric vehicles, renewable energy and AI, among others. Examples of this would be where a state, any state, uses government powers, capital, subsidies or other means to dominate critical industries and deeply damage the economic position of other nations. Weakening a country economically can render it a virtual “vassal state,” reliant on potential adversaries for essential goods and services, which also weakens it militarily. We cannot cede our important resources and capabilities to potential adversaries.

All these issues can be resolved, though they will take time and need devoted effort.

Every nation will have different national security issues. For example, Europe in general and countries like India, Japan and Korea need reliable, affordable and secure energy; many nations would put food security as their top concern. This means that we must work with our allies to accomplish our own goals and to help them accomplish theirs. We have extraordinary common interests in our joint security: We must hang together — because if we don’t, we will assuredly hang separately.

We already engage in trade — improving it is good economics and great geopolitics.

We must have a better understanding of trade. As a nation, we refuse to get into genuine trade discussions, but this ignores the complete and obvious truth — we already have trade relationships with all these countries. Approximately 92% of the world’s consumers live outside the United States. Increased trade allows our workers and farmers to access those markets. We should negotiate trade agreements that can achieve more, economically, for ourselves and our allies, as well as meet all of our national security needs. While it is appropriate to use trade to continue to nudge allies in the right direction around human rights and climate, this objective should be subordinated to our national interests of long-term security.

Negotiating must be done in concert with our allied nations so as not to cause a fissure in economic relations. This is critical — strong economic bonds will help ensure strong military alliances. The Inflation Reduction Act has much good in it (more on this later), but it angered many of our allies. To them, the bill was by America and for America, and, subsequently, they felt a need to match it so their businesses would not be disadvantaged. The terms of the legislation could have been better negotiated with our allies in mind, strengthening our economic ties with the free world.

We should also immediately re-enter, if possible, the prior negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. Not only is it good for the economy, but it also could be a brilliant, strategic, economic security move — an economic alliance that binds us with 11 other important countries (including Australia, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore and Vietnam). Geopolitically and strategically, this might be one of the most important moves to counter China. While this is a challenging step, our political leaders need to explain and lead — and not be afraid of dealing with the tough issues. We also need to acknowledge that there have been real negative job impacts as a result of trade, which are usually concentrated around certain areas and businesses. So any new trade policy should be combined with a greatly enhanced Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which provides retraining, income assistance and relocation for those workers directly impacted by trade.

Trade is realpolitik , and the recent cancellation of future liquified natural gas (LNG) projects is a good example of this fact. The projects were delayed mainly for political reasons — to pacify those who believe that gas is bad and that oil and gas projects should simply be stopped. This is not only wrong but also enormously naïve. One of the best ways to reduce CO2 for the next few decades is to use gas to replace coal. When oil and gas prices skyrocketed last winter, nations around the world — wealthy and very climate-conscious nations like France, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as lower-income nations like Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam that could not afford the higher cost — started to turn back to their coal plants. This highlights the importance of safe, secure and affordable energy. Second, the export of LNG is a great economic boon for the United States. But most important is the realpolitik goal: Our allied nations that need secure and affordable energy resources, including critical nations like Japan, Korea and most of our European allies, would like to be able to depend on the United States for energy. This now puts them in a difficult position — they may have to look elsewhere for such supplies, tuning to Iran, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates or maybe even Russia. We need to minimize anything that can tear at our economic bonds with our allies.

The strength of our domestic production of energy gives us a “power advantage” — cheaper and more reliable energy, which creates economic and geopolitical advantages.

Industrial policy is now necessary, but it should be carefully constructed and limited.

In some cases, industrial policy (using government resources to subsidize investments to help make businesses more competitive) may be the only solution for quickly building up the industries we need (rare earths and semiconductors, among others) to guarantee resilient national security. The IRA and CHIPS Act are good examples of this and government has to get it right.

Such policy can also be used to help combat unfair competitive policies of nations that are using state capitalism and state control to dominate critical industries. However, when crafting industrial policy, the function of government needs to be narrowly defined and kept simple; i.e., governmental jurisdiction should be limited to very specific products and probably to what we know works, such as tax credits and, to a lesser extent, loan guarantees. And industrial policy should include twin provisions: 1) strict limitations on political interference, like social policies, and 2) specific permitting requirements, which, if not drastically improved, will badly inhibit our ability to make investments and allow infrastructure to be built. Adding social policy, politics and matters other than simple tax credits dramatically reduces the economic efficiency of industrial policy and creates conditions for corporate America to feed at the trough of government largess. We should quickly address how we can improve on already executed legislation. We do not want to look back and have great regrets about how so much of this policy work failed.

There are those who argue that the U.S. government needs much more far-reaching industrial policy to be able to micromanage and accomplish its many ambitious objectives. To those I say, read the next section about how ineffective so many government policies have been.

We should be tough, but we should engage with China.

Over the last 20 years, China has been executing a more comprehensive economic strategy than we have. The country’s leaders have successfully grown their nation and, depending on how you measure it, have the first or second largest economy in the world. That said, many question the current economic focus of China’s leadership as they don’t have everything figured out. While China has become the largest trading partner to many countries around the world, its own GDP per person is $13,000. And the country continues to be beset by many economic and domestic issues.

China has its own national security concerns. The country is located in a very politically complex part of the world, and many of China’s actions have caused its neighbors (e.g., Japan, Korea, Philippines, among others) to start to re-arm and, in fact, draw closer to the United States. It also surprises many Americans to hear that while our country is 100% energy sufficient, China needs to import 10 million barrels of oil a day. It is clear that China’s new leadership has set a different course, with a much more intense focus on national security, military capability and internal development. That is their right, and we simply need to adjust to it.

America still has an enormously strong hand — plenty of food, water and energy; peaceful neighbors; and what remains the most prosperous and dynamic economy the world has ever seen, with a per person GDP of over $80,000 a year. Most important, our nation is blessed with the benefit of true freedom and liberty. See the sidebar on the amazing power of freedom later in this section.

While we may always have a complex relationship with China (made all the more complicated and serious by ongoing wars), the country’s vast size and importance to so many other nations requires us to stay engaged — thoughtfully and without fear. At the same time, we need to build and execute our own long-term, comprehensive economic security strategy to keep our position safe and secure. I believe that respectful, strong and consistent engagement would be best for both our countries and the rest of the world.

We need to strengthen and rebuild the international order — we may need a new Bretton Woods.

The international rules-based order established by the Western world after World War II is clearly under attack by outside forces, somewhat weakened by its own failures and inability to keep up with the increasingly complex world. This international order relies on a web of military alliances, trade agreements (e.g., World Trade Organization), development finance (e.g., International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) and related global tax and investment policies and diplomacy organizations (e.g., United Nations), which have evolved into a confusing and overlapping regime of policies. You can now add to it the new issues of cyber warfare, digital trade and privacy, and global taxes, among others.

It might be a good idea to convene a group of like-minded leaders to build and improve upon what already exists. The time may be right for a reimagined Bretton Woods — and by this, I mean revitalizing our global architecture. Since too many parts of the world have been neglected, any new system has to take into account and properly address the needs of all nations, including areas of concentrated poverty.

While we hope the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East will end eventually (and, we hope, successfully from the standpoint of our allies), these other critical economic battles could possibly continue throughout our lifetime. If the Western world is slowly split apart over the next few decades, it will likely be the result of our failure to effectively address crucial global economic challenges.

PROVIDING STRONG LEADERSHIP GLOBALLY AND EFFECTIVE POLICY MAKING DOMESTICALLY

When you travel around the United States and talk with people of all types and persuasions, there is a rather common refrain; namely, why are we helping foreign nations with the safety of their borders and economies when we are not doing a particularly good job of protecting our own? While there is no moral equivalency in these arguments, they are understandable. It is clear that many Americans feel we need to do a better job here at home before we can focus over there . We can understand why some people living in this country, who have been neglected for decades, ask how their government can find the money for Ukraine and other parts of the world but not for them. It is a reasonable question.

From my point of view, our highly charged, emotional and political domestic issues are centered around 1) immigration and lack of border security and 2) the fraying of the American dream, particularly for low-income and rural Americans who feel left behind amid the growing wealth and prosperity of others around them. Please read the sidebar below, which I believe explains the legitimate frustration of some of our citizens. And I agree with them.

In the sidebar, I also explain how two policies (a large expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and focus on work skills and job outcomes at high schools, community colleges and colleges) would not only dramatically increase both the income and employment opportunities for many of those left behind but would also have the virtue of actually growing the workforce. The combined effect of all of this would be quite a boon to our GDP.

I believe that many affected Americans are not angry at hardworking, law-abiding immigrants and, in fact, acknowledge the critical role immigrants continue to play in building this wonderful country. Rather, they are angry that America has not implemented proper border control and immigration policies. It is astounding that many in Congress know what to do and want to do it but are simply unable to pass legislation because of partisan politics. Congress did come close on a few occasions — and I hope they keep trying.

Deliberate policies meant to drive healthy growth are needed.

For over two decades, since 2000, America has grown at an anemic rate of 2%. We should have strived for and achieved 3% growth. Had we done so, GDP per person today would be $16,000 higher, which would, in turn, have paid for better healthcare, childcare, education and other services. Importantly, the best way to handle our excess deficit and debt issues is to maximize economic growth.

Growth policies include (the list could be very long so I’ll just mention a few):

• Consistent tax policies, conducive to both employment and capital investment. Capital investment is the primary driver of innovation, productivity and, therefore, growth in America. Tax policies change too frequently, which causes uncertainty and complicates long-term capital investment decision making (I won’t bore you with the details here). A bipartisan committee of Congress is probably required to fix this — and the sooner the better.
• Well-conceived regulations (and related laws). This requires an ongoing concerted effort to streamline regulations to cost-effectively drive better outcomes for the United States. The last thing we need is a constant pile-on of politically driven, fragmented policies. Please read the sidebar, an editorial in The Wall Street Journal by George McGovern, one of the most liberal presidential nominees in our lifetime, in which he clearly lays out the complexity, risks and costs that businesses, large and small, face every day. While he acknowledges the worthiness of the goals of many regulations, he points out their negatives. He also calls out the “blame-shifting and scapegoating and the endless exposure to frivolous claims and high legal fees.” Not only is this state of affairs demoralizing, but it also reduces employment, capital investment and the formation of new businesses, as well as cause unnecessary bankruptcies. Estimates of the regulatory costs for America are approximately $19,000 per worker, dwarfing the regulatory burdens in other countries. We all want sensible regulations that make us a better and safer nation – but this number is astounding. We should be able to accomplish our goals while sharply reducing needless and wasteful expenses. And remember, it’s discouraging not only to companies but to all citizens who have to deal with it on a daily basis.

WALL STREET JOURNAL

June 1, 1992

(Copyright © I992, Dow Jones & Co., Inc.)

Manager's Journal: A Politician's Dream Is a Businessman's Nightmare

By George McGovern Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late.

— Justice Felix Frankfurter

It's been 11 years since I left the U.S. Senate, after serving 24 years in high public office. After leaving a career in politics, I devoted much of my time to public lectures that took me into every state in the union and much of Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

In 1988, I invested most of the earnings from this lecture circuit acquiring the leasehold on Connecticut's Stratford Inn. Hotels, inns and restaurants have always held a special fascination for me. The Stratford Inn promised the realization of a longtime dream to own a combination hotel, restaurant and public conference facility — complete with an experienced manager and staff.

In retrospect, I wish I had known more about the hazards and difficulties of such a business, especially during a recession of the kind that hit New England just as I was acquiring the inn's 43-year leasehold. I also wish that during the years I was in public office, I had had this firsthand experience about the difficulties business people face every day. That knowledge would have made me a better U.S. senator and a more understanding presidential contender.

Today we are much closer to a general acknowledgment that government must encourage business to expand and grow. Bill Clinton, Paul Tsongas, Bob Kerrey and others have, I believe, changed the debate of our party. We intuitively know that to create job opportunities we need entrepreneurs who will risk their capital against an expected payoff. Too often, however, public policy does not consider whether we are choking off those opportunities.

My own business perspective has been limited to that small hotel and restaurant in Stratford, Conn., with an especially difficult lease and a severe recession. But my business associates and I also lived with federal, state and local rules that were all passed with the objective of helping employees, protecting the environment, raising tax dollars for schools, protecting our customers from fire hazards, etc. While I never have doubted the worthiness of any of these goals, the concept that most often eludes legislators is: "Can we make consumers pay the higher prices for the increased operating costs that accompany public regulation and government reporting requirements with reams of red tape." It is a simple concern that is nonetheless often ignored by legislators.

For example, the papers today are filled with stories about businesses dropping health coverage for employees. We provided a substantial package for our staff at the Stratford Inn. However, were we operating today, those costs would exceed $150,000 a year for health care on top of salaries and other benefits. There would have been no reasonable way for us to absorb or pass on these costs.

Some of the escalation in the cost of health care is attributed to patients suing doctors. While one cannot assess the merit of all these claims, I've also witnessed firsthand the explosion in blame-shifting and scapegoating for every negative experience in life.

Today, despite bankruptcy, we are still dealing with litigation from individuals who fell in or near our restaurant. Despite these injuries, not every misstep is the fault of someone else. Not every such incident should be viewed as a lawsuit instead of an unfortunate accident. And while the business owner may prevail in the end, the endless exposure to frivolous claims and high legal fees is frightening.

Our Connecticut hotel, along with many others, went bankrupt for a variety of reasons, the general economy in the Northeast being a significant cause. But that reason masks the variety of other challenges we faced that drive operating costs and financing charges beyond what a small business can handle.

It is clear that some businesses have products that can be priced at almost any level. The price of raw materials (e.g., steel and glass) and life-saving drugs and medical care are not easily substituted by consumers. It is only competition or antitrust that tempers price increases. Consumers may delay purchases, but they have little choice when faced with higher prices.

In services, however, consumers do have a choice when faced with higher prices. You may have to stay in a hotel while on vacation, but you can stay fewer days. You can eat in restaurants fewer times per month, or forgo a number of services from car washes to shoeshines. Every such decision eventually results in job losses for someone. And often these are the people without the skills to help themselves — the people I've spent a lifetime trying to help.

In short, "one-size-fits-all" rules for business ignore the reality of the marketplace. And setting thresholds for regulatory guidelines at artificial levels — e.g., 50 employees or more, $500,000 in sales — takes no account of other realities, such as profit margins, labor intensive vs. capital intensive businesses, and local market economics.

The problem we face as legislators is: Where do we set the bar so that it is not too high to clear? I don't have the answer. I do know that we need to start raising these questions more often.

Mr. McGovern. the 1972 Democratic presidential candidate, is president of the Middle-Eastern Policy Council in Washington.

(See related letters: "Letters to the Editor: A Politician's Dream Is a Businessman's Nightmare" •· WSJ July 2, 1922)

• Timely permits on projects large and small. There is virtually no industry — from agriculture and construction to transportation, technology, and oil and gas — or business, large or small, that isn’t disadvantaged by the tedious process and the length of time it takes to get approvals for permits to get things done. This includes federal, state and local requirements. These bottlenecks also make investment far more costly and slow. Timely permits would improve infrastructure and save lives, not endanger them.
• Proper federal government budgeting and fiscal management. The staggering inability of the government to draft and pass a proper budget causes deep and unnecessary damage to our growth. Some people estimate that the waste alone (due to improper payments, overlapping programs, and fragmented and duplicative contracts, among other things) could cost the nation hundreds of billions of dollars annually. This uncertainty filters through virtually every part of the American economy and should not be accepted.

We can all forgo a little self-interest to do what is right for our country.

Those of us who have benefited the most from this country bear even greater responsibility to do this. It’s perfectly understandable that institutions, including businesses, unions and industries, lobby in Washington, D.C., to protect themselves — in good ways and bad — but we should more regularly put national interests ahead of self-interests. It’s good to want to ensure well-paying jobs and healthy industries. But it is not good when it reduces competition, stops the deployment of enhanced technology, harms efficiency, creates fake jobs or builds bridges to nowhere or damages the general health of the economy. Doing the right thing, the right way – which is achievable – would be better for everyone. As former President John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

Celebrate American exceptionalism.

We can safely say that America is an exceptional nation built and grounded on principles — principles of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, free enterprise (capitalism), and the freedom and empowerment brought to us by our democracy through the power to elect our leaders and of our Constitution, which makes these individual freedoms sacrosanct. Much of the world yearns to be here because of those principles — the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We should extol those virtues while recognizing that America has never been a perfect nation, like all other nations. We can acknowledge our flaws and strive to constantly correct them, without denigrating our nation.

Let’s celebrate the shared sense of sacrifice that gives us all strength.

There were very few positives from the pandemic, but I’m mentioning one, which, unfortunately, didn’t last, but reflected the best of us. In New York City, at 7 p.m. every evening, people throughout the city would open their windows, shouting and screaming and banging pots and pans to show gratitude to the essential workers — sanitation workers, police, firefighters, emergency responders, nurses and doctors. Of course, these workers were always essential, but I was hoping that spirit and civility would become deeply embedded and have longer lasting effects in our society.

I can understand when an individual for conscientious reasons chooses not to do work that helps our military. But I cannot understand when an entire company takes that position. How can we have a sense of shared sacrifice, when America is home to 18 million veterans who were willing to risk their lives for America’s safety, and yet some companies are not even willing to use their fingertips to help?

For example, back in 1969 the cancellation of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs by the country’s most prestigious universities and colleges likely fueled the great divide – between elites and others in our country – that persists today. Our strength as a nation is best served when the best students and the best soldiers are brought together and we would all benefit from more civility and better teaching around basic virtues like hard work, shared sacrifice, justice, rationality and more respect for the enduring values of American freedom and free enterprise.

Resist being “weaponized.”

We can start by trying to understand other people’s and other voters’ points of views, even around deeply emotional topics. We can stop insulting whole classes of voters. We can stop name calling. We can stop blame-shifting and scapegoating. We can stop being petty. Politicians can cease insulting, baiting and belittling each other, which diminishes them and the voter. It has also become too acceptable for some politicians to say one thing in private and deliver a completely different message in public. It would also be nice to see some cabinet members from the opposing party. We should also stop degrading and demonizing American business and American institutions, which are the best in the world, because it erodes confidence in our very country.

Social media could do more.

There is no question that social media has some real negative effects, from the manipulation of elections to the increasingly documented negative effects on the mental health of children. These are issues impacting our individual and collective spheres, and it’s time for social media companies to take more action to remedy these challenges — and swiftly. Rapid advances in technology will not only make these existing issues harder to address, but they will likely create new ones. The current state of the online information landscape has wide-ranging implications on trust in institutions, information integrity and more — and it bears on institutions like ours, where platform policy has increasingly widespread implications for concerns about fraud, security and other issue spaces.

A range of tools and approaches is required to address this complex and important situation — and there are several measures that platform companies can immediately enact, voluntarily, while strengthening and improving their business models. One common sense and modest step would be for social media companies to further empower platform users’ control over what they see and how it is presented, leveraging existing tools and features — like the alternative feed algorithm settings some offer today. I believe many users (not just parents) would appreciate a greater ability to more carefully curate their feeds; for example, prioritizing educational content for their children.

Platforms could also consider enhanced authentication measures; i.e., having users identify themselves to the platform or to a trusted third party. This would have the virtue of increasing individual accountability and reducing imposters, bots and possibly foreign political actors on platforms. It would have immediate benefits for users who prefer content from authenticated sources that take responsibility for their postings. There are clear competing values that need to be balanced in such an approach, including those related to our cherished right to free speech, individual privacy and inclusion (for example, roughly 850 million people globally don’t have a way to easily authenticate themselves today). There are also legitimate questions as to whether authentication would be used as a tool to chill or block speech or quash bona fide political dissenters, and real work needs to be done to identify policy and technical solutions that balance such risks and benefits.

I offer these approaches as a starting place, understanding that it's crucial to continue honest conversation across sectors about the immediate, incremental improvements we can make to our online public square, considering the high stakes involved in how information is created and shared.

Effective measures will require time, money, learning and improvement, all in service of significantly enhancing the well-being, quality, and civility of our experiences online and in the world around us.

Healthy collaboration with business is needed.

Companies big and small create jobs, pay for employee healthcare and benefits, and build bridges, roads and hospitals. The people who work for and run these companies care deeply about their country — they are patriots, and they want to see people and communities succeed and prosper.

Unfortunately, the message America hears is that the federal government does not value business — that business is the problem and not part of the solution. There are fewer individuals in government who have any significant experience in starting or running a company, which is apparent every day in the political rhetoric that demonizes businesses and free enterprise and that damages confidence in American’s institutions. The relationship between business and government, in fact, might improve if there were more people from the business sector working in government. Inexperience with business is also evident from the regular lack of transparency or curiosity from regulators as they develop economic policies with potentially seismic consequences for the economy.

When I travel around the country, I experience a very different perspective on the street and at the local level — I see that many governors, mayors and city council members understand they are not facing big challenges alone. They stand shoulder to shoulder with our company, even when some of their constituents disagree or are skeptical about big banks. These government officials know they need partners who have the same stake in helping successful communities thrive and who care about building a prosperous future as much as they do. For example, in fewer than 10 years, Detroit saw one of the greatest turnarounds because of a vibrant collaboration between government and business. And businesses know they cannot succeed if individuals, families, towns and cities are not flourishing. We obviously don’t agree on everything, but there is a shared belief that we must work together. We can and should be full partners in developing solutions to our big problems.

The federal government, regardless of which party is in charge, needs to earn back trust through competence and effective policymaking.

The world is becoming more complex, more technologically competent and faster. Unfortunately the government simply is not built to innovate, compete and move quickly, as in the competitive business world. This may be the reason why government is becoming less effective. We need to take action on this because the loss of trust in government is damaging to society. We should be brutally honest about the staggering number of policies, systems and operations that are underperforming: Too many ineffective public schools do not give students the skills they need to land a well-paying job; we have over 25 million uninsured Americans, soaring healthcare costs and too many bad outcomes; we are unable to plan, permit and build infrastructure efficiently; our litigation system is capricious and wasteful; progress on immigration policies and reform is frustrating; lack of efficient mortgage markets and an affordable housing policy keep housing out of reach for many Americans; problems plague the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Internal Revenue Service; public universities don’t take responsibility for their costs and are often funded by excessive student lending; underinvestment in the electric grid results in high costs and unreliable service; highly inefficient U.S. merchant shipping and ports; and we have unfunded pension plans and no action on deficit spending, Social Security and Medicare. I’ll stop here. This should be unacceptable to all of us.

We need to find a way to bring more varied expertise and accountability to government.

We should be more ambitious in striving for excellence in government. I acknowledge that some of the best and the brightest are in government and the military today. Yet we should return to a government that seeks out more of the best and the brightest people from every background , including the private sector, to benefit from their knowledge and experience. Government also needs to leverage the expertise of business to address problems that it cannot solve on its own. And to be fair, business could use its influence to do less to further its own interest and more to enhance the nation as a whole.

We need good government. And there are some things only governments can do, such as oversee the military and justice systems. And while most innovation happens through the private sector, there are certain types of foundational innovations that can only be advanced by the government, such as basic research that simply cannot be funded by business. The Democrats want the government to do even more and the Republicans even less — I think we should spend more time trying to do even better . But no one, not even my most liberal Democratic friends, thinks that sending the government another trillion a year would be a wise use of money.

OUT OF THE LABYRINTH, WITH FOCUS AND RESOLVE

Even America, the most prosperous nation on the planet with its vast resources, needs to focus its resources on the complex and difficult tasks ahead.

I hope to never read a book about How the West Was Lost, summarized as follows: The failure to save Ukraine and find peace in the Middle East led to more bickering among the allies and weakened military alliances. This accelerated a division within the Western world, splitting countries into different economic spheres and with each nation trying to protect its economy, trade and energy sources. America’s economy weakened, eventually leading to the loss of its reserve currency status. Besotted by populism and partisanship and crippled by bureaucracy and lack of willpower, America failed to focus on what it needed to do to lead and save the Western world. The enemy was within — we just didn’t see it in time.

Paraphrasing what Winston Churchill was thought to have said: America, after it had exhausted all other possibilities, would do the right thing.

What I want and hope to see is a book about How the West Was Won. As the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East dragged on and as the fears of the Western world mounted, America rose to the challenge as it had in other turbulent times in history. America coalesced with its allies to form the alliances necessary to keep the world safe for freedom and democracy.

I remain with a deep and abiding faith in the strength of the enduring values of America.

WE SHOULD HAVE MORE FAITH IN THE AMAZING POWER OF OUR FREEDOMS

The heart and soul of the dynamism of America is human freedom — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, free enterprise (capitalism), and the freedom and empowerment brought to us by our democracy through the right to elect our leaders. Free people are at liberty to move around as they see fit, work as they see fit, dream as they see fit, and invest in themselves and in the pursuit of happiness as they see fit. This freedom that people enjoy, accompanied by the freedom of capital, is what drives the dynamism — economic and social — of this great country.

Our civil liberties depend upon the rule of law, property rights, including intellectual property, and restrictions on government encroachment upon these freedoms. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights secure our individual freedoms and reserve all rights to the individual other than those important but limited authorities given to the government.

The issue of individual rights is not all or none or freedom versus no freedom. There are, of course, terrible examples where individual rights were trampled upon, and the results were devastating — both for the individual and for the economy — in East Germany, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Venezuela, to name a few. And there are many countries that protect individual rights and are on a spectrum closer to American values. Think of Europe, for example. But even in some countries that have some of these rights, a lack of dynamism — often due to bureaucracy, weak institutions and government, and corruption — is palpable and has clearly led to less innovation, lower growth and, in general, a lower standard of living.

Freedom must necessarily be joined with the principle of striving toward equal opportunity. Equal opportunity is what allows individuals to rise to the best of their ability — it also means unequal outcomes. Equal opportunity is the foundation for fairness and meritocracy. The fight for equality, which is a good moral goal, should not damage the rights of the individual and their liberties.

Democracy and freedom are cojoined — together, they make freedom more durable. Democracy also has a self-correcting element — every four years you get to throw out leadership if you don’t like them (which you do not see in autocracies). But we all know that democracy can be sloppy: Maintaining an effective democracy is hard work. Democracy fosters open debate and compromise, which lead to better decisions over time (whether in government or in business). Intelligence is effectively “crowdsourced” with constant feedback. Good public policy comes from good debate and analytics, guided by reason coupled with a firm understanding of what you would like the outcomes to be and complemented with an honest assessment of what is really happening.

Even democracies can become stagnant, bureaucratic and self-perpetuating. Good government does many admirable things, but admitting to mistakes is often not one of them. It takes civically engaged citizens and a strong free press to bring sunlight to issues and keep a nation strong.

Autocratic societies by their nature subjugate the individual to the state. By definition they are not meritocracies — they are more about “who you know,” and they exist to perpetuate the existing ruling class. Their decisions are based on a completely different calculation, and their decision-making process does not encourage and, therefore, benefit from open debate. Democracy means that it is immoral to subjugate individual freedoms to state actors other than to protect the existence of the nation itself.

There are values that many of us hold dear, such as religion, family and country. But none may be more important than the freedoms that allow us to choose to live our life as we see fit. We should do more to applaud the virtue and amazing power of our freedoms.

HOW WE CAN HELP LIFT UP OUR LOW-INCOME CITIZENS AND MEND AMERICA’S TORN SOCIAL FABRIC

To fix problems, we must first acknowledge them. Despite decades of government programs and all the moralizing that surrounds them, we have not done a particularly good job lifting up our low-income fellow citizens. I may be wrong, but I do believe this is tearing at the social fabric of America and is among the root causes of the fraying of the American dream.

The gap between low-wage and well-paid workers has been growing dramatically. From 1979 to 2019, the wage growth of the top 10% was nearly 10 times that of the bottom 10% — which, basically, had not increased at all. The growth of low-income workers’ annualized real wages after the pandemic was, for the first time in decades, higher than the top 60%, but that’s not enough. The net worth for the bottom 25% of households is $20,800, and the net worth for the bottom 10% is essentially $0. This makes it increasingly difficult for low-wage workers to support their families. Of the 160 million Americans working today, approximately 40 million are paid less than $15 per hour.

Low-income individuals bear far greater burdens than the rest of us. Nearly 40% of Americans don’t have $400 in savings to deal with unexpected expenses, such as medical bills or car repairs, which leads to financial distress. More than 25 million Americans don’t have medical insurance at all; of these, one in five are in a family with income below the federal poverty level. People who live in low-income neighborhoods also tend to have worse health outcomes, including higher rates of mental health issues, depression and suicide, and a lower life expectancy — as many as 20 years. Finally, low-income Americans generally experience higher unemployment and more crime.

No one can claim that the promise of equal opportunity is being offered to all Americans through our education systems. Students in the lowest socioeconomic bracket are 50% less likely to attend college than those in the highest socioeconomic groups. Many inner city schools graduate under 50% of their students — and even those who graduate may not be well-prepared for the workforce. In addition, boys growing up in the bottom 10% of family income are 20 times more likely to be incarcerated. Those who do run afoul of our justice system generally do not get the second chance that many of them deserve. Their exclusion from the workforce is not only unfair to them but also results in an estimated $87 billion average annual cost to the economy.

Too many policies that are wrong — affecting housing and mortgage markets, healthcare, immigration, regulation, education and student lending, to name a few — are jeopardizing the opportunity for American citizens to succeed. The people who suffer the most, throughout all of this, are not high-income individuals. I strongly believe that these outcomes are destroying the concept of “fair” in America and are driving populism and diminishing, if not eliminating, trust — not only in government but in all our institutions. Simply put, the social needs of far too many of our citizens are not being met. We should never accept these outcomes — we must fix them.

There are two policy changes that I believe can have a dramatic effect on jobs, growth and equality — and they go a long way toward repairing the frayed American dream. Let’s start by treating all jobs with respect. Even starter jobs, which are the first rung on the ladder of opportunity, bring dignity and create better social outcomes in terms of health, higher household formation and lower crime. Of these two policy changes, one would better utilize existing resources, and the other would cost some money. But both would significantly change outcomes for low-income Americans.

The free one is so blindingly obvious that it’s almost embarrassing to propose. Our schools (high schools, community colleges and perhaps even four-year colleges) should take responsibility for outcomes — they should be judged on the quality and income level of the jobs that their graduates and even non-graduates attain. This means providing graduating students and other individuals with work skills (in fields such as advanced manufacturing, cyber, data science and technology, healthcare and so on) that will lead to better paying jobs. These schools should work with local businesses to replicate effective programs that are in place — because that is where the actual jobs are now. This would be good for growth and, as there are so many examples of successful programs, we already know what to do. With nearly 9 million job openings and just under 6 million unemployed workers in the United States, job skills training has never been needed more. We already spend a tremendous amount of money on education — just not the right way.

The second step is related to the first: Get more income to low-paid workers. While this one would cost money, it is to me a complete no-brainer since it is an expansion of an existing program, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which many Democrats and Republicans already agree upon. Today, the EITC supplements low- to moderate-income working individuals and couples, particularly with children and people living in rural areas. For example, a single mother with two children earning $9 an hour (approximately $20,000 a year) could receive a tax credit of more than $6,000 at year-end. Workers without children receive a very small tax credit (96% of all EITC dollars were received by families with children). This should be dramatically expanded, including eliminating the child requirement from the calculation altogether. We should convert the EITC to make it more like a negative income payroll tax, paid monthly. Any tax credit income should not be offset by any other benefits these individuals already receive (we have to eliminate benefit “cliffs” that disincentivize work).

An increase in the EITC to a maximum of $10,000 would cost tens of billions a year, but I have little doubt that these policy changes would do more than anything else to lift up low-income families and their communities. Well-paying jobs have been shown to reduce crime, increase household formation, improve health and reduce addiction. Both of these policies would have the virtue of increasing the number of people in the workforce. I also have little doubt that this would add to GDP.

We should attack all our other problems as well, but these two policy changes alone would dramatically improve our low-income neighborhoods, broadly strengthen the economy and give more opportunity to deserving citizens. It would restore the American Dream for many.

It’s been 20 years since the Bank One-JPMorgan Chase merger — and it’s been an extraordinary journey. I can’t even begin to express my heartfelt appreciation and respect for the tremendous character and capabilities of the management team who got us through the good times and the bad times to where we stand today. And I recognize that we all stand on the shoulders of many others who came before us in building this exceptional company of ours.

I would also like to express my deep gratitude to the 300,000+ employees, and their families, of JPMorgan Chase. Through these annual letters, I hope shareholders and all readers have gained a deeper understanding of what it takes to be an “endgame winner” in a rapidly changing world. More important, I hope you are as proud of what we all have achieved — as a business, as a bank and as a community investor — as I am. Thank you for your partnership.

Finally, we sincerely hope to see the world on the path to peace and prosperity.

Jamie Dimon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer April 8, 2024

Bank of Client Franchises Built Over the Long Term Note: figures may not sum due to rounding

JPMorgan Chase Exhibits Strength in Both Efficiency and Returns When Compared with Large Peers and Best-in-Class Peers

Our Fortress Balance Sheet

Size of the Financial/Sector Industry

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• Annual Report 2023
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