Rhetoric and Reminiscence: Graham Freudenberg, Political Memory and 'The Scribe'

Perhaps no other profession evidences the societal influence of words than that of the speechwriter, tasked with tapping into both emotion and political nous in devising rousing orations. And perhaps no other speechwriter is as renowned in Australia as Graham Freudenberg – a fact attested to by Ruth Cullen's documentary, which profiles its late subject's illustrious career alongside illuminating, if lean, reflections on rhetoric, writes Anders Furze.

Additional keywords:
Australian Labor Party, Bob Hawke, hagiography, Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, policy, orator, propaganda.