Undelivered: The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History

A fascinating insight into notable speeches that were never delivered, showing what could have been if history had gone down a different path

For almost every delivered speech, there exists an undelivered opposite. These "second speeches" provide alternative histories of what could have been if not for schedule changes, changes of heart, or momentous turns of events.

In Undelivered, political speechwriter Jeff Nussbaum presents the most notable speeches the public never heard, from Dwight Eisenhower's apology for a D-Day failure to Richard Nixon's refusal to resign the presidency, and even Hillary Clinton's acceptance for a 2016 victory—the latter never seen until now.

Examining the content of these speeches and the context of the historic moments that almost came to be, Nussbaum considers not only what they tell us about the past but also what they can inform us about our present.

© 2025 Flatiron Books (Ebook): 9781250240712

Release date

Ebook: 16 October 2025