The Voices of American Presidents have been captured by audio pioneers since the early days of sound recording.  The invention of Edison's phonograph ushered in a new era of "recorded" history, beginning with President Benjamin Harrison in the late nineteenth century to the present day Bush Administration.  The MSU Vincent Voice Library is working to preserve over 100 years of historical spoken word recordings like those of the U.S. Presidents, and is pleased to share these sound samples from its collection.

Two methods are available for listening to sound files at this site:

  1. Click on a president's portrait to hear the files as RealAudio.
  2. Download the MP3 audio files by right clicking on the MP3 link and selecting the "save as" option.
    To hear the MP3 files, you will need an MP3 capable player. MP3 resources can be found at MP3.COM.

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For a complete listing of all recordings of U.S. Presidents at the Vincent Voice Library, please visit the
"Online Finding Aid of United States Presidents and Vice Presidents".

MSU Libraries | Vincent Voice Library | Finding Aid Index

Link to Michigan State University Libraries

Michigan State University Libraries
100 Library, East Lansing, MI 48824
Updated by VVL webmaster
January 16, 2006