Four Minute Men

The Four Minute Men were a group of tens of thousands of volunteers authorized by United States President Woodrow Wilson to give four-minute speeches on topics chosen by the Committee on Public Information (CPI). In 1917–1918, more than 750,000 speeches were given in 5,200 communities by over 75,000 accomplished orators, including men, women and children, who reached about 400 million listeners. The topics dealt with support of the American war effort in the First World War and were presented during the four minutes between reels changing in movie theaters across the country. The short speeches were designed so that they could also be given at town meetings, restaurants, and other places that had an audience.