History Main / WindbagPolitician

Subtrope of TheBore. Sister trope of OldWindbag. Compare CharacterFilibuster.

Sister trope of OldWindbag. Compare CharacterFilibuster.

Compare CharacterFilibuster.

* ''Franchise/TheWitchesOfEastwick''. A newspaper editor is giving a long (multipage) speech which is interrupted when the title witches inadvertently cause a rainstorm.

* Third-world dictators during the Cold War in general were noted to be fond of this trope. One of the most {{egregious}} abusers has to be Kenneth Kaunda, first president of UsefulNotes/{{Zambia}}, who would not only make several speeches running up to five hours long every year, but would also broadcast them on the country's lone television channel. Suffice it to say, those Zambians who did have access to televisions were not pleased.

* In OlderThanRadio days, live speeches and debates were a form of public entertainment. In the Lincoln/Douglas debates each candidate spoke for 90 minutes. Also, the now stereotypically [[LargeHam bombastic oration]] was necessary before the invention of loudspeakers. That began to change with UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln making such an impression with his Gettysburg Address [[SimpleYetAwesome taking just two minutes]] that the featured speaker of the occasion, Edward Everett, praised him in writing for an eloquently concise speech. Incidentally, Everett spoke for a little more than two hours.

* Subverted by Abraham Lincoln with the Gettysburg Address; he delivered of the most famous pieces of rhetoric in world history and it clocked in at just over two minutes. This is of interesting contrast with the speaker before him, Edward Everett, a former Secretary of State and noted orator -- his speech went for over two hours.

* V. K. Krishna Menon's 1957 speech defending India's actions in Kashmir is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest speech delivered at the United Nations, Menon almost made it to the eight hour mark when he collapsed on the podium (It served as both a sincere defense and a filibuster to prevent the Security Council from passing a resolution condemning India's actions). The longest speech at the general assembly was given by Fidel Castro (who else) in 1960, clocking in at 4 hours and 29 minutes. It was said that instead of listening, the delegates spent most of the speeches' run time carefully planning out everyone's lunch schedule so that too many people don't accidentally leave at once and break quorum.

* Boston Mayor Big Jim Curley famously said that his rhetorical technique was to first tell the audience what he was going to tell them, then tell it to them, then tell them what he had told them.

A kid-friendlier version of the SleazyPolitician, where the main purpose of elected officials is to bore the audience half to death with rhetoric. Frequently involves {{malaproper}}s, [[UnaccustomedAsIAmToPublicSpeaking apologies for their lack of expertise in speaking]], and (broken) promises of being short and to the point.

** The 1992 Democratic convention saw then-nominee Clinton's speech run for just over an hour.

* V. K. Krishna Menon's 1957 speech defending India's actions in Kashmir is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest speech delivered at the United Nations, Menon almost made it to the eight hour mark when he collapsed on the podium (It served as both a sincere defense and a filibuster to prevent the Security Council from passing a resolution condemning India's actions). The longest speech at the general assembly was given by Fidel Castro (who else) in 1960, clocking in at 4 hours and 29 minutes. It was said that the delegates spent most of the speeches' run time carefully planning out everyone's lunch schedule so that too many people don't accidentally leave at once and break quorum.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'':
** At the end of "Fingers", the mayor wishes to say a few words. Cut to several hours later, where he's ''still'' talking.
** Another has Luke help build a bridge across the Mississippi which isn't completed by the time the opening ceremony comes around. Luke tells the governor to stall for time, which he does by announcing that on this day praise must be given to the Lord, and starts reading from the Bible, page 1. The bridge is finished by the time he gets to Job.
* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': The Helvetian assembly consists of one chieftain making a speech and every other one sleeping deeply. When they switch out, the new one even says "I will be brief..."
* ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio''. The mayor of Champignac is widely feared for his entirely improvised and metaphor-breaking digressions.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''{{Film/Lincoln}}''. On the day of the vote, the speaker tells the audience they will now ''briefly'' recap the proposed amendment. Everyone bursts out laughing on "briefly".
* ''Franchise/TheWitchesOfEastwick''. A newspaper editor is giving a long (multipage) speech which is interrupted when the title witches inadvertently cause a rainstorm.

[[AC:Jokes]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:{{Music}}]]

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]
* Senator Snort from George Lichty's ''Grin And Bear It'' comics has a reputation for filibusters. One gag had a colleague remark that Senator Snort still has the floor, even though there's a new President in office.

[[AC:{{Radio}}]]
* Senator Beauregard Claghorn from ''The Fred Allen Show''.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure [=OA6=] ''Ronin Challenge''. During the opening ceremonies of the Kumite tournament the contestants march onto a field and take martial arts stances. A series of long-winded dignitaries then begin to give lengthy welcoming speeches. This is actually a SecretTest: the authorities are trying to weed out unqualified participants. Any of the contestants who moves even slightly during the speeches is immediately disqualified.

[[AC:{{Theater}}]]
* ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'': Polonius, King Claudius' counselor, is prone to being long winded. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when he says "[[HypocriticalHumor Brevity is the soul of wit]]," at the end of one of his rambling speeches.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Former Cuban leader UsefulNotes/FidelCastro was infamous for doing this, his longest speech on record in Cuba clocking up seven hours and 10 minutes at the 1986 Communist Party Congress.

* DaveBarry once mentioned the real reason Cuban troops were found all over the world in the seventies and eighties was because it was preferable to staying in Cuba, where they have to listen to extremely long speeches.

* Donald Trump

* As a bit of subversion, UsefulNotes/JosefStalin generally gave brief speeches (except for the Central Committee reports, which are by tradition quite detailed). Unfortunately, the speeches are liberally sprinkled with applause cues. As everyone's too afraid to be the first person to stop applauding, each round of ovations can last a good ten minutes. Stalin was also quite GenreSavvy in that he knew about his own voice being rather high-pitched and hence not particularly "dangerous"/authoritive sounding or anything, which is one of the reasons he comparatively rarely gave speeches, kept them short and generally demanded them not to be recorded.

* In OlderThanRadio days, live speeches and debates were a form of public entertainment. In the Lincoln/Douglas debates each candidate spoke for 90 minutes. Also, the now stereotypically [[LargeHam bombastic oration]] was necessary before the invention of loudspeakers. That began to change with UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln making such an impression with his Gettysburg Address taking just two minutes that the featured speaker of the occasion, Edward Everett, praised him in writing for an eloquently concise speech. Incidentally, Everett spoke for a little more than two hours.

* V. K. Krishna Menon's 1957 speech defending India's actions in Kashmir is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest speech delivered at the United Nations, Menon almost made it to the eight hour mark when he collapsed on the podium. The longest speech at the general assembly was given by Fidel Castro (who else) in 1960, clocking in at 4 hours and 29 minutes. It was said that the delegates spent most of the speeches' run time carefully planning out everyone's lunch schedule so that too many people don't accidentally leave at once and break quorum.

* As a bit of subversion, UsefulNotes/JosefStalin generally gave brief speeches (except for the Central Committee reports, which are by tradition quite detailed). Unfortunately, the speeches are liberally sprinkled with applause cues. As everyone's too afraid to be the first person to stop applauding, each round of ovations can last a good ten minutes.

* As a bit of subversion,Stalin generally gave brief speeches (except for the Central Committee reports, which are by tradition quite detailed). Unfortunately, the speeches are liberally sprinkled with applause cues. As everyone's too afraid to be the first person to stop applauding, each round of ovations can last a good ten minutes.

* One ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' sketch has an interviewed man claim that "Speaking as a Conservative candidate, I like to drone on and on and on, never letting anyone else get in a word in edgeways, until I start frothing at the mouth and falling over backwards." He then proceeds to do just that.

** The runner-up is UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi's incomprehensible 2009 address to the UN General Assembly, it consisted of 100 minutes of pure gobbledygook. One of the interpreters passed out from exhaustion. The Assembly generally adheres to a strict 15 minutes time limit for its speakers, but in the case of Castro and Gaddafi, trying to enforce that was judged to be more trouble than it was worth.

* In OlderThanRadio days, live speeches and debates were a form of public entertainment. In the Lincoln/Douglas debates each candidate spoke for 90 minutes. Also, the now stereotypically [[LargeHam bombastic oration]] was necessary before the invention of loudspeakers.
** That began to change with UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln making such an impression with his Gettysburg Address taking just two minutes that the featured speaker of the occasion, Edward Everett, praised him in writing for an eloquently concise speech.
*** Incidentally, Everett spoke for a little more than two hours.

* ''LuckyLuke'':