Ways and Means

• This refers to sources of revenue and expenditures to maintain a political and economic system. Politicians, business leaders, lobbyists and others use political oratory to advocate for revenue to fund what they want funded. In federal and state government the Ways and Means Committees supervise funding. In January 2011 France Cordove, president of Purdue University in Indiana, made a persuasive speech to Indiana's Ways and Means budget hearing to advocate for funding for the university.
  
  

War and Peace

• War and peace is a critical political topic. Politicians are often called upon to defend peace or wage war. Knowledge of a country's military strength, and that of its neighbors and other nation states is often the topic of this type of oratory. Former U.S. President George Bush made impassioned persuasive speeches to the American people to advocate for the war in Iraq, presumably so Americans could live in peace.
  
  

National Defense

• This is also known as national security and foreign relations. Political oratory relating to a country's national defense is common. Knowing the size, resources and deployment of a country's military resources and knowledge of its enemies' defense are focal points of this type of oration. U.S. Defense secretaries have used oratory to create support for a strong national defense strategy.
  
  

Trade

• A country's trade relations are covered in many political orations. Trade concerns both a country's imports and exports and how they relate to the good of a nation and its people. In January 2011 U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner delivered a speech at Johns Hopkins University advocating for better trade relations between the U.S. and China.
  
  

Legislative

• The legislative branches of government and its representatives must know the laws and functions of its state, and the history and customs of other states. Many political orations center on interpretation of legislation or the proposal of new legislation to improve a political or socio-economic system. Politicians of every ilk make speeches advocating or denouncing the signing into bills into new legislation.