Who Said This?

[AussieMick]

Nope, not Charlie.
6 months after the words were spoken there was a vicious civil war in the relevant country. Get the country/nation and you are doing well to get the names of ' our President ' and speaker ..... in the civil war they were enemies.

[AussieMick]

When he was in the USA seeking funds "our President " gave speeches to huge crowds.

[Rogerm]

Was it Garibaldi of Italy?

[AussieMick]

No, sorry. Not Garibaldi.
His presence in the US was kept secret for the first 10 days during which he visited his mother in Rochester and his half-brother, a priest in Boston.

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He spoke to huge audiences and acquired large amounts in donations for his cause in the 'home' country.
He had a thirty-minute standing ovation in Chicago. But some places he met unfriendly crowds and there some who were critical of his perceived pro-German stance during the WW1.

[Gene C]

James Connolly ?

[Steve]

Michael Collins?

[AussieMick]

(Sorry for delay). Steve, Gene... you've got the country but not the Speaker or the 'President ' who spent about 18 months travelling across the US. That man did become the official President of the country a few years after the civil war.

[AussieMick]

Michael Collins was present when the words were spoken.

[Anita]

Éamon de Valera?

[AussieMick]

You got it, Anita. The speaker was Arthur Griffith, founder of Sinn Fein. De Valera went to the US in 1919 . He was born there. He was fund raising for the fight against England. Griffith and Michael Collins negotiated a Treaty with England but De Valera and others didn't. like the terms .... (James Connolly, executed 1916, worked in the US for a while.)
Well done Anita. You win a complimentary something.

[Anita]

Thanks Michael! Great question. I learned a lot working through the clues. This site has maps with a history of all the US tours. https://www.ucc.ie/en/theirishrevolution...r-1919-20/