George W Bush Ethos Pathos Logos

President George W. Bush is notorious for horrible public speaking, tripping over his words and making silly mistakes are not uncommon in President Bush’s speeches. When 9/11 struck the heart of America we turned to President Bush to guide us back to the path of calm and reason. The American population tends to lean on our President in time of tragedy to serve as a system of support. Instantly after the World Trade Center buildings were attacked President Bush addressed the nation on live television. Bush used neo-Aristotelian tactics: ethos, pathos, and logos to instate a sense of patriotism, argue that America will recover from this tragedy and bring justice to our nation.

After the twin towers fell emotions across the nation ran high with sadness and anguish. President fed off this emotion to evoke response in our nation through the use of pathos. Pathos is the appeal to persuade the

audience by feeling or emotion. Bush clearly appeals to the notion of unifying as one in his speech, using phrases like, “like “our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom” and “none of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward…” Through the use of pathos Bush instills a sense of patriotism in his audience, their country has been attacked and everyone shares the same grief. Bush’s carful selection of words used to raise emotion and describe the attacks range from, “evil,” “despicable,” and “mass murder” all words, which create anger, sadness, despair and remorse. Additionally, pathos is utilized when Bush uses influential metaphors such as, “terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” The combination and repetition of the words “steel” and “foundation” produce a strong image of strength and resilience in every American. Through the use of strong vocabulary, metaphors and repetition Bruch give America hope that we will prevail again.
Verbal language supports a great deal of pathos, but more times than not, real emotion is employed through unseen methods. For example the use of camera angles on television. Psychologist would contend that a person’s face is the simplest form of interpreting and processing emotion. A person’s facial expressions offer insight into the true meaning of their words, which is one reason why the television networks broadcasting Brush’s speech focused on the President’s face through the entire duration of his speech. Focusing on Bush’s face provided viewers a lens to view the President which they don’t get to see often, raw emotions. Bush’s argument that the nation would bounce back from the attacks on the world trade center reemphasizes pathos through connecting emotion to the Presidents thesis.
Similar to the importance pathos, or the emotional appeal in a speech, the character of the speaker is equally important to take into account.

Ethos demonstrates the speaker’s credibility, separating the non-persuasive and not credited speaker from the trustworthy presenter. President Bush served in the military prior to his term which helped him established ethos – at the time- with America nation. George W. Bush served as a Lieutenant in the Texas and Alabama National Air Guard. Bush brings his military experience into his speech when stating, “Our military is powerful, and it’s prepared.” Moreover, the television crew begins President Bush’s speech with a zoomed out view of the Oval Office, where many presidential speeches have been presented to the American public. The view of the Oval Office habitually starts a connection in the views mind of power and authority. These ethical factors; in addition to, visually linking the Presidents authoritative status the average American viewer received a true sense that America could bounce back, if guided by such as strong

leader.
In addition to the importance of ethos (emotion) and pathos (character), proving a sound logical argument and guiding be persuaded are fundamental traits. President Bush uses logos throughout his speech to inform the nation of the day’s events. The speech is setup sequentially, so anyone listening can follow. Additionally, Bush provides facts – for example, during his speech he explains what happened on 9/11 as a painting “The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge -- huge structures collapsing.” Bush paints a picture of the events that occurred just days before his speech invoking logos. Logos means the statement of true facts without faulty assumption. Bush then discusses his immediate actions after the traumatic event took place. He states, “immediately following the first attack, [he] implemented our government's emergency response plans.” Viewers were impressed by the Presidents knowledge and ability to control the situation, which the purpose of logos.
Every word that was chosen by President Bush that day was spoken with the audience in mind. Bush addresses every woman, man, child, legal, illegal person living in the United States asking them for, “prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened.” First Bush reaches out to the victims and their families who were experiencing a pain no one else could feel. Next, Bush establishing more ethos and pathos, by to speaks to the children who may have been watching, while reminiscing on the fact that he was reading to a classroom in Florida when h received the new of the event. Largely, Bush focuses on the ordinary citizens of America who can help make a difference. He repeatedly using words such as, “America” and country.
All public speakers have their pitfalls when addressing a large audience. President Bush’s shortcomings obstruct the effect of ethos, pathos, and logos. Bush stumbled through his speech, although not uncommon for President Bush, it was clear he did not practice. It has been argued that setting the speech in front of the Oval Office also played a role in hindering the speech’s effect on the nation. One could argue that a site near 9/11 would have aided in strong ethos and pathos. Logos is present throughout the speech, but more prevalent statistics and details would have better informed the audience.
The United States was forever changed on 9/11, the goal of President Bush’s speech was to make American citizens feel united as one and comforted once more. His use of rhetorical strategies to persuade the viewers that America was stronger than ever, and would bring justice to our home soil was effective. Bush’s use of ethos, pathos and logos brought a voice of reason, dedication, and encouragement to a somber nation. Bush filled hearts across the nation providing strength and encouragement to forge onward creating a bond between President and each individual citizen.