Introduction
On March 19, 2003, George Bush, then President of the United States, gave a speech to the American people, stating that the United States was at war with Iraq. This report will provide historical context of The United States’ relation to Iraq and the Middle East in 2003, information about George Bush’s personal and political life, his use of rhetorical and literary devices in his speech, and an analysis of the speech’s success.
Historical Context
The year of Bush’s speech (2003) was very important in America’s relation to the Middle East. The speech was presented 2 years after the 9/11 attacks by extremists from the Middle East in New York. After said attacks, Bush promised the survivors and emergency responders at the site of
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the attacks, that the people who knocked down the towers would “hear them soon.” Bush held his speech 10 years after the Persian Gulf War, where the United States fought dictator Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi military. In 2003, Hussein had control of Iraq and posed a great threat to the United States and the World. George W. Bush (Speaker) Personal Life George Bush was born in Connecticut, Ohio, but grew up in Texas.
He is the son of George H. W. Bush, who was the President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. George Bush Jr. was a pilot for the American National Guard and owned oil companies in Texas prior to his political career.
Presidency
George W. Bush was the 43rd President of the United States and served two terms from 2001 to 2009 with Dick Cheney as his Vice President. He was a member of the Republican Party and had a platform to increase the military, improve education, and cut taxes. His response to 9/11 and America’s participation in the Iraq war were key moments of his presidency.
Use of Rhetorical Devices
Pathos
George Bush appeals to the emotions of Americans many times in his speech. He appeals specifically to the religious values that are very strong in America with statements such as “Millions of Americans are praying...” and “May God bless our country and all who defend her.” By doing this, Bush shows that he shares the same values as American citizens and that God is on their side. In addition, Bush references the 9/11 attacks that are troubling memories for many Americans. He uses their fear of a recurrence and suggests that if America does not stop leaders like Hussein in Iraq, they would have to fight him in their own
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country. Ethos George Bush demonstrates the good character and moral motives of himself and the American military by claiming that they are on a mission of peace and that they will be successful.
In the first sentence of the speech, Bush says that their goal is to disarm Iraq, and “...free its people and defend the world from grave danger.” Moreover, Bush states that the American military will make “every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm.” With those statements, Bush reassures his audience that the American military is just in their actions as their only purpose in Iraq to bring peace. Next, George Bush gives hope to the American conquest, claiming that their enemies will “...come to know [their] skill and bravery” and that they will accept “no outcome but
victory.” Logos George Bush demonstrates some logic in his speech. He says that there were 35 other nations supporting the efforts to free Iraq. The logic in this statement is that the United States should engage in the war, because many other countries share their goals, and would provide support to ensure a successful mission. In addition, Bush trusts the armed forces involved in the war. This is logical because Americans should also trust the soldiers being sent out because their leader, the President, has trust in them. Use of Literary Devices Foil Foil is the use of indirectly associating people with qualities such as good and bad. Bush uses Foil in his speech by portraying Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government as bad people. Throughout his speech, Bush describes horrific acts made by Hussein. Bush says that Hussein runs an “...outlaw regime that threatens the peace”, and that they “...use innocent men, women, and children as shields.” These are persuasive uses of Foil and are effective as they demean Hussein and his government. Repetition Many times throughout his speech, George Bush mentions ‘freedom.’ This is an excellent word choice as many Americans take pride in the freedom that they have. Bush claims that they are entering Iraq to bring freedom to the people of Iraq and to defend the freedom of the United States. By using the word freedom, Bush appeals to his audience and encourages them to support their country. Conclusion The goal of the speech The goal of the speech was to justify America’s involvement in the Iraq war and convince the American people that their military was going to be successful in its endeavors. It had only been 10 years since the last war with Iraq, and American society would not have liked to engage in another war unless there was a compelling reason. The success of the speech Even though he used little logic in his speech, George Bush made up for it by appealing to Americans’ emotions and the way he portrayed himself and the American military. In addition, his use of Foil was key in depicting Saddam Hussein as the bad person he was. In conclusion, George Bush successfully justified the Iraq war at the time and gave hope to the American people.
In the “George Bush’ Columbia” speech, George W. Bush used a variety of ways in order to make his mark and effectively assemble his dialog. One of the most prominent strategies Mr. Bush used was his sentence structure. He did a great job shaping his speech by initially addressing the problem at hand. He first stated what happened, who it happened to, and gave his condolences to the ones who didn’t make it, along with their families. Mr. Bush also seemed sincere throughout his speech as he made sure to mention each hero apart of the crew. Another technique George W. Bush displayed was the diction and tone he used while delivering the speech. From listening to the audio last week, I remember the passion behind Bush’s words and the sincerity
Rhetorical analysis assignment: President’s Address to the Nation. Since the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration has been calling on all citizens and all nations to support his Middle East policy. Nonetheless, the U.S. has been involved in the Middle East struggle for more than half of the century, wars were waged and citizens were killed.
Bush opens his speech by acknowledging the events of September 11, and those that lost the lives of loved ones and to those that gave their life trying to save others in the buildings. He appeals to those that remain strong by saying that, “These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong.” His use of pathos helps Bush to calm and control the public in order to keep the country together. This
At the beginning of the president’s speech, Bush used pathos to convey images of the terrorist attacks to the American people. George Bush recalls, “The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge -- huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger” (Bush). This recollection of the terrible events tugs at the emotions of those who were listening to his speech at the time because many families had lost their loved ones to the attacks. The president recalled these terrible images of destruction in order to grab the attention of his listeners and express the mood of the situation. However, President George Bush does not only use pathos for sadness but he also uses pathos to portray American patriotism. The Commander and Chief states, “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” (Bush). This pathos is used for a completely different purpose. Instead of using the rhetorical device to touch on the emotions of the situation, here Bush uses pathos in an effort to lift up a grieving nation. His words are intended to give the horror stricken people hope when he explains how America is not a nation that will be broken so
Throughout the speech, the Former President George W Bush strives to empower Americans by instructing them to remain resolute, but to “go back to [their] lives and routines”. He uses the personal pronoun we and the common pronoun us repeatedly to indicate that the people of the United States, who either saw the event on television or experienced this event firsthand, were and still are involved in this national tragedy. He implements this emotional appeal into his speech to involve all Americans--people living in the United States of America, regardless of their ethnicity, race, or culture, and to acknowledge that the American people have endured this together, and that they will continue to advance after this event with stronger resolve, stronger than ever. In addition, he implements personification to motivate and empower the American people. “Our nation, this generation, will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future” (Bush, 2001). “This generation”, again a synonym for the American people, with its unwavering resolve, will fight for its freedom persistently. He intimates that the future of America and of democratic freedom is in the hands of the American people: that the American people have the power to control their fate. The next sentence leads into America’s “philanthropically” democratic nature: “We will rally the world to this cause, by our efforts and by our courage” (Bush, 2001). This statement has been followed up by action only a few years later, when the United States intervened in the Iraqi War, Libyan Revolution, and even more civil wars to ensure the freedom of citizens from dictatorships, which in Islāmic nations, were militant groups, like the Hamas and Taliban. Lastly, the president utilized anaphora, specifically a tripartite structure, by affirming that the American people “will not tire”, “will not falter”, and “will not fail”. He implies that the American people will relentlessly fight for the worldwide establishment of peace and democratic institutions, a promise which America has kept even in the face of its own national crisis.
Barack Obama Iraq War Speech Analysis Speeches are used to express opinions and ideas to a range of people at once. In October 2002, Barack Obama gave a speech to the nation of America where he opposed president George Bush’s plan to send American troops to Iraq. It was believed that Iraq’s leader had obtained weapons of mass destruction, which would threaten the safety of the United States. Bush believed that sending American troops to fight in Iraq would resolve the issue whereas Obama believed that fighting in Iraq would lead to bigger problems for the Middle East. Obama uses many language techniques, which are found in many memorable speeches.
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.
President Bush’s speech was directed towards an audience of northern Arizonan republican supporters. Bush continuously uses the rhetorical appeal of pathos, the appeal to the audience’s emotions, to gain support from the crowd and connect them to the issues he addresses on an emotional level. The best example of such an issue is the promise of creating a new forest policy. By raises an issue that the audience was emotionally concerned with, Bush is able to persuade the audience to his purpose as well as relate them to it on an emotional level. It was likely that there were people in the audience who were directly affected by the recent forest fires in Arizona who felt very passionately about the topic of a new national forest policy. The appeal of emotion became a very effective tool in motioning the audience in the direction of his purpose, mainly the gain of support for the republican candidates in the next Arizona election.
This was a very emotional event that occurred. Many people lost loved ones they cared about in the terrorist attack. For many Americans knowing that terrorist groups could attack U.S. soil scared a lot of people. Before, President Bush first addressed the nation on this terrible event many people had lost hope. When writing his speech, it was easy for him to relate to what happened. President Bush didn’t have to create an emotional response; he was already feeling the pain and was speaking from his heart during his speech.When President Bush gave his speech to the nation, it helped people realize that Americans are still strong and we will continue to fight for our country. He stated in his speech “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.” (George Bush) By President Bush stating this in his speech it showed that they can try to scare us, but they can’t change the way we do things in
Because of the controversial issues surrounding President G.W. Bush before and during the time of his reelection, the acceptance speech that he delivered is an important piece of literature to study. This diplomatic speech is a piece of rhetorical contribution because the motives and meanings behind any President’s speech is significant to us as citizens of the United States of America. It further warrants our attention because if the audience is able to comprehend the inner meanings and motives behind a presidential speech, then they will eventually be able to differentiate the actual stances and platforms of future presidential candidates and nominees.
Bush demonstrates that with the use of metaphors, personification, and also repetition. Using metaphor, he compares America to steel, saying that America is like steel, but not pliable. Portraying that whatever dangerous act comes to America, America will stay strong and not move. Personification is to explain the reasoning behind the terrorists’ operations and the motives behind this move. Bush gives feeling and visualization traits to the nation, consequently putting it in the nation’s point of view, highlighting what the nation felt and saw. Repetition is to bring America together and strengthen everyone. It is to show that this heartbreaking event did not just affect the victims, but it affects the entire country. The way Bush uses repetition to get the people of America together makes America stronger because the more a country is together, the more power and strength it will possess. As a final point, President Bush’s usage of these three rhetorical devices grabs the attention of the people and helps Bush express the type of tone he wants to get
It is perhaps easy to remember George Bush as a poor orator, someone who finished bottom of his class at Yale, basically a unremarkable man who should never have been president. In a time when the incumbent president is being forgotten in favour of the election race of the century it is simple to remember Bush as a thouroghly unpopular president who has stained America for the worse. However unintelligent, uneloquent George W Bush united a nation in the days following the 11th september 2001.His rousing sentiments spoken from the rubble of the world trade centre with the brave firefighters by his side showed a strong leader who loved his country. His reaction to 9/11 is essential in determining his legacy because it is an event that will be talked and learnt about in years to come. It is etched onto american’s hearts and minds and therefore for many so is George Bush. Once the war in Iraq is over the image of the falling towers will remain and the president will be remembered for handling this crisis. It is likely the atrocities in Iraq will seem distant to Americans as the ones still affecting the vietnamese every day do. Bush appeared strong capable and resolute after 9/11 and this I predict will have more staying power than the unpopularity regarding a middle- eastern war. When the president speaks about the terrorist attacks he appears to be deeply affected by them which speaks to Americans, it gives them solidarity and unity. As his press secretary recently said "The president thinks about 9/11 every single day when he wakes up and before he goes to bed.
In a quotation by Barack Obama on November 4, 2008, he says “That is the true genius of America-that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow”. Obama's inauguration speech mirrors the ideas expressed by that quote. Barack Obama's message in his speech is that through hope and change, we can pull the country out of recession, out of turmoil, and out of any difficult tasks we'll have ahead of us. What we have achieved shows that we can achieve it again, and the only reason these feats were achieved was because we were one nation working together. Obama successfully incorporate rhetoric into his speech to make it emotional, believable, and logical. His speech is a great representation of a well written rhetorical essay.
President Bush addresses the American people saying he wanted to eliminate threats posed by terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. While mentioning states North Korea, Iran and Iraq he felt that they would pose a great danger to the American people. And that they were “constitute an axis of evil”. The present wanted freedoms victory.
President Obama’s Address to the nation was presented on January 5, 2016. His speech was shown on all of the major network stations. The main goal of his speech was to get the point across to the nation about the increasing problem of gun use. His speech really focused on the issue of gun control and if it would benefit the country. Overall, the biggest idea of his Address was that gun control is a large issue in the United States. The way to prevent deaths caused by firearms can be prevented in other ways than taking peoples guns away. The examples brought up in this Address really stood out to me. The use of personal, national, and global examples really made his speech stronger on the topic of effectiveness.