Rhetorical Analysis Of George W. Bush's 9/11 Speech

On September 11, 2001 America would be changed forever. In the early morning, there was a horrible incident. The twin towers were attacked by terrorists. Shortly after the attack, George W. Bush made an important speech, “9/11 Remarks at Barksdale Air Force Base”. He spoke at Barksdale Air Force Base to inform America of what had happened and how the government was going to handle it. Being president at the time of the attacks was hard and it forced Bush to put some of his plans on hold. He only because president a year prior to the attacks so this gave him a tough challenge. In Bush’s speech, his content, delivery and structure were effectively used to appeal to the audience.
Bush’s speech is full of meaning and importance. His message

is in the point of view of him as the government. He starts off by saying “freedom was attacked” (Bush) which paints a picture in the mind of the listener as to what happened. This means that something so important to being an American has been violated. American’s work so hard to live in a free country and in once second that was all taken away. Gush goes along to say the government will “defend freedom” (Bush) and do what it takes to protect America. He says this to reassure people everything will be okay. He knows people are wondering how the government is going to take care of what happened and wants people to know their freedom means something and it will be defended. Before his closing remarks there is a call to action in which Bush asks people to pray and thank those who have been so helpful in this time. Bush ends by saying he considers this a “test” to the nation. People are trying to see how strong America is and he is certain America will “show the world that we will pass this test” (Bush). Bush believes people are trying to push the buttons of America and see if Americans will let down. They will soon find out America will put up a fight. While the message of the speech is important, his delivery is also as important.
Bush has a very professional verbal and non-verbal deliver.

Because it is the president speaking, it automatically gives the speech a high level of credibility. Americans are going to believe what he has to say because he is the one running the nation. He is of such high importance in America. Bush uses a personification to say “freedom itself was attacked” (Bush). He gives freedom human-like characteristics. Freedom is not human, and cannot literally be attacked, but he uses personification to connect to the audience. People will be able to relate more if they can connect to what he is saying. When he informs America the government has “taken all appropriate—appropriate security precautions to protect the American people” (Bush) he is using an alliteration. The repetition of the ‘p’ sound helps to put emphasis on what he is trying to say. If there if emphasis it seems more important so it is more likely to be remembered. At the end of the speech there is a call to action. Bush asks people to “join me in saying ‘thanks’ for all the folks who have been fighting hard to rescue our fellow citizens…” (Bush). He does this to get others involved in a small way. People put their life on the lines for others and he wants them to be recognized. In his non-verbal delivery Bush does not use very many gestures. He does have notes with him and looks at them periodically but not too often. He is very confident when speaking and uses a rate and tone at which people can easily understand. While Bush’s speech had good information and was presented well, the order in which he presented information was

meaningful.
There is a good attention-getter at the beginning. The first thing he says is “Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward” (Bush). This gets people’s attention and makes them want to listen to what else he has to say. He then talks about what the government will do. He reassures America by saying what the government has done and what will happen to those who committed the crime. He assures the government will “…do what is—whatever is necessary to protect America and Americans” (Bush). This supports his earlier statements so people will believe what he said his valid. At the end there is a call to action then a clincher to link it to the overall idea of freedom being attacked. While he does not say freedom and instead says “our great nation is being tested” (Bush) this “test” is the attack on freedom. There are people out there who are trying to destroy America. He wraps his speech up with a reassuring thought left in listener’s minds.
Bush’s content, delivery and structure of his speech were shown effectively. He is a good example of a confident speaker. This speech was not very planned out but he did a good job acting as if it were practiced. His information was detailed and gave the listener good information. His pauses were a little long and a little too much. He does not show much variation in emotion but for the topic he was speaking about it was appropriate.