On September 11, 2001, George W. Bush delivered his 9/11 Address to the Nation at 8:30 PM to all Americans. This speech, broadcasted throughout the nation from within the Oval Office just hours after the terrorist hijacking and the crash on the Twin Towers, reassured American citizens during a time of devastation and need of proper leadership. (Eidenmuller). Through rhetoric intended to convey strength and the actions America had already taken to combat this tragedy, Bush instilled hope in the American people and provided them with a sense of unification. Throughout the speech, a major rhetorical theme are the anaphoric phrases. Wrote Bush, “today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of …show more content…
From this manipulation of the word evil, one can find the more concealed connection Bush is making; between America and love. As America is the opposite of terrorists, America therefore must also be the opposite of evil, love. Due to these connections and associations, there is a greater emphasis on Bush’s other rhetoric theme, his biblical allusion. He quotes psalm 23 as, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me” (Kohn). From these connections, one can infer that “fearing no evil” represents the terrorists, and Bush is telling the citizens of America to be strong and not concede to fear. From the use of diction and allusions, there is a much larger emphasis of the ideas being conveyed in the speech. Bush uses ethos within his speech to establish himself to the public. Ethos is seen when he states, “Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government's emergency response plans” (Kohn). Bush clearly establishes himself as a proficient leader. This phrase reflects in Bush’s actions, as both are clear and concise. Another statement in which one can see the same type of establishment is when Bush disclosed, “I have directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice” (Kohn). In the same way, this statement like the action described is clear cut and portrays Bush as a
One of the most catastrophic events America has faced were the September eleventh terrorist attacks. Our nation faced one of the most damaging attacks in our history and it was up to our president, George W. Bush, to address the entire nation and assure everyone that America still remains a strong and functioning country. Our President George Bush was called upon to address the nation, a nation that was currently suffering from loss, fear, and despair. His goal was to persuade Americans to take comfort in the effort being put forth in resolving the aftermath of the attacks and the fear they caused. Recognizing his audience as being innocent victims of an unknown evil, President Bush ultimately had to present a speech that mastered various techniques
The purpose of this speech was, overall, to address the tragic acts of terrorism. President Bush accomplishes this in an informative and effective manner through his elegiac tone throughout the speech. This mournful way of writing gives a respectful and empathetic feeling to the address. This is incredibly important, as many people were feeling grief, loss, fear, and heartache at the time. Another purpose for the speech is to call the American people to action. President Bush, through his use of imperative statements, successfully rallies his audience to action. After describing some upcoming changes to the government, he said “These measures are essential. But the only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it where it grows” (“George Bush Speech”). This imperative statement gets the audience feeling determined to do their part to destroy terrorism. Soon after, he said, “I have a message for our military: Be ready. I’ve called the Armed Forces to alert, and there is a reason. The hour is coming when America will act, and you will make us proud” (“George Bush Speech”). This specifically calls the military to action, which is a critical aspect of the speech. President Bush also uses this speech as an opportunity to thank people who made a difference in the tragic event, saying “I thank the Congress for its leadership at such an important time”, “I thank the world for its outpouring of support”, and, “…I thank you for your
Bush uses his presidential platform to help alleviate the fear of the American people. In doing this he had to act poised, calm, and professional as his predecessors had to in times of catastrophe and tragedy. Bush had been in the middle of a book reading at an elementary school in Florida at the time of the attack. As soon as the attack happened Bush was contacted and immediately boarded Air Force One, flew from Florida to Washington D.C., made this address to the nation, and finally he flew to New York to aid the first responders in the cleanup of the wreckage. This showed professionalism on Bush’s part because he had dropped everything to help his country. This made the people want
After the twin towers fell and condensed to rubble on September 11, 2001, the Bush administration quickly formulated a plan to maintain the nation’s sense of national safety and security. John Lewis Gaddis summarized the administration’s directions to the public when he wrote, “Bush requested, and only partially received, what amounted to a global police action against terrorism, combined with a call for vigilance at home and abroad, combined with the suggestion that, despite what had happened, Americans should carry on with their ordinary lives” (Gaddis at 37). The citizens were to follow the example of former British politician Sir Winston Churchill; Bush believed the nation would best react to the crisis by applying Churchill’s words
“None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.” That was one of George W. Bush’s many emotional yet strong sayings in his speech of the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York city. His goal of unifying, making the country feel bonded together, was achieved through vivid and organized word choice. He chose these words to connect with the people of america's emotions and feelings, while also displaying authority and logical sense that terrorism is a threat to the world.
He refers to religion when he stated “And I pray they will be comforted by a Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.” George W. Bush mentioned that God, a greater Power will insulate our country. America reassures their safety and security of the President quoting a verse in the Bible that says God will comfort you in the darkest of time.
What better way is there to appeal to an emotionally damaged group of people than to appeal to their feelings of resentment? The pathos in this speech was instrumental in the rise of Bush’s approval rating from just over 50% to a staggering 90% (Gallup, Inc. “Presidential Approval Ratings -- George W. Bush." Gallup.com). In one instance, Bush mentions the sight of Republicans and Democrats alike joined together on the Capitol singing “God Bless America”, and this is just one phrase that illustrates how devastating the attacks were. Bush makes many remarks to demonstrate that the acts of the Taliban are illogical, and only acted upon sheer spite. As said by Bush himself, “They hate what they see right here” (“The Rhetoric of 9/11: President George W. Bush -- Address to Joint Session of Congress and the American People”). He goes on to explain that this is indeed a reference to the democracy that the U.S. is
In the beginning of the speech he uses pathos, or emotion, which is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response. George W Bush says, “Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. 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. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat” (1). He tries to catch his audience by talking about all the bad things, and lives ended, but then states, “But they have failed. Our country is strong” (1).
“Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans” (Bush 7). As the newly elected president, Bush must make an impression that he can be a strong president and uses ethos to build that credibility. “I have directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice” (Bush 7). He shows the persona of a reliable leader who can get the situation under control. “And I pray they will be confronted by a Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me” (Bush 7). With the biblical allusion, Bush is trying to showcase that God supports
In President Bush’s Address to the Nation Speech the day after September 11 (9/11) in 2001, President Bush wants to inform the country of this tragic event and what was going to happen for the country. President Bush uses rhetorical devices to captures the audience’s attention and to reach this purpose. President Bush mainly use pathos, logos, anaphoras, and personifications to achieve his purpose.
Bush uses the first few paragraphs of his speech to introduce several of the people he is working with. The appeals he makes in these lines are excellent examples of ethos, the rhetorical appeal to character. Bush continuously comments on the character of the people around him. He speaks of them as if he knows them very well, almost like old friends. Through this appeal the audience became able to relate to these people and learn a little bit about their character. Some of the people mentioned have large families and are of an honest and selfless nature. Because the speaker’s purpose is to gain support from the constituents for the candidates represented, the appeal to the character of the candidates is a crucial tool that becomes extremely vital to the swaying of the audience to the purposes of the speaker.
Looking back on this speech after many years (listening to it and reading it), it is far easier to see and understand the political maneuvering that was going on in the speech. President Bush and his team very astutely knew how to manipulate the situation to get the desired effect. He used terms like, murderous ideologies, “a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam”, terror network that is global and many others to define the enemy as “evil” (Bush). He made sure everyone understood this evil was a world issue without a single country being responsible but an ideology that was directly contrary to peace and freedom. This of course makes his statement of being with us or with terrorists all the more effective: forcing every country in the world to be civilized and stand with America or allow terror to go unpunished and threaten all ways of life (Bush). In doing this, he made it clear fighting terrorism was a world issue and every country should take a stand. Know, so many years later, terrorism is still an evil many nations are struggling to defeat. The war on terror continues.
Another rhetorical appeal that was used in the speech were logos, to make the speech more credible, logical, and
Bush uses the appeal of ethos in an effective manner. Bush had prior experience being a governor in Texas before his presidential experience. He is very clear and confident throughout this entire speech that the American people will recover from this event. Bush knows how the American military functions more than any other person out there, and he states, “our military is powerful, and its prepared” (Bush, 2001, para. 3). That statement is very bold and it would give any American the sense of protection they needed to feel during this time. Bush had the experience to lead this country in a time like 9/11 and he and congress worked together hand in hand to work powerfully on these attacks (Bush, 2001). Although most of the American people did not know Bush on a personal level, when he delivered this speech, he made it his top priority to feel a personal connection with the entire country. Having the title of the President of the United States gives Bush the credibility he needed to use ethos effectively in the 9/11 speech.
Bush uses appeals throughout his formal speech to help advance the argument he proposes. While doing this Bush takes his listeners on a roller coaster of emotion, appealing to pathos and to logos, then to ethos and back to