On September 11, 2001, America was attacked by terrorists. Before this traumatic event, one could not even imagine someone doing such a thing. When this event occurred everyone had been unaware and continuing their daily activities only to be stopped by this life changing news. The president at the time was George W. Bush. Doing day to day activities like the rest of us, he was reading to a second grade class that bright Tuesday morning. Upon hearing about the news, he was utterly shocked along with the rest of America. At approximately 8:40 p.m., which is around 12 hours after the event, he gave a speech to address this horrendous event. President Bush had successfully created a sense of unity and security throughout the country with his speech by using ethos, pathos, logos, tone and imagery. President George Bush had only been president for eight months prior to the 9/11 attacks. Having to take on such a huge responsibility such as dealing with the attacks was very overwhelming, especially after his month long vacation in his home town of Texas. He came back soon to figure out that the one event would define his entire presidency. Following these horrific acts, many changes were made to the United States; most of them were the ones he had claimed to do in his memorable speech that unfortunate night. He tells the country that “Our military is powerful and it’s prepared” (Bush, paragraph 9) President Bush had implemented many tones in this speech provoking many types of
Despite the several terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, America remained strong and united. In the speech “Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks”, George W. Bush, addresses the terrorist attack of September eleventh to let the citizens know they can overcome a tragic and mournful incident by remaining unified and a powerful country. The primary audience are the citizens and the family members of the ones who had died or were involved in the incident. The secondary audience are the terrorists to let them know American’s are not scared and will stand together against them. Bush uses ethos, pathos, and figurative language to encourage the citizens to be stronger, united, and feel safe.
Tuesday morning, September 11 of 2001, referred to as a day to remember, the twin towers were attacked by terrorists in a hijacked plane. Thousands of lives were lost and it was a day that brought great sorrow to America. George W. Bush, the president at that time, addressed his speech to America as a nation, giving them hope that the events that took place earlier that day would not shake them but that they would come back stronger. In this essay I will evaluate Bush’s formal 9/11 Address to the Nation and discuss the speaker’s appeals to pathos, logos and ethos to convey his message that America can stand tall as one.
Imagine what it’s like to be a member of a nation who’s just been victimized in attacks that took the lives of around 3000 innocent people. The Attacks of September 11, 2001 were a series of four acts of terrorism directed towards the United States. The whole nation was present in a state of utter shock and emotional disarray. Besides, many of their loved ones were taken from them, and many others were threatened. If the Taliban terrorists were willing to commit attacks such as the ones of September 11th, 2001, then what made everyone else immune? In the “Address to Joint Session of Congress Following 9/11 Attacks,” George W. Bush substantially utilizes strong pathos, in addition to use of moderate amounts of ethos, logos, and a very urgent and resentful tone to persuade the American people that he will take the measures necessary to ensure that the terrorists are brought to justice. In fact, he was well aware that the people were fearful regarding their future, and he took full advantage of the emotional nature of the situation to win over the support of the people at the time. After 9/11 and his speeches, his approval rating shot up to an all time high; he had managed to intoxicate the people in the fashion which he handled the circumstances, and convinced the American people that they were in good hands.
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
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.
The events that took place in America on September 11, 2001 will have a lasting wound on this country forever. President George W. Bush’s speech, “A Great People Has Been Moved to Defend a Great Nation”, gave America something to have hope in. Bush was a republican president and was the 43rd of the United States and was a very passionate man. Although Bush had to make some tough decisions that very day, he was a president that made a lasting impact on America. Throughout Bush’s speech, he effectively covered pathos, ethos, and logos.
By his confident tone, religious beliefs, and his word choice “our” President George Bush secured America safety and security.The Al Qaeda hijacked the planes and did a devastating job. September 11 was a victory physically for the enemies, but mentally America came together as a nation. The United States will remember and never forget about this dreadful
Throughout the years we have had some great United States presidents and some terrible ones. When we elect a president, we want someone who will improve our country and stabilize our economy. However, many presidents do not accomplish this during their term and end up causing the opposite effect to happen. One president who is on the list of presidents that made the country worse and our economy decline is George W. Bush. He was the United States president from 2001 to 2009. George W. Bush was one of the worst United States presidents for many reasons, but the top three on my long list are first and foremost his decision to start the war on Iraq, second his support of the Military Commissions Act, and last but not least his handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
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
On September 11th, 2001, tragedy struck America with the attacks on the Twin Towers and on the Pentagon. Not only did tens of thousands of New Yorkers see these atrocities firsthand but, millions of viewers watched in horror on the news; witnessing their nation under attack. Hundreds of terrified civilians ran from the carnage, however there were some who ran toward the collapsing buildings to save innocent lives. President George W. Bush stood with the fire fighters, the police and other first responders holding the flag of his nation and gave his address to the mourning citizens of the United States. He mainly used the strategies of ethos and pathos to try to comfort the American people and also have them rise and fight against the terror.
attacks of 9/11; for others, the fear of threat increased. Review the post-event speeches by President
The National Security Adviser of the Bush administration, Condoleezza Rice, was informed by the CIA of there possibly being an attack in a few months time. Rice’s response to the information was indifferent, and it mentioned the “significant terrorist attacks against the United States in the coming weeks or months.” (Bush Administration Ignored CIA Warnings in the Months before 9/11 That 'spectacular ' Terrorist Attack on the U.S. Was Imminent and 'just Didn 't Get That We Were Going to Be Struck ', Former Top Agency Officials Reveal, 2015) Not to mention, the Bush administration was given a fair warning prior to the attack, however, rather than preventing this devastation from happening, they did nothing to stop it, traumatizing America. Bush risked the safety of his people when he did nothing to intercept the terrorist plans on America. Another reason regarding the failure of President George W. Bush was how as president, his main purpose was to bring in al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was behind those terrorist attacks, to justice. At first, he made numerous plans and declarations of how he will succeed in the capture of bin Laden. He had also declared, “I 've directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice.” (George W. Bush: Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks, 2001) Despite announcing he would bring bin Laden to
Former President Bush applies ethos verbally to establish the hierarchy character he portrays. The ethical appeal of loyalty, allegiance, and honor alters the speech connecting the President’s role of authority and sovereignty. An ordinary citizen may comprehend that America can mend anything with the guidance and direction a leader permits. At the time, President Bush was a well established version of ethos. In the 9/11 address to the nation, he asserts, “Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans. Our military is powerful, and it’s prepared. Our emergency teams are working to help with local rescue efforts.”(Bush, 2001). Taking an important notice when and how he mentions that he immediately implemented the emergency response plans, it is evident on how he credits himself for the immediate action for the emergency situation at hand. Our unification as a nation is is characterized when he indicates “Our fellow citizens, Our way of life, Our very freedom, none of us will ever forget this day yet we go forward”, (Bush, 2001). This quote is evident of the patriotism focused on the citizens restoring our power and strength as a nation and sharing the same pain, misery, agony as our nation had been invaded by these ruthless perpetrators. The overall goal of this speech was to make a point a stance that was to instill a unity and
In his 9/11 speech (2001), George W. Bush insists that he would get help to those who have been injured and to take every precaution to protect the United States’ citizens and around the world from further attacks despite the fact that a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist attacked the Twin Towers. Bush illustrates his awareness by evoking the situation and having emergency team to care those who got injured, such as families, friends, and strangers. He understates the seriousness of the attack by saying that the terrorists “intended to frighten our nation,” but then claims that America is strong and they “won’t be able to touch the foundation of America,” in order to emphasize a sense of sympathy and hope. Bush’s audiences are those
All of us at one time or another have found ourselves watching George W. Bush bloopers on YouTube. If you have not, you might as well give it a watch. But as you type in “George W. Bush”, look at the suggested results beneath the search bar. Included is his response to 9/11. If you click on that video, other suggested videos also appear and in those are his final farewell, bullhorn speech, and a moment where he sheds tears on behalf of 9/11 families. In this book, Bush takes the time to let his thought process become known and does so throughout his book. When discussing 9/11, Bush makes it clear that he thought about what he had to do and his response was reactive, contrary to the popular viewpoint that he was inactive. He goes on to explain that making a scene in front of little children and not remaining calm, cool, and collected would not have been what