Historical Speech Analysis - Ethos/Logos/Pathos

Historical Speech Analysis - Ethos/Logos/Pathos

On August 5th, 1945, Harry S. Truman released the first ever atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. It was this choice that helped end the Second World War. Truman uses ethos, pathos and logos in his address to help him explain what he did, and why he did it.
Pathos is emotion. The Second World War was an extremely emotional time in the United States and in the rest of the world. Focussing mainly on the United States, they were attacked at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on the morning of December, 7th, 1941. It was an unexpected attack which resulted in thousands of casualties. After these attacks the United States retaliated. “We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake; we shall completely destroy Japan’s power to make war”
“Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese Army base. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It had more than 2,000 times the blast power of the British “Grand Slam,” which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.” This quotation from Truman’s announcement is an example of logos, using statistics like, it had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT and that it was 2,000 times more powerful than the largest bomb ever used in the history of warfare. These statistics also use imagery as it paints a picture of just how big the explosion was and how much damage it caused. Another example of imagery used by Truman is this: “It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which sun draws its power.” This paints the image of a force of unexplainable power. The very power of the sun was at the hands of the USA, and Truman wanted his people to know that.
“The United States had available the large number of scientists of distinction in the many needed areas of knowledge. It had the tremendous industrial and financial resources necessary for the project, and they could be devoted to it without undue impairment of other vital war work.” Ethos is having credibility. The United States had credible scientists with enough will and manpower to build the first ever atomic bomb. Without these scientists and their devotion, the Second World War could’ve played out quite differently.
In conclusion, the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was one of the major events that ended the Second World War. The atomic bomb being dropped isn’t all bad, though. “I shall recommend that the Congress of the United States consider promptly the establishment of an appropriate commission to control the production and use of atomic power within the United States. I shall give further consideration and make further recommendations to the Congress as to how atomic power can become a powerful and forceful influence towards the maintenance of world peace.” With that much power available, it would be more intelligent to frighten the entire planet into world peace than to destroy it with the power of the atomic bomb.