The Inaugural Address, given by the United States’ president on the day he is officially transitioned into office, can be seen as a yard-stick to measure just how far we’ve come as a country. George F. Will believes that the issues presented in the address, which have changed over time (from executive power all the way to coastal fortifications and polygamy) are an important facet of the address, because they show the problems that we as a country are tackling as well as pointing out specific problems that may be more important to the public. However, another side to the address is the diction, which can help assess where we are linguistically as a country. While writing his article, Will was looking forward to the 54th Inaugural Address, given by President George W. Bush in 2001.…
On January 22, 2001 George F. Will wrote a political article for News weekly called, “Let Us…? No, Give It A Rest.” In this article Will discusses the history of the Inaugural address and how they reflect the changes our country has made throughout the many years and presidential parties. He identifies numerous differences or changes in the sentence structure and the number of words used, topics discussed, and even the tone that is used by the President’s. He points out first the 43rd president, George W. Bush. The second sentence of his inaugural speech contained 87 words.…
The most severe depression ever encountered by the Western industrialized world began in 1929 and had reached its nadir in 1933. The unemployment rate was at about 24.9%, with around 13 million Americans not being able to find work, predominantly through no fault of their own. The United States Gross Domestic Product was at its lowest point. Thousands of banks had closed their doors while banks offered no guarantees on the money that they were supposed to be accountable for. The Great Depression negatively affected the entire world; in only 3 short years from the start of the depression, the World Wide GDP had fallen 15%. Beyond the shattered economy, the Great Depression had depleted the morale of a once triumphant nation.…
40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, in his Inaugural speech claims that America is the best country. Reagan’s purpose is to renew the American spirit. He takes on a patriotic tone in order to instill that we can do anything as a team in the American people.…
The hysteria surrounding communism ravaged the United States of America when John F. Kennedy was elected president. Sputnik was orbiting in space, the Cold War raged in the background and to combat the fear, America needed a strong, dependable leader. At this time, Kennedy barely beat his presidential competitor Richard Nixon causing uneasy feelings in the American public. To alleviate the apprehension, John F. Kennedy delivered an inspiring inaugural speech which sent a message of strength to the nation and world. Kennedy saturated the speech with rhetoric and realistic goals resulting in support from the entire nation. Although the speech was mainly intended to inspire American citizens, Kennedy used repetition, catalog, and allusions to convey a clarion in the final sections of his inaugural speech.…
Clinton has been content in recent weeks to sit back and let Trump be the news, letting him make his own bold claims and be the focal point of the campaign. But the roles were switched on Thursday. During the speech in Reno, Nev., Clinton went all out. And she almost seemed to take a page out of Trump’s playbook. She used bold claims to paint a dark picture of a Trump who isn't just an unwitting bigot, but rather someone intentionally advocating racist policies in the United States. And not only does she have a valid point on this topic, but many things that has been said by him lean toward him being racist.…
Why was President Kennedy’s inaugural address so moving? He used many rhetorical devices and formed a good rhetorical tone that made his speech very inspiring. Kennedy, in his inaugural address, talks about the problems of the country and the world and how to fix them. He wants the American citizens to be reassured that he will do many great things and hold a great term in office. One reason that his speech was so convincing was because he appealed to his audiences’ emotions (pathos) effectively all over throughout his essay.…
Politics has always been a touchy subject, many families consider the topic off limits during the holidays, because some members of the family can get extremely passionate about their opinions. Additionally, politicians have always been shrouded with gossip and scandal, every move they make is criticized. However, no other President has been scrutinized quite like Bill Clinton. In All Too Human: A Political Education written by George Stephanopoulos; he details his experience working for the Clinton Administration.…
On the day the United States president-elect gets sworn into office, he/she has to give an inaugural address. The inaugural address is the first thing that the president does after taking the oath and is also one of the last steps of the transition process. This speech is important because the president can discuss the current issues occurring in the nation at the time and summarize the plans they have to fix the nation’s problems in the future. Every four years, the new president delivers an address that is similar, yet different to previous presidents. Each of the presidents has their own unique style of writing while also borrowing certain styles from inaugural speeches prior to their own. Ever since George Washington gave the first inaugural…
On January 20, 2017, a new man was brought into office, Donald J. Trump, whose influence and power will lead our nation for the next four to eight years. Donald Trump obviously has a different style than our past president, Barack Obama, speech wise. However, Mr. Trump’s use of rhetorical strategies in his inauguration speech lead many to be in awe due to his nationalistic diction and his flowing syntax.…
On August 17th, 1998 President William Jefferson Clinton addressed the nation on the topic of the investigation into his relationship with Ms. Monica Lewinsky. At a glance, the speech he gave via national television seems to be a sort of apology. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes very clear that at no point during the speech does the President actually apologize. His true intent, masked within layer upon layer of carefully constructed language, is actually to lead the listener’s attention away from the topic of his inappropriate conduct and the serious charge of perjury he was facing. While I find President Clinton’s argument to be staggeringly well crafted with regard to persuasiveness to the inattentive audience, it is severely…
We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change, for I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.…
At 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a 5,000-pound bomb, hidden inside a Ryder truck, exploded just outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The explosion caused massive damage to the building and killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children (Rosenburg, 2011). On April 23, four days after the bombing, President Bill Clinton addressed the public and gave an effective, excellent speech.…
He began his speech by addressing the ones that were most effected, and then by addressing the rest of the world. He establishes himself and his credibility by not only being the president, but also being a father, a husband, a person. When he says “Hillary and I also come as parents, as husband and wife, as people who were your neighbors for some of the best years of our lives.”This builds his pathos and ethos and allows the audience to connect with him on a more personal, deeper level, knowing that he is just like the rest of them, that they share a common ground. This allows Clinton to talk to them, not above them. Immediately after this he uses the emotions of the audience to his advantage, through the use of pathos. He grieves and mourns with the audience; this is shown when he says “You have lost too much, but you have not lost everything,” everything being America.…
After Thomas Jefferson was re-elected president of the United States of America, he gave a speech called The Second Inaugural Address. President Jefferson was known for his wonderful speaking skills. His inaugural speech was powerful and well-written. The forms of rhetorical devices that President Jefferson used in his speech are elevated diction, tone, metaphors, and the power of three. The figurative speech confirms to the public that it was a good choice to reelect him and that he will continue to be a more than adequate president of the United States of America.…