As a country that stands for freedom, equality, justice, and the pursuit of happiness, the United States does not back down from a fight when attacked. In the cases of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, these foreign countries attacked the United Stated with no apparent reason other than to spur retaliation. Such uncalled for actions threaten the security of American citizens, provoking the U.S. Government to take action. The president at the time of each calamity had different priorities and objectives when it came to what needed to be done. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to persuade the US to go to war after the attack on Pearl Harbor while President George W. Bush wanted to comfort the Americans after the 9/11 tragedy. Both presidents got their points across when delivering their speeches through the use of diction, anaphoras, and rhetorical appeals. While Franklin D. Roosevelt established a formal and assertive tone to motivate the Americans, George W. Bush went for an informal and sentimental tone to reassure the Americans.
Because the opening and ending of a speech are the first as well as the last words that reach the audience, the word choice plays a huge role in leaving a targeted impression on the audience. Right off the bat, Roosevelt addresses members of Congress as "Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives" (Roosevelt 1). By attaching common titles to people of high political positions, Roosevelt establishes his authority over the people who have a say in whether or not the US will go to war. He reiterates his role as the leader of the United States, in order to create a greater impact in motivating the country to war. While Roosevelt hones on his power through formality, B...
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...n their backs, but while Roosevelt devotes his efforts into defending the nation through logos, Bush is alleviating the emotional distress of America's problems through the use of pathos.
Faced with disturbances from outside forces, President Roosevelt and President Bush take different routes of action as seen through the diction, anaphoras, and rhetorical appeals in their speeches reacting to the attacks. None of the presidents are wrong in believing what is more important at the times of such traumatic experiences. Although the different ways of thinking may be the results of the change in times, it is possible that both have different priorities and strategies to reach an end goal. Roosevelt’s ambition may have been to reestablish the U.S. with an "inevitable triumph" (Roosevelt 37) while Bush desires for the U.S. "all that is good just in our world" (Bush 38).
This paper will discuss similarities between 9/11 and Pearl Harbor that describe the Presidential responses to the attacks, as well as investigate the roles that class, culture, religion, and nations of superiority played in these attacks on the United States.
Also, I will discuss whether or not there are any logical fallacies that may have weakened his speech. President Roosevelt does a few specific things to be able to establish his credibility as a speaker. Since Roosevelt was the current president, the United States was inclined to listen to him and believe what he was saying. Being the president, the people knew that he was a credible source to receive information from. The president had also been appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1920.
The attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7th, 1941, was and still is an event that will forever be deep-rooted in the mind of every American. After the tragic surprise attack on American soil by the Japanese, Americans throughout the country were looking for a sense of unity. The President at the time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, recited a moving and powerful speech the day after the attack. Although the speech was specifically targeted at the Members of Congress in an effort to persuade the declaration of war with Japan, the speech was also written to be televised to the entire country. When the attack comes to mind, the powerful speech that mustered the nation together slowly follows. Every famous speech uses specific rhetorical devices in order to persuade and convince the intended audience. FDR’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos, successfully triggered the emotions of all U.S citizens and effectively provoked the idea of America declaring war on the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with Japan following peace negotiations that had been made. The President expresses his concern that the United States was still in conversation with Japanese government and its Emperor looking towards the continuation of peace in the pacific. Japanese had a series of secret plans to bomb America. The president says that the previous day’s attack on Hawaii Islands had caused severe destruction to American naval and military forces. In his speech, he expresses his regrets to inform the Congress that Americans had lost their lives. He continues to state that American ships had been submerged in elevated seas starting from San Francisco and Honolulu. Consequently, these harsh actions by Japanese government made Roosevelt, as commander in chief of the army and navy, dictate on the possible measures to fight back. He is very confident to state that even if it takes a long period for the United States to conquer the enemies’ actions, which he refers to as old-fashioned invention, the people of America will emerge the absolute victory. He believes that, through defending his nation against enemies, he will be acting upon the will of his people and of the Congress. He promises his people that such attacks w...
Roosevelt’s inaugural address focused on the current situation of the nation and he intended to declare war on the Great Depression. He stated a need to move as a nation through his leadership and become a better nation. Roosevelt took a strong stand and proclaimed, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. He looks to the future asking the nation to fulfill their “true destiny” of ministering to themselves and their fellow men.
Roosevelt used personification in his speech in different ways such as he personifies his actions while his presidency in using phrases such as “but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn”. Roosevelt described something so that others can understand, he talked about the failure of America during the Great Depression. Roosevelt also talked about his plans in helping America while his presidency, “I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require”. In other words, he is emphasizing a point which it will be consider personification. Franklin D. Roosevelt also used diction in his First Inaugural Address in order to demonstrate his word choices in introducing the New Deal. America was facing severe economic issues during the Great Depression, farmers find no markets for their produce, savings of many years in thousands of families were gone and a host of unemployment citizens were facing the grim problem of existence. Roosevelt wanted actions for citizens and actions were given. Roosevelt give out examples of diction such as “let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance”, Roosevelt repeated his chosen words in some point of the phrase to achieve an artistic effect which is best known as diction. Another rhetorical device that Franklin D. Roosevelt used in his speech was antimetabole. Roosevelt used this rhetorical appeal in his speech in order to demonstrate his actions in helping America. Roosevelt talked about the desperate Americans in need of a change “the nation asks for action, and action now” where the words that Roosevelt claimed for a recover. Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted America achieve after a severe crisis and he put himself in task by putting people to
Franklin Roosevelt use of logos promotes the organization and shape of his rhetorical response. When Roosevelt begins speaking, he addresses
President Bush and Prime Minister Blair delivered speeches shortly after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia, which occurred on September 11, 2001. The Former President George W Bush utilized pathos, anaphora, and personification in his speech to convey an optimistic tone. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, addressing the same topic, utilized mild invective and parallel structure to express an affirmative tone.
The United States of America has experienced many tragic events in its history. The attack on pearl harbor and the terrorist attack on September 1, 2001 happen to be the most significant. These both tragic events affected the lives of many. These both events had a quite both different and same presidential response. These historical events changed the way people would live in everyday life for a while. Both of these tragedies made history and will never be forgotten and all of those innocent lives that were taken away on December 7th, 1941 and September 11, 2001.
The attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 were the first attacks ever to take place on American soil, the repercussions were devastating for the Japanese Empire; sadly, Pearl Harbor would not be the last threat America faced on her own land. On September 9th, 2011 (9/11) a radical Islāmic terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda attacked America. While America dealt with both of these attacks with unyielding resolve, executing that resolve was what is starkly different between the two tragedies. Pearl Harbor did have some quintessential similarities to 9/11; both attacks unprovoked by America, both provoked public support against aggressors by way of presidential speeches, both lacked prior intelligence on the attacks themselves, both sparked Within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor, hundreds of Japanese-American leaders forced into high-security camps such as Sand Island at the mouth of Honolulu harbor and Kilauea Military Camp on the island of Hawaii where they were held without counsel or knowing what charges levied against them albeit the obvious bombing of the naval base 5. The day after the bombing on Pearl Harbor President Franklin Roosevelt delivered his famous Infamy Speech to a Joint Session of Congress, the speech called for a formal declaration of war on the Empire of Japan, congress granted it within hours of being requested 6.
“It was very apparent to everyone who had carefully followed the course of events that we would sooner or later have to meet the threat to civilization which these aggressor nations were presenting to the world…and that we would ultimately be left to face the onslaught alone…” are words from then Secretary of War Henry Stimson. America knew she was headed for war, her people though, not directly feeling the effects of the conflicts going on half a world away would not support the loss of American lives for a foreign war. The government knew about the planned attacks on Pearl Harbor, kept the information from the military leaders that needed it the most, and used the tragedy to rally the nation toward war.
While Lincoln’s speeches were great and well thought out, Roosevelt’s speeches were more persuasive and full of imagery that swayed audiences and help attention captive. Roosevelt had a way with words that Lincoln did not have. Roosevelt’s speeches were more upbeat and tried to lift spirits while Lincoln’s speeches saddened many. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Two presidents in history whose speeches made a lasting impact on
President Roosevelt in his inaugural speech first realized the importance of his presidency, the speech and the US. He mentioned that the thing the US nation needs to fear is the fear itself. He further mentioned it as unreasoning, nameless and unjustified terror which constraints and paralyze the efforts needed to make retreat (Davis, 2014). The general purpose of the speech was to lead the nation to make advance against all the odds. The specific purpose of this speech was to communicate the agenda of presidency as this was the first speech by the president.
Theodore Roosevelt stepped into head of office on September 19, 1901 when President William McKinley was assassinated. He was the youngest man to become president. His motto was “speak softly but carry a big stick.” President Roosevelt would come into power offering America the square deal. He would take the power away from the industrialists as he controlled big business from the White House. He would soon become known as a TrustBuster. Roosevelt used American power for American interests and was quoted as saying, “I am an American first and last. “ Although some historians argue that Roosevelt acted like a six-year-old throughout his presidency and that he didn’t think things through, ie “he thought with his hips”, one can admire the tremendous leadership qualities that Teddy Roosevelt had. First, he was a very bold man who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. The average citizen was aware of what a “positive, warm and tough, authoritative and funny” president that they had leading them. His leadership qualities stemmed from his time as a New York state Assembly man, a deputy sheriff, a ...
A major rhetorical choice President Roosevelt incorporated into his moving speech was anaphora. After he explained the country’s relationship with Japan before the attack, and after he explained the devastating results of the attack, he starts to list off in a very structured order the other countries Japan chose to attack, using almost a formulaic approach: “Last night, Japanese forces attacked…” The reason he chooses to repeat the same structured phrases repeatedly is to grab the attention of the audience and to make them feel outraged. It shows who