Dick Gephardt Rhetorical Analysis

On Saturday December 19, 1998, then-House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) was preparing to speak before the U.S. House of Representatives in advance of the vote on four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton. Clinton had been charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, and most notably, an abuse of power; he had attempted to conceal an affair with Monica Lewinsky both when she was a White House intern and when she became a paid employee. Through his speech, Gephardt attempted to persuade the House to vote for a resolution of censure rather than impeachment; overall, however, he advocated for a significant shift in the behavior of politicians in Washington, where any mistake, past or present, was fair game and often used

This rhetoric is not surprising, as his request for unification across party lines fits into the biblical idea of “love thy neighbor.” The first instance of this appeal comes when he is discussing Rep. Bob Livingston’s choice to retire, “And I pray with all my heart that he will reconsider this decision” (p. 1). Gephardt is doing two things here: one, he is using religious code words like “and” and “pray” to convey the strength of his connection to the Bible and religion in general; “and” is quite often used in the former, and praying is a common practice for any religious person. Two, as a bonus, his code grooming here works as an ethos appeal - it endeavors to convince the audience that he has a connection to God and will not make light of the significance of religion in his

2). He has begun to make the push towards his ultimate goal of unison by bringing out the time-honored political value of cooperation to which he will attach the action he desires. Through these words, he is hitting the reason for government right on the nail - for people to work together towards the protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - and reminding the politicians of their roots so they can begin to see the action as a reflection of their vocational