Political Science

Presidents make speeches to address different audiences and a plethora of issues, and some of these speeches linger in the minds of the listeners and mark the legacy of their presidency. It is a must for a speech delivered by a person with authority such as the United States President to be effective, as the issues explicated and dealt with in most of the Presidents speeches are of vital importance. One of the most important speeches delivered in the recent years is the speech made by Former President George W. Bush last September 20, 2001, wherein he addressed a joint session of the congress after the devastating 911 attack. President Bush made the formal address to answer the questions hovering United States at that time and to make a formal announcement of the United States declaring war and man-hunt against terrorism and the terrorist organization responsible for the attack.

Bush was a very effective speaker for this particular speech as the content of his speech is very important for the Americans during that time. The speech was timely and relevant for the audience. Thus, the audience feels the need to listen to the speech. The speech also explores the different aspects of rhetoric, making the speech more effective. These aspects are ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos pertains to the character of the speaker (Crewell, Draper,  Mitchell, 1996). In the case of President Bush, he is a credible speaker as he is the President and should be addressing the issue. Pathos appeals on the emotion (Crewell et al., 1996). This aspect can very well be observed in President Bushs speech as it is full of emotions such as sympathy, anger, and grief following the attack. Lastly, logos appeals to the intellect (Crewell et al., 1996), which is also very apparent in President Bushs speech for it is very intelligent and full of reason. Another factor that affects the effectiveness of the speech is the manner of delivering by the speaker. In the case of President Bush, his speech was effective in such a way that he delivered it with empathy and conviction, appealing to the audiences emotion as well as drawing the full attention of the audience to himself and to the content of his speech.

After listening to this persuasive speech, I found myself believing that engaging in war against the terrorist organization is the right course of action in response of the attack. I found myself supporting Bush as well as having a nationalistic feeling. The speech marked President Bushs legacy as it was good speech that was able to unite America at a time when unity was needed the most in the pursuit of one goal.