On September 11, 2001, America was hit with a tragedy that will forever be remembered by the people. The terrorist group named Al Qaeda hijacked four planes and crashed them into the twin towers, The Pentagon, and an open field in Pennsylvania. As many as 3,000 lives were destroyed, including mothers, fathers, daughters and sons. Luckily, George Bush used his credibility as president to instill faith back into the American’s hearts and assure them that everything would be okay. Throughout Bush’s speech, he appeals to the citizen’s emotions and logic in order to emphasize how strongly he feels about the attacks and establishes a patriotic tone to inform Americans that these attacks will not be neglected.
As mentioned, Bush claims that the response to terrorism demonstrates America’s power and strength in which he states specific examples in order to appeal to the reasoning of his audience. For instance, he cites, “the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.” Not only does this identify the response of the workers and citizens of America to shed light upon their achievements for the audience to comprehend the logic behind his claim; but, it justifies it. Similarly, Bush expresses that, “The functions of our government continue without interruption.” In spite of America experiencing a terrorist attack, the government handled the situation well and displays strength by acting unaffected, which reinforces the idea of America’s persistence. Overall, the addition of explicit details support the logical sense of Bush’s argument.
Additionally, Bush’s speech is proven to be credible by his reputation as president, experience, shared values and sincerity. As president of the United States, he is already seen as trustworthy because he was chosen by the people to be their leader. Furthermore, his experience is present in saying that, “Our first priority is to get help to those who have been injured, and to take every precaution to protect our citizens at home and around the world from further attacks.” Prioritizing protection in his circumstance shows his competence and therefore, his reliability. Likewise, by stating his goal for peace, security, and freedom of America and its people in his speech by saying, ¨America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world, and we stand together to win the war against terrorism. Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened.¨ He showcases his sincerity towards the attack and all those whose families and loved ones were lost or affected by Al Qaeda.
On the same note, Bush appeals to the people of the United States about their fear and sentiment towards the terrorists responsible, as well as the casualties suffered during the tragic event. Specifically Bush comments, “The victims were in airplanes, or in their offices; secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers; moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror.” In saying this, he showcases how the attack impacted America and its people as well as the casualties suffered by America from the terrorists.Similarly, Bush commented, “The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger.” As a result, he gave insight to the numerous emotions that Americans shared from the 9/11 attack as well as how George Bush inspires the people that they are not yet beaten by this tragedy. Also, the speech gives hope to the people who were afraid that the terrorists who committed this heinous act will be stopped and dealt with. In the following quote it states, “I’ve directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.” George Bush gives his condolences to the affected families and citizens of the 9/11 attack in an effort to regain their trust and hope.
All in all, the Al Qaeda attacks devastated the American people and our society. On the gruesome day of September 11, 2001, America was faced with a tragedy which influenced the people to stick together and led president Bush to deliver his famous 9/11 speech. As a result of his speech, president Bush used his credibility to appeal to citizens emotions and logic everywhere by addressing how serious the attacks must be taken because they harmed innocent, important people in our lives. However, he spoke in a way that still reassured us that these attacks would not go without consequences and he would prove that the U.S is not a country to mess with.
