George W Bush's 2008 State of the Union Address
As I was reading former president George W. Bush's 2008 State of the Union Address, a thought popped into my head: I wonder what was going through his head during both the preparation and delivery of this speech. Here was this man who had been America's most important leader for seven years. He was now about to make his final State of the Union Address. It was, to a certain extent, his last chance to appeal to the American public. It would be become his last landmark oration to the people who he had striven to please for the past 7 years.
When put into that perspective, every single word from President Bush's 2008 State of the Union Address seemed fascinating. Given the kairos of the situation, Bush would have wanted to take advantage of the fact that it was his last State of the Union Address. Many in the American public made it clear that they were far from mournful to see him vacate his position, and it was his chance to bow out with honor and humility.
Bush's speech was, of course, extremely different from that of Obama's from last week. Because of his past years' amount of criticism, Bush never lingered too long on speaking about the past. His frequent use of words such as "we must ____" show that Bush wanted to convey the message of pushing forward, rather than dwelling on the past.
Another key characteristic of Bush's final address is the militaristic tone and choice of words. As expected from such an avid proponent to military action against terrorism, Bush uses the majority of his address to discuss America's condition in regards to the War on Terrorism. While the content of this portion of his speech is certainly interesting, I found his word choice to be particularly intriguing. Even as Bush describes America's struggles with social issues, he chooses to use the word "fight"--repetitively.
"America is leading the fight against global poverty, with strong education initiatives and humanitarian assistance. We've also changed the way we deliver aid by launching the Millennium Challenge Account. This program strengthens democracy, transparency, and the rule of law in developing nations, and I ask you to fully fund this important initiative. (Applause.)
America is leading the fight against global hunger. Today, more than half the world's food aid comes from the United States. And tonight, I ask Congress to support an innovative proposal to provide food assistance by purchasing crops directly from farmers in the developing world, so we can build up local agriculture and help break the cycle of famine. (Applause.)
America is leading the fight against disease. With your help, we're working to cut by half the number of malaria-related deaths in 15 African nations. And our Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is treating 1.4 million people. We can bring healing and hope to many more. So I ask you to maintain the principles that have changed behavior and made this program a success. And I call on you to double our initial commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS by approving an additional $30 billion over the next five years. (Applause.)."
This trend continues as he uses words such as "strength", "force", and etc to describe America's positive qualities.
Bush's rhetoric reflects his administrative style and history so perfectly. I think it's so intriguing to find that one can find out so much about a person through someone's rhetorial techniques.
If you are interested, here is a quick clip that shows a portion of his State of the Union Address: George Bush 2008 State of the Union Address
If you'd like to watch the whole speech, please visit americanpresident.org.
*These posts are in no way intended to serve a poltical purpose. :)
I do happen to be a conservative Republican in case any of you are wondering. ^^
I too find it interesting to analyze various speeches. You can learn so much about a person through word choice and delivery. Presidents have a special way of appealing to America's emotions and to see how each one achieves this is definitely entriguing.
ReplyDeleteWell I too am a conservative republican and I like this speech. There is no point in trying to change the way you talk and go against your policies of the last few years. He speech represents his political practices. That for sure is the way to do things, I believe.
ReplyDelete"This trend continues as he uses words such as 'strength', 'force', and etc to describe America's positive qualities."
That's a great statement because that is way that America needs to portrayed to its own citizens and to the rest of the world.
Once again, I agree that speeches, especially a speech like the State of the Union, are so fascinating in terms of word choice. I like that President Bush used 'fight' often in his speech, because that's exactly what we were doing. 'Fight fire with fire' is a phrase used pretty often when speaking about politics, and that is definitely what the USA does often. It was his final State of the Union, so President Bush could come out with guns blazing, because he knew that no matter what he did, he didn't have to worry about public perception or getting re-elected.
ReplyDeleteI love the analysis you presented since it wasn't something that is easy to catch unless you are really thinking about the message behind it. It reminds me of Barack Obama's new slogan "Win the Future". Perhaps "win" is president Obama's version of "fight". The current president may be conveying a desire for redemption and renewal by the United States, inspiring the people by presenting them with something that can be attained.
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