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Chuck Neff
Professor Rood
English 250H
23 September 2015

Analysis of George W. Bushs Address to a Joint Session of

Congress and the American People

On September 20, 2001, the United States of America was in a state of crisis. Nine
days earlier, the deadliest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor in 1941 had taken
place, and the nation was still recovering from shock. A clear direction and plan was
needed, and the country was uncertain whether this assault was a sign of things to come.
U.S. domestic and international flights had been grounded for days in the week before,
and a lot of business around the world had stopped. The president faced the difficult task
of not only calming the nation and assuring them of the return to some semblance of
normalcy, but also to lay out a plan to bring the enemies responsible for the heinous
attack to be brought to justice. Bush used several techniques to accomplish this goal,
including appealing to the American sense of unity, his style of speech, and emotional
and logical appeals.
One of the biggest things that needed to be addressed by the president was the
emotional aspect of the attacks. He accomplished this difficult task by using pathos. By
praising those who helped both prevent and clean up after the tragedy, the president
united the people, invoking feelings of pride and respect for their fellow countrymen. The

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gigantic plumes of smoke coming from the twin towers, the crash into the Pentagon, and
the heroes who went down in a Pennsylvania field all brought vastly different emotions to
the American people. He needed to show empathy and support to the victims, while also
being firm and decisive with his plan going forward to bring those responsible to justice.
Bush accomplished the first task by thanking all of the rescue workers for their heroic
efforts, as well as directly thanking Lisa Beamer, the wife of Todd Beamer, who rushed
the terrorists on Flight 93 and prevented them from reaching their intended target. This
recognition of an American hero, as well as praising all those involved in rescue efforts,
ensured that citizens thought that the nation could stand back up, and if they too gave as
much effort as the rescue workers and passengers of Flight 93, the United States could
come back stronger than ever.
After appealing to the sense of American pride almost all U.S. citizens share, the
president went on to try to unite Americans against an enemy. The Taliban were in charge
of the country of Afghanistan at the time, and were believed to be harboring members of
al Qaeda, the terror group thought to be responsible for the attacks. Bush first
sympathized with the Afghan people before firmly condemning the regime with the
quote, The United States respects the people of Afghanistanafter all, we are currently
its largest source of humanitarian aidbut we condemn the Taliban regime. It is not only
repressing its own people; it is threatening people everywhere by sponsoring and
sheltering and supplying terrorists. By aiding and abetting murder, the Taliban regime is
committing murder. George W. went on to list demands of the Taliban, and stated that
the demands were non-negotiable. By using such strong terms, the president showed the
American people that the government had a clear plan of action, and dispelled some of

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the worry about what was going to happen in the future. By establishing such a clear
objective of eradicating terrorists or making those who harbored them deal with the
consequences, Bush also showed the rest of the world that America would not stand for
any such attacks, which also probably discouraged any future attacks.
An often overlooked but very important part of a speech is the tone that the
speaker uses to deliver their message. Although I was given a textual copy of the speech,
Youtube had the oral presentation, and the president used a very calming tone to deliver
his speech. This tranquility helped to deliver his message as someone who had coolly and
calmly came to decisions, and had thought over the best course of action. This
collectedness helps to convince a distraught American public that a competent man was
in charge, and his ratings as the American leader actually soared to over 90% in the
weeks following the attacks. Although this jump was likely not completely due to this
speech, I think that this demonstrates that the message and intonation was not only well
done by also well received by the public as a whole. I believe that this message uses an
appeal to ethos, as the president of a country is supposed to know what he is doing, and
George at the very least projected the image that he knew what he was planning on doing
when the speech was delivered.
This appeal to personal trust to believe that the president was competent and
capable would put a lot of strain on a person to deliver on a promise, but Bush stands
firm on his ability and statements with the quote We will direct every resource at our
commandevery means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law
enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of warto the
disruption and to the defeat of the global terror network. While Bush delivers this almost

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like a personal promise, he also manages to make all American citizens feel important
and united by using the term we. Even if someone had no say in the decision, they are
more likely to stand by it if they feel they belong to a group, and I think the president did
this brilliantly with his word choices.
After reeling in the people by appealing to the emotions, Bush also uses logos to
explain the reasoning behind his decisions. The emotional appeal of an eye for an eye
works in the heat of the moment, but these decisions are often looked back on in a poor
light, and as stupid acts of passion. However, his argument that terrorists must be brought
to justice not only works on an emotional level, but on a logical one. It makes sense to
want to fight back because some of your friends and countrymen had been hurt, but it
also makes sense to not allow enemies to hurt you without retaliation. If the president had
done nothing more attacks might have soon happened again and again, or the enemy
might have grown so emboldened as to launch an open attack. Although this also could
be thought of as the president using his influence to say he knows what should be done, I
believe that it is more trying to convince the general public that his plan is the best course
of action. Bush lays out why he thinks that this plan is the best, and I think that the
American people respected that. By appealing to the logical argument that they must act
to prevent future acts, the president helped firmly establish his points.
In conclusion, George W. Bush faced a very difficult task when faced with the
catastrophes that were the September 11th attacks. By delivering a calm and collected
speech and appealing to emotion and logic, the president helped to ease fears and give
Americans hope for the future. His speech was a polarizing youre either with us or
against us, which helped unite the people of the United States and forced them to get

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behind the cause. Without a strong message, the nation would not have recovered as
quickly from the devastation. Whether or not you agree with the subsequent wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq, this speech shows a very good way to unite people in a time of
great crisis.

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Works Cited
Bush, George W. Bush Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American
People. Voices of Democracy. N.p. n.d., Web, 24 Sept. 2015

CNN 9/11 LIVE TV Coverage (9/20/01) (President George W. Bush Addresses

Congress Part 1 of 2). YouTube. YouTube n.d. Web, 24 Sept. 2015.

CNN 9/11 LIVE TV Coverage (9/20/01) (President George W. Bush Addresses

Congress Part 2 of 2). YouTube. YouTube n.d. Web, 24 Sept. 2015.