Analysis of George W. Bush Address to Nation After 9/11

In the second sentence of his speech he states “The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors.” This allows him to reach a universal American audience. He is addressing the entire nation, therefore it is important he relates the incident to everyone. While it may seem obvious that the attack effects everyone, by saying this Bush allows every audience member to connect to the victims. 2. In the second paragraph, Bush suggests that the buildings symbolize America as a whole. He states that while the buildings may have got knocked down, our country still moves on. He compares that to the fact that Americans may have experienced a tragedy today but the American people will continue to live free.

By relating the buildings to America in the form of a metaphor, it allows all Americans to feel the same pain whether they are in New York, or Seattle and that all Americans are in this together. 3. Bush uses another metaphor right after the one mentioned above when he says that “America was attacked because we are the brightest beacon for freedom in the world.” A beacon is the light that shines on top of tall buildings. By using this metaphor is once again connects America as a whole to the two buildings involved in the attack. The beacon reference also allows Bush to state that America is at the top, and all other nations are bitter about what we have. 4. To start the 3rd paragraph Bush states “Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans.” He follows this statement by saying the military is very strong and rescue teams are doing a great job. In a time when people are very confused about how something like this could happen to a powerful country like USA, some individuals might blame Bush for this attack. By saying the comments above, it allows him to say “hey, I took all the necessary steps to protect this country”. He does not want to come across insensitive and cocky so he includes the fact that the rescue teams are doing a great job. 5. To end the 3rd paragraph Bush makes two comments saying that the “Federal agencies will be open for business” and “Financial agencies remain strong and will be open for business tomorrow”.

The term ‘open for business’ does not really apply to areas such as the Federal Agency because the agencies are not really searching out customers, but Bush uses the term ‘open for business’ in a very strategic way. This is because while the term may not relate to Federal Agencies, it does sound appealing to the American people because the term hints to the fact that everything will go on just as normal. 6. Bush goes on to thank allied countries for their support and says, “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.” The most significant thing I noticed with this statement is he made an abnormally long pause after the word ‘war’. By doing this, brings about the idea of war to the American people, without specifically saying ‘we are going to war. 7. In the same comment above, when Bush breaks out the word ‘war’ for the first time he does a good job in surrounding it by talking about the support from allies. For people who are against war, it makes war sound more acceptable if it benefits other countries and other countries are behind it. 8. Bush then says, “Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered.” This is an effective comment because it follows his comment on the “war on terror”. It is universally accepted by all people that the protecting of children is very important, therefore Bush makes it seem as though war should also be a universally accepted action to take in order to protect the children 9. Bush then goes on to use a biblical verse which is effective in a couple of ways.

First off, individuals who follow the bible may be against the idea of war but by including a biblical verse in his speech, Bush does not lose their support and actually might gain it. Also, by using a biblical verse is bolsters Bush credibility in a time of confusion. 10. To finish the speech, Bush says that “America must defend what is good about this world.” By making this seem like an issue that effects the entire world and not just America, it gives Bush the ability to take extreme action. Also, Bush makes it seem as though it is America’s responsibility to defend the world against these problems which also gives him more credibility when he declares war.