President Bush Reassuring America
September 11, 2001, America woke up to realize we were the victims of terrorists’ attacks against our country. That evening President George W. Bush gave a speech to give courage, reassure, and gain support of the American citizens. President Bush tells us how America is strong and will continue to move forward to fixing the problem. The purpose behind giving this speech is to pull us as Americans together and to reassure America that the government is taking the necessary steps to amending the problem.
He starts out the speech by using the word “our” which brings all of us as American citizens together regardless of who we are, where we live, or our social status. This attack didn’t just affect the people in New York, Washington D.C., or the airplanes, all America was attacked together. This speech is given at a time when Americans are feeling confused and worried about the future, so he knows that it is crucial that we are drawn together, because he knows, a house divided cannot stand.
President Bush then lists the victims, “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”, which reinforces the fact that the victims are people just like you and me. This provides us with the motivation and desire to do whatever it takes to remedy this problem and protect ourselves from further harm.
Then he talks about the images that have been playing over the television and internet all day, which he knows we have been watching and have had an effect on us. He knows these images have scared us and left us feeling unsure of what the future will hold. He tells us that the terrorist acts were meant to accomplish this very task, but reassures us that our country is strong and there is nothing to rely about. He makes use of several words that we associate with strength, power, and goodness.
The first word is foundation, he says, “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundation of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.” The word foundation is definitely something that we associate with strength; a foundation is the thing that holds our house up and together. If we have a solid foundation, which President Bush says America has, then these attacks can’t shake us. This means we are going to be okay. He next uses the word steel which is something that everyone can relate to because America is made of steel. He says, “These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” American history is full of examples of how American resolve has helped us win wars, gain our freedom, and overcome
He then gives an analogy using the word light, he says, “America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.” In the American culture, as well as many other cultures, light things are thought of as good while darkness is thought of as bad or evil. This plays on the fact that Americans are extremely proud of being Americans and do think that they are the best. Later in the speech he reinforces this by saying, “Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we responded with the best of America, with 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.” He focuses on the positive things that have come out of this day, in a city like New York where people are sometimes thought as being busy and the people not caring about others, they saws a tragedy and came together for good.
President Bush obviously wants us to know that even though we have just undergone a horrible attack, we are still strong. He does this by mentioning things like how the financial institutions, federal agencies, and the American economy would all be open for business the next day. He is saying that the enemy can give us a black eye, but can't stop us. He talks about the rescue workers who rose to the occasion and risked their own lives to search for survivors.
Bush definitely needs the support of the American people before he goes off to war, so in this speech he clearly states that our military is strong. He states that congress and many leaders from different countries are behind us in our task of finding those who committed this act of terrorism. This is interesting because later on we find out that even if the leaders of these countries said they were behind us, not many were willing to join us in the endeavor.
President Bush said, “Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans.” He said this to let us know that the government is on top of things, and isn’t sitting back waiting to see what will happen. This is also the first time that he uses the pronoun I, this is to underscore the fact that he is in control of the country and its resources; this was in an attempt to gain the faith and confidence of the people in him. Shortly following September 11, President Bush’s approval ratings greatly improved showing the people were confident that President Bush was trying hard to protect the country and do what was in America’s best interests.
In the second to last paragraph of the speech, President Bush uses religion to help reassure us and request our prayers on behalf of the victims, the government’s leaders, and himself. The popular Bible scripture that he used is one that whether you go to church Sunday or never go to church, everyone would know. He asks us to pray for all those who have been affected. President Bush knows that America has a religious foundation, and that the majority of Americans have a religious history. We all saw on TV, following September 11, there were pictures and videos of people praying at ground zero and around the country. President Bush seems to realize that no matter how strong our country or our military is, we can’t succeed without the help of a higher power.
President Bush finishes off this speech powerfully, that day was one of the worst tragedies in American history and he tells us September 11 is a day that we will remember forever. President Bush wants us to always remember what has happened, but more importantly to move forward and continue living our lives; because if we stop then the terrorists have succeeded in their purpose. He also realizes that many citizens will be afraid as it dawns on them that we are embarking on a journey that can only lead to war, and so he reminds us, “America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time.” And so eight years later the closing statement, “we go forth to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world,” is still an ongoing process that we have yet to complete.