The late author and Ambassador Clare Boothe Luce claimed that every presidency can be reduced to a single sentence with an active verb, e.g., “Lincoln freed the slaves,” or “Nixon resigned.” What one active verb will best summarize the Obama Presidency?
President Obama burst onto the national stage with a keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Just four years later, the frequent use of “Hope,” “Change,” and “Yes We Can” became rhetorical trademarks of his successful presidential campaign.
The “bully pulpit” has served as a prominent feature of Obama’s presidency, and five points reveal the significance of rhetoric in assessing his presidential legacy.
Rhetorical Proliferation: A central element of the modern presidency
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Charles Kesler observed that President Obama embodies the fourth wave of modern liberalism, following Progressive Era liberalism, New Deal liberalism, and Great Society liberalism; and Obama’s rhetoric represents this truth. Consider that he began his presidency by dubbing his agenda the “New Foundation,” a christening of his reforms akin to his liberal predecessors. Furthermore, some of his more memorable rhetorical phrases, such as the desire to “meet history’s test” by “fundamentally transformting the United States of America” reflect the depth of his liberal goals. Far from a timid desire to nudge America to the center left, Obama’s rhetoric reflects a desire for lasting political transformation through liberalism’s …show more content…
Once elected, he declared a new era of “engagement” with the world and delivered his first-ever television interview as president with Al-Arabiya, a Dubai-based network. In his June 2009 speech at Cairo University, he promised a “new beginning” between the United States and the Muslim world. Furthermore, if JFK was the “first television president,” then Obama is the “first Internet president,” using new media to amplify his voice around the globe. Thus, partcipating in a global community and giving more global-related speeches have been an integral part of his governing
In 2004, Obama walked up to the podium at the Democratic National Convention as a political novelty. The speech he delivered established Obama as a natural leader and transformed him into a future presidential candidate. Rich in demonstrative rhetoric, its purpose was to unite the American people through nationalism. The exploration of his rhetoric and style throughout this paper will cement why the speech was beneficially identity transforming for Obama's political career.
Obama’s speech on race was a part of his campaign while he was running for the presidential election in 2009. He speaks to the American people with the purpose to gather them and with spirit of fellowship to creates a unity and patriotism. A unity where everyone stands together and in jointly could make the world a better place for everyone, no matter
Annually, the President of the United States addresses not only the Congress but millions of people globally. On January 28th, 2014, President Barack Obama delivered his sixth State of the Union Address. Its purpose, which is required by the U.S Constitution, is “from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient”(Smith et al., 2014, p. ). President Barack Obama utilizes this platform “making more statements that made him appear likeable (ingratiation) and strong (intimidation) than did their traditional counterparts” (Smith et al., 2014, p. ). Typically the president develops a delivery
President Obama, like all Presidents before him, delivered a farewell address to the United States on January 20, 2017. As he stepped down as President he was eloquent and it was as clear as ever that he is a master of oration. Obama will go down in history as the first Black President as well as a strong orator who had the ability to captivate an audience through his use of ethos, pathos and logos amongst other rhetorical devices. His farewell address is a perfect example of Obama’s mastery of discourse as it is chock full of oratorical devices. Obama’s message to the American people and to the rest of the world is that it is essential that we maintain a sense of what it means to have a democracy and that in order to maintain peace and
Primarily, Obama’s victory speech was about his winning the election for the office as the president. President Barack Obama delivered his speech on Nov. 4, 2008, in Grant Park, Chicago. The speech was a powerful, positive, and persuasive, also it inspired the audience. The main point of the speech is to cover three important pictures at the beginning, he drew a comparison between the past and present, by answering a rhetorical question “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible” (Obama 685). Subsequently, he stated the gratitude for his running mate Joe Biden, campaign manager and his lovely family. Also, Obama was formal and candid to describe the catastrophic financial crises that happened in 2008 and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the end of his speech, he painted a big picture of the upcoming change, by giving a comparison of women rights to vote and slavery between hundred years ago and now, also by mentioning and inspiring the younger generation. He also advised the American people to keep moving into the future and the adapting to the progressive movement theme.
Barrack Obama’s inauguration speech successfully executed crafty rhetoric to ensure our country that we will be under safe hands. The speech draws from ideas straight from the founding documents and Martin Luther King’s speech to establish ‘our’ goal to join together and take action on the many problems facing our country. As President Barrack Obama begins his speech, He refrains from using ‘me’, ‘myself’, and ‘I’ but instead ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘together’ to establish ethos. He makes sure his audience feels at his level, and he at theirs. This way he connects to the audience, and in turn, aids his
First of all, the Inaugural Address was the President Obama’s speech that was delivered to the crowds after the oath of office ceremony that took place at the West Front of the United States. It was a brief speech that captivated a lot of matters that concern the American citizens exclusively and the world inclusively in simple and complex language. The language in the speech mostly was flawless and applicable to the audience, who was the public, since he was using every day vocabulary. Therefore,
Last year, America has elected a new president and in fact the first black president, Barack Obama. As what all other presidents have done, they made so many promises during their campaign, in order for people to support them and win the votes to become president. President Barack Obama used the word change as his campaign tagline last year. It triggered us, the people around the world, to have the interest on how Obama has brought changes to the White House, to the political map in the United States of America, and to the world. It is also vital to know how much Obama has altered the image of the America to the better, how he ‘sterilize’ the previous government’s mess, and the overall performance of Barack
On November 4th, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama made his victory speech were over 200,000 people were in attended at Grant Park and millions of viewers watching. In the year of 2008 this was a pivotal time in America because the long eight-year presidency of George W Bush was coming to an end. America had been plagued with many problems even war. The economy was in chaos and global warming was a huge threat. Barack Obama’s campaign and surprising election were the answer to the country’s many problems. In Obama’s almost thirty-minute speech he hooked his viewers and audience with a touching campaign. He used historical figures to help establish the importance of “Yes We Can” to define the nation.
On January 10, 2017 Barack Obama made his farewell speech in Chicago, Illinois. Obama has been president of the United States of eight years. He has made many achievements in the nation. As a well respected leader he wanted to bring attention to how Americans need to invest time in politics in order for there to be change in the country. Therefore, Obama wants to persuade Americans to get involved with politics to see change within the United States through his use of diction.
Barack Obama starts the unification process by first establishing America’s greatest concern: individualism, which is the Republicans’ philosophy. All Republican arguments stem from the philosophy of individualism, a belief in the individual. Although he purposefully never attacks them outright, Obama uses subtle, vague descriptions and remarks to identify and address the opposition. “Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us - the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of ‘anything goes’” (3). He
Senator Barack Obama, in his address, “A More Perfect Union” (March 18, 2008), pushes back criticism from politicians and Americans alike, regarding inflammatory comments made against the country by his former pastor. Obama is calling on his fellow Americans to consider the role that race has played in dividing the country and in developing a more perfect union. Through his use of characterization to establish his foundation as a person who has the same struggles as everyone else and is not just some perfect politician, followed by use of repetition in the middle of his address, he is establishing his true opinions about his pastor’s comment, and a final use of parallelism towards the end of his address to channel
Introduction: Barack Obama was re-elected as President of the U.S on November 6th, 2012. Barack Obama held his Victory Speech on the following day. This essay will analyze and comment on an excerpt of that exacting Victory Speech and the solution focus of the criticism will be on the Rhetorical belongings of the Speech. By using numerous forms of Rhetorical apparatus like Anaphora or Tautology, Barack Obama controls to offer a Speech that is full of American thoughts of life, similar to the American promise, the American Dream and the outlook. The Speech is very alike to the one he did in 2008 at the Democratic meeting, and contains numerous forms of replication and between the outline political views.
Obama’s Victory Speech has impressed the whole world. Obama have used a lot of techniques which make people in the USA believe in him and make them feel united. In this essay of Obama’s victory speech, I will explain some of the techniques Obama uses and for what purpose. Besides that I will comment on important and meaningful quotes.
On February 10, 2007, Barack Obama, the autor of the speech, made his presidential announcement, “Our Past, Future, and Vision for America”. Obama claims to the people of the United States that he has the capability to be the next president of the United States. He argues that even though it may seem impossible to do, he can lead America through the many changes that need to take place in order to transform America into a better America. Obama’s speech uses the forms of pathos, ethos, and logos to let everyone know the potential he has on becoming the President of the United