Essay on Obama's First Inaugural Speech

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.

In response to the controversial sermon given by his pastor and the racial remarks that followed him during his 2008 campaign, then Senator Barack Obama, was inherently forced into delivering a speech that would address the comments and prove to the American people that he did in fact shared their “American Dream” and was not an Anti-America charity case. Obama gave his famous “A More Perfect Union” speech in Philadelphia, where he seized the opportunity to address the controversy as an indication of a much larger issue, race relations in America and introduce his mission of moving the country toward “a more perfect union.” His speech often coined, “the Race Speech”, had several factors play into its success, one factor being the way the speech was delivered, his speech incorporated the jeremiad form and constitutive form of rhetoric, the use of those two forms helped Obama address the issue while at the same time creating an identity that would encompass all Americans who would then come together in this identity and work toward the solution of the race issue and providing the “American Dream” for everyone.

Through the use of emotional appeals, he alters the thoughts and feelings of his audience through storytelling, imagery and illusion. The topic or race itself evokes strong emotions from the listener. His use of logical arguments is minimal. The intended audience is those who are able to vote for Obama as well as African Americans who will identify with his assessment of race within the black community and subsequently be inspired and motivated to incite social change in a positive way.

In his 2004 speech, Barack Obama stated “I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible.”

This inaugural speech marked the beginning of the second term of Barack Obama as president of the United States of America. It was delivered at United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. on January 21, 2013. The event followed the presidential election in the United States and it was very important all over the world, about a million of people gathered outside the Capitol to witness the president's words and millions more from around the world watched him on television (Staff). For first time, a president talked about same sex marriage and gay rights, he also talked about divisive issues such as reform of immigration policies, stopping climate change and preserving a social welfare safety net. Obama showed a progressive and liberal agenda, focused on equal rights and possibilities for all the citizens. The theme of the speech was “Faith in America's Future,” (Caldwell) and he successfully used various rhetorical techniques and resources to influence the audience.

January 20th is an important day to all Americans; this is the day of the inauguration speech. Every four years the new president will announce their speech on this day. George Bush presented his speech 16 years ago, Barack Obama presented his speech 8 years ago and this year Donald Trump presented his speech. Each speech is expressed in their own style showing how the president is. For instance, Barack Obama uses numerous rhetorical devices, logic with emotions to perform a reassuring positive speech. In contrast to Donald Trump who lacked rhetorical devices but uses emotions to create a powerful straightforward speech. Both speeches revealed similar ideas yet were illustrated in very different ways.

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

Barrack Obama’s inauguration speech successfully accomplished his goal by using rhetoric to ensure our nation that we will be under safe hands. The speech is similar from ideas obtained from the founding documents and Martin Luther King’s speech to establish ‘our’ goal to get together and take some action on the problems our country is now facing. As President Barrack Obama starts his speech, he keeps himself from using ‘me’, ‘myself’, and ‘I’ and replacing it with ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘together’ to achieve ethos. He makes sure his audience connects with him directly by making them feel at his level, and him at theirs. This way he connects to the audience, and in exchange, helps his

President Obama’s victory speech and Martine Luther King’s speech are two of the most famous discourses that everybody is discussing today. The speeches are representation of racial progression, which starts from the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement to the election of the first black president in the American history. Both speeches are a symbol of hope and a new start of the upcoming changes. In fact, both speeches called for unity and inclusion to achieve the American dream. Furthermore, both occasions had loud voices echo not only in the United State, but also in the global level. Despite the similarity of Obama’s and King’s speeches in the persuasive and inspirational tones, their goals were for different purposes and audience, also the effects on the audience were different.

Obama tells us in his speech that crisis needs to be fixed by change. He even admits that some people don’t believe his proposed actions are the answer to our problems. Obama tries to solve this by telling them his action’s, which not stated, are the answer. This is a very poor attempt at persuasion on his part.

Senator Barack Obama had many issues throughout his campaign. Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union”, delivered on March 18, 2008, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, conveyed many issues concerning racism throughout the United States, but it starts out stating how the founders of this nation constructed the Declaration of Independence, creating all men equal. Obama then begins to talk about his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and his racial remarks against America and Israel, as it is “divisive at a time when we need unity”, referring to the “ two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis” going on at the time. (Obama 2) Obama remarks “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas,” (Obama 1) because there is much criticism in his campaign due to his race. Obama argues that race is paralyzing our nation, and that it is still a major issue due to white privilege, and racial inequality. In the end, Obama hopes to move past the “racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years,” (Obama 6) and wishes to improve health care, jobs, schools, and other social issues for the United States.

On top of that big fat slab of equality and togetherness, President Obama also begins to usher in a sense of endless possibilities and hope through the audience. He juxtaposes the “ending of war” to the beginning of economic recovery (Isn’t that a lie in the state we’re in?). This solidifies hope and the use parallelism, “ we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together". He begins again, this time using a parallelism that is used throughout the rest of the speech, “we, the people,” to even further establish togetherness and also builds Obama’s presidential

On April 8, 2013, President Barack Obama spoke at the University of Hartford on behalf of those who died in the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. President Obama addressed the people of the state of Connecticut and on a federal level. The broadcasting networks provided live coverage of President Obama’s speech, and a national audience listened as the president’s addressing the issues and the next steps forward for the country. The impact of this tragedy and previous massive shootings and Obama’s explanation have been a subject of a controversial debate. I plan on using the pentadic method to analyze President Obama’s speech regarding Sandy Hook and gun control. What we can learn about the method by

Obama also uses the strategy of allusions. At the very end of Obama's speech, he alludes to a quotation from the father of our nation, George Washington. The quotation talks about how “that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]” (Barack Obama's Inaugural Address 4). The quotation means that no matter how tough times are, the

Since President Abraham Lincoln’s famous second inaugural address nearly 150 years ago it has been a long standing tradition for the President’s inaugural address to present a somewhat ambiguous claim for world transformation and diplomacy. President George W. Bush’s second inaugural address is no different. It set forth President Bush’s ambitious vision of the United States’ role in advancing of freedom, liberty, and democracy worldwide “with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world” (para. 7). In order to persuade his audience to adhere to his arguably over ambiguous goal, President Bush uses a rhetoric strategy that blends elements of ethos and pathos with specific word choice to