Rhetorical Analysis of President Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Speech

The speech “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation” was due to the attacks against Pearl Harbor and other island by Japanese Forces. Some of the island affected by these attacks includes: Hong Kong, Guam, Philippine Island, Wake Island, Malaya, and Midway Island. FDR’s uses pathos, ethos, and logos to effectively demonstrated the power and the will of the United States to defend themselves after the attack at Pearl Harbor.

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” These words were spoken the day after the bombing of Pearl

Rhetorical Analysis Essay “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy” is the powerful first line from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous Pearl Harbor speech. This speech was delivered to a joint session of congress and the American people the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt is attempting to persuade Congress to declare war on the Japanese Empire, as well as to inform the American people of the devastation caused by the attack so they will be in support of this war. Roosevelt begins the speech with effective use of an appeal to logos with compelling language as he is stating the fact that the United States has been attacked by Japan with no provocation what so ever.

On December 8, 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech to congress declaring that December 7, 1941 would be “a date which will live in infamy.” He goes on to ask congress to declare war on Japan. In his speech to congress he called Japan’s attack “deliberate deception". After the attack many

Hours after Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan, gaining worldwide headlines, giving millions unanswered questions, the speech, Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation was given one day after the event. On December 8th 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech to be remembered today, by using rhetorical devices and figurative language to strongly picture his message to the public, making great use of parallel structure, personification, parallelism, and climax ordering to enforce his key point of wanting Americans to stand up against the Japanese forces for the deliberate actions done towards there peaceful country, with no threat or hint of war or of an armed attack. With hopes of gathering support for the decision to declare war on Japan.

Their moment to shine came on December 7, 1941, “A date in which will live in infamy” as proclaimed by President Franklin Roosevelt the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese air force and navy (Roosevelt). But the Japanese badly miscalculated the psychological effect of their surprise attack at Pearl Harbor that unified a divided people and aroused the United States to wage a total, not a limited war (Stewart, 166). The United States was finally pushed

Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”- Franklin D. Roosevelt. On December 7th, 1941 Japanese forces performed an air raid on the naval base Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. One of the most devastating attacks on American soil. 20 American ships and more than 300 airplanes destroyed. Dry docks and airfields were likewise destroyed. Most important, 2,403 sailors, soldiers and civilians were killed and about 1,000 people were wounded (“Pearl Harbor”). This strike shocked America and changed our mood about the war. We wanted retaliation, we wanted to hurt them back, we wanted war! After two years of standing by

Do you remember the infamous moment in history called the Bombing of Pearl Harbor? Forevermore, the Bombing of Pearl Harbor will remain a conflict that will be remembered for eons, decades, centuries, or even longer. Obviously, the American and Japanese Army forces joined in the war, where it took place in the Pearl Harbor, U.S. Naval Base PH (Pearl Harbor, Island of Oahu), and the Hawaiian Territory and began on 1941 December, 5th. Frankly, Franklin Delano Roosevelt has said this famous speech toward us that was pronounced, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” Surprisingly, FDR made another quote to the Americans in order to not join the presence, “We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war.” FDR didn’t want the Americans to fight back against the Japanese, but because the Japanese were becoming more serious in bombing and started doing it on the Americans property, that caused the Americans to fight back.

December 7th, 1941 will forever be remembered. The day after this attack President Roosevelt gave a speech to congress (Roosevelt, 1941). December 7th is the day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and forever changed the course of the war. While the United States had many reasons to enter the war, the attack on Pearl Harbor was what finally drew them into the war. The Japanese thought attacking Pearl Harbor would cripple the United States ability to produce ships to support allied countries, and cripple the United States military. The United States had remained neutral up until this point. This atrocious attack was what finally brought the United States into World War II.

On December 8th 1941 the United States Congress was asked by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to declare war upon Japan. This declare of war was a start of World War 2, in which was a result of Japans actions from their surprise Pearl Harbor attack the day before. The Pearl Harbor attack, which led up to World War II for the United States was declared an hour after the Infamy Speech of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt stated in his speech that “it will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many of days or even weeks ago. During the internment time the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace”. “We will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but we will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us”.

“A date that will live in infamy” is how Franklin D. Roosevelt described the attack on Pearl Harbor in his speech on December 8, 1941; just one day after the attack took place (F.D.R., E-notes). The attack on Pearl Harbor was not only one of the most considerable attacks on America but also one of the most important. America was in the middle of a large-scale depression with issues of unemployment, the long-term effects of the Great Depression, the Stock Market crash, and overproduction. As a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the American domestic economy was prosperous through conversion, solutions to unemployment and essential production, competition and nationalism, propaganda and price control, and large outputs. Because of

On December 8th, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a potent speech in response to a dastardly event that had happened just the day before, on a “date that [would] live in infamy” (2). All throughout the United States, the nation’s citizens were in panic after learning that Japan had struck out with a premeditated attack against the US. In his “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation”, Roosevelt asked Congress, through a stirring use of rhetoric appeals, to condemn Japan’s grave attack by declaring war against them.

“December 7th 1941- A date that will live in infamy.” This opening statement is the first powerful line said by President Roosevelt to the American people after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This greatness of this opening line will be forever be ingrained in the minds of every American citizen, especially the people who lived during the most significant war of the 20th century. The bombing of Pearl Harbor is an event that can never be forgotten, and President Roosevelt’s speech in response to this appalling attack is just as significant. The objective of this speech was to urge Congress to declare war on Japan. Roosevelt’s speech after Pearl Harbor is one of the more recognizable and important speeches in all of American history. His speech incorporates bountiful instances of rhetorical devices, such as logos, pathos, and ethos. By analyzing these rhetorical devices, one is able to see Roosevelt’s vigorous use of emotion, his strength in addressing his character and reputation rather than focusing too heavily upon appeals to logic and reason, ultimately to get the result he wants from his audience. The profound power of this speech resonates with all who read and hear it.

The famous speech, Pearl Harbor address to the nation by Franklin D. Roosevelt (president at the time) shows us a vast amount of rhetorical appeals: Pathos, Ethos, and Logos to the nation. This speech announced to us that the intended audience and the persuasion used in order to change the peoples’ minds to defend our nation. The Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation speech was given to tell the U.S. that Japan has initiated war by attacking Oahu, Hawaii; while also attacking islands on the Pacific coast. Roosevelt addressed to the nation the stance we must take in order to protect ourselves from Japan and from attacks in the future. It was also revealed that Japan deliberately planned and attacked Hawaii do to the distance between each other. The Japanese ambush caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. It was then that America made a move to attack the Japanese Empire on December 8, 1941.

The speech that I have chosen signifies an important moment in American history. The speech was by Franklin D. Roosevelt and it was given a day after the Pearl Harbor bombings. In many ways the speech was an important mark in the start of America’s part in world war two. The rate and tone of the speech, were very clear and well spoken. It appears that he was trying to be as clear as possible for this very important speech. He wanted everyone to clearly understand what he was saying, with no doubt. The lack of gestures and somberness of the president’s tone made everyone listening understand the severity of the situation. The audience awareness was very interesting. There was no excitement in the air. It was only a room full of people patiently