George W. Bush’s Language Comprising the War on Terror Essay

The president is perhaps the most visible arm of government to the American people. Through the drama of highly televised election campaigns and public speeches, the president is, for most people, the face of government. The president’s communication to the public is spotlighted and given much more attention than other public officials’, such as representatives or senators. Since the president receives more public attention than any other individual in government, it seems natural to analyze presidential rhetoric. However, why exactly should we examine presidential rhetoric? Are there not other ways to examine a president’s goals and aspirations? One could examine the implemented policies that the president supports. However, one†¦show more content†¦Text analysis As stated above, this examine paper attempts to provide a broad description of Bush’s â€Å"war on terror† rhetoric. I examined all presidential weekly radio addresses from September 11, 2001 until August 7, 2004, the televised public statement made by the president on September 11, 2001, and the three State of the Union addresses since September 11, 2001 . For purposes of this paper, since I am only interested in the symbolism Bush draws upon when speaking on the war on terror, I limited the public statements I examined to those after September 11. Additionally, time constraints forced limitations on how much of the President’s public statements I was able to scrutinize. The president, of course, makes many more public statements than weekly radio addresses and the annual State of the Union. Press briefings and campaign trail speeches are also a major component of presidential rhetoric, and any complete study of Bush’s â€Å"terror† language would look at these statements. When scrutinizing these speeches, I searched for a number of things. First, I wanted to isolate any kind of imagery Bush employed that was unnecessary for the expositionShow MoreRelatedSaddam Hussein7914 Words   |  32 Pagessecurity apparatus. Meanwhile, Iraqs economy grew at a rapid pace in the 1970s. 3 As president, he developed a pervasive personality cult, ran an authoritarian government, and maintained power through the devastating Iran-Iraq War (1980Ââ€"1988) and the first Persian Gulf War (1991), which both corresponded with a sharp decline in living standards and the human rights situation. Saddam Husseins government, in particular, engaged in hard repression of movements that it deemed threatened his rule, asRead MoreNew World Order in Conspiracy Theory13987 Words   |  56 Pagesthe 20th century, many  statesmen, such as  Woodrow Wilson  and  Winston Churchill, used the term new world order to refer to a new period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and the  balance of power  after  World War I  andWorld War II. They all saw these periods as opportunities to implement  idealistic  or  liberal  proposals for  global governance  only in the sense of new collective efforts to identify, understand, or address worldwi de problems that go beyond the capacityRead MoreUK - Analysis Report31935 Words   |  128 Pagesgovernment effectiveness and regulatory quality. Furthermore, according to the World Bank s governance indicators for 2008, the country was given a high percentile rank of 94.3 on government effectiveness. The heavy involvement of the UK in the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq seems to have had some negative consequences. The threat of terrorism is being taken more seriously than before. The July 7, 2005 bombings in London brought the capital to a standstill. The public threats issued by variousRead MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 Pages VICE PRESIDENT PUBLISHER EXECUTIVE EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE MARKETING MANAGER ASSISTANT MARKETING MANAGER MARKETING ASSISTANT DESIGN DIRECTOR SENIOR DESIGNER SENIOR MEDIA EDITOR George Hoffman Lise Johnson Carissa Doshi Dorothy Sinclair Matt Winslow Amy Scholz Carly DeCandia Alana Filipovich Jeof Vita Arthur Medina Allison Morris This book was set in 10/12 New Caledonia by Aptara ®, Inc. and printed and bound by Courier/Westford