 |
| http://time.com/3449480/911-the-photographs-that-moved-them-most/ |
September 11, 2001, a day that will never be forgotten in the history books around the world. 9/11 was the the largest scale terrorist attack on American soil. Three planes crashed into heavily populated government buildings: the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. There was a fourth plane also, but before it could hit it's target it crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The fourth plane was believed to be heading for the White House. George W. Bush, who was President at the time, addressed the nation about the attacks. Bush gave his address from the oval office within the white house in Washington D.C. His address was given the same day of the attacks, which was a very smart move on the part of the President. President Bush needed to give this speech the same day of the attacks. I was too young to understand at the time, but I can imagine a state of panic throughout the country and Bush's speech gave the people some much needed reassurance.
 |
| President Bush moments before addressing the nation. https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/george-w-bush/pictures/george-w-bush/bush-addresses-the-nation-after-terrorist-strikes |
For a speech like Bush's, There is not much of a need for an attention getter. He already had the attention of the entire country and perhaps the entire world. Everyone wanted to hear what the president had to say in the wake of these horrific attacks. Bush did not shy away or attempt to water down the situation "The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, an terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger". By not watering down the situation Bush allowed himself to be one of the people, not just the President of the United States of America. We the people could connect with the president because we were all seeing and experiencing the same thing. The emotional appeal of Bush's speech is off the charts simply because it was an emotional time. Emotions were already all over the place, so Bush's job was to calm those emotions with his message. Bush's logic going in was to provide reassurance to the nation "These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But, they have failed". President Bush wanted to assure the nation that no act of terrorism, no matter how big or small, will not scare us. Bush goes on to explain how he is giving all justice departments all resources necessary to capture the people responsible for the attacks. Bush delivering the speech from his desk in the oval office gives the audience the perception that President Bush is all business. There is no one else in the speech, just Bush, looking right into the camera, essentially looking into the eyes of everyone in the nation and saying everything will be okay and we will make sure they pay. Even though nothing had been done yet, no one identified, just burning buildings and people dying, Bush gave us reassurance that everything was under control and that we are still a strong nation. The people needed to hear this speech and President Bush did a great job in his presentation. Wrapping up the speech, President Bush quoted the bible saying "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me".
One of the news articles I found responding to Bush's 9/11 reaction was very positive. The Odyssey shared similar thoughts on the speech's frame as me. The Odyssey stated that "He believed that the first step of any successful response is to project calm". I too believe that Bush framed his speech around remaining calm and staying positive. U.S News.com was not very worried about what Bush did say but what he did not say. They told their readers that he had no defining quote or statement that would stick with people like past presidents. They were also questioning how calm he was following the events and during the speech. The National Archives published a blog post on the President's speech that focused more on the preparation of the speech. They wanted their readers to know how difficult it is to write a speech for a whole nation in a time such as 9/11.
President Bush was not even a full year into his term when 9/11 happened. Thousands of people were injured or killed in a country that Bush is the leader of: How would you react? President Bush handled the whole situation with a calmness. From the elementary school in Florida to his oval office when he addressed the nation, he was calm. I believe most new stations and news articles all seem to present the same "frame", that Bush was calm under pressure. The media is made to critique nowadays, not so much reporting on what happened but reporting on what could have been done better, and I do not believe that to be fair to politicians. Bush did exactly what he was supposed to do. He delivered a calm, but firm speech about the attacks.
Sources:
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/george-bushs-response-9-11
https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2001/09/14/911-presents-historic-challenge-for-president-bush
https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2011/09/06/911-an-address-to-the-nation/
No comments:
Post a Comment