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Jaycee Poffinbarger

Leigh Ann Moore

ENGL 1302

31 Jan. 2018

Comforting The Nation

On September 11, 2001, George W. Bush gave one of the most important speeches of his

presidential career—“9/11 Address to the Nation”. Earlier that morning, four commercial

airplanes were used as weapons against the United States. In one hour and twenty-five minutes,

the jetliners plowed through both towers of The World Trade Center in New York City, destroyed

the west side of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and sacrificially crashed in a field in western

Pennsylvania in an attempt to save other American lives. Bush recapped the day’s events, used

peoples’ emotions to motivate them, assured the American citizens that everything was being

done to find the guilty party, including accepting aid from other countries and asked for prayers

for those grieving. By building on emotions, using an informal writing style, and drawing people

into a sense of community, George W. Bush’s “9/11 Address to the Nation” explained how the

United States would move forward after the terrorist attacks that had occurred earlier that

morning.

Bush built on pathos by using the raw feelings of the day's catastrophic events to draw

the audience into his explanation of how the government was going to move forward. With all of

the emotions of the day still wrenching Bush’s heart and soul, he wrote, “Terrorist attacks can

shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of

America… they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” He meant for that to be an
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encouragement for the people of the United States. Almost every adult over twenty-two years of

age remembers what happened the day the towers fell. They remember where they were, who

was with them, and what they were doing. Bush mourned for the lost lives, but he remained

strong and encouraging. In that time of crisis, people did not know what to feel. Some were

numb with shock; others asked many questions, and Bush was the answer to some of their

questions for that time being. He then pulled in religion by sharing a portion of Psalm 23 and by

asking for prayers “for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered,

for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened.” Often it takes a crisis for people

to remember or think that there is a higher divine being to which people ask “why." Bush, being

a Christian, did what he knew to do — turn to God for comfort and peace. He used his platform

as President to remind citizens of the core Christian beliefs on which this country was founded.

He wanted the people who had not been affected to sympathize with those who had, offer prayer

on their behalf, and step up to help them. Bush provided a small amount of light in one of the

country’s darkest days.

Bush’s use of an informal writing style made the address more personal; it showed the

audience that he was not trying to be formal because the circumstances leading up to the address

indeed were not normal, nor did it call for a speech that only half could relate to. And while the

nation needed a leader, they also needed someone who they could relate to and grieve with.

Towards the end of his address, Bush quoted a verse from Psalm 23, “Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.” By quoting the

Bible, Bush made his address more personal to the people reading it; he added in his feelings

toward the situation. Bush did not use an extensive vocabulary as he might have during one of
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his “State of the Union” addresses. He recognized that the citizens needed him to be real and

personal. Americans did not need big fancy words; they needed someone to mourn with them

and to observe how vulnerable they now felt. The president removed himself from center stage

and made sure that the American citizens understood that the nation was one entity—grieving but

united. He wrote about looking to the future and being hopeful. Bush wrote his speech in a way

that was similar to how a conversation might have gone between a few people, full of ethos. The

way Bush chose to write his speech further established ethos.

Bush used a sense of community to remind Americans that the nation as a whole had

been under attack and to ensure them that the government was doing everything in their power to

bring those who caused that devastation to justice. In the opening of his speech, Bush said, “…

our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series and deadly terrorist acts.” He

then goes on to say, “Our country is strong.” By repeating the word “our,” he presented a united

front before the American citizens to show them that the nation as a whole was attacked, not just

the individuals in New York City, Washington D.C, or those on the plane that went down in

Pennsylvania. He emphasized that no one was alone in this time of despair. He then stated how

the American people should come together to help in any way they could — some of his

suggestions included giving blood, rescue workers helping with the destruction, or just neighbors

helping neighbors. Bush also used the iconic American steel industry as a metaphor for

America’s high resilience. The United States would come back stronger from this tragedy just as

they had many times before.

Every person in the United States, in one way or another, was under attack that day and

affected by the outcomes. George W. Bush built on pathos, used an informal writing style, and
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drew people back into a sense of community in his “9/11 Address to the Nation”. He wrote about

how the United States would move forward after the devastating terrorist attacks that had

occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001. Bush provided few details of the events that

occurred earlier in the day and used the majority of his speech to provide comfort and leadership

to the nation. His primary purposes were to comfort a nation, encourage the citizens, and to

provide a path to move forward. That speech had nothing to do with governmental funds, one's

opinions about pro-life or pro-choice, or new laws that needed to be made. It was merely the

words of a leader, who was hurting, trying to comfort a shocked and devastated nation, and

encouraging for Americans to stand tall and be proud to live in the United States.
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Works Cited

Eidenmuller, Michael E. George W. Bush - Address to the Nation on 9-11-01 - The Rhetoric of

9/11, www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911addresstothenation.htm. Accessed

30 January 2018.