George W. Bush - Address to the Nation on 9/11 Speech Analysis

On September 11, 2001, the United States of America had been attacked. The terrorist group Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners. Three of them were headed to Los Angeles while the other one was going to San Francisco. The first two planes crashed into the two world trade centers in New York, City, the third plane went straight toward the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and lastly the fourth plane landed in a field near Somerset County, Pennsylvania. At the time, the president was George W. Bush, so he had to create a speech to address the nation of what devastation happened on that day. His speech was called the “9/11 Address to the Nation” and was to inform the people in the United States of what exactly happened on September 11th through the usage of pathos and logos which, in turn, helped keep the US safe from future attacks. 

September 11, 2001 started off as a normal day in the United States. People went to work, did their usual daily activities, not knowing that it would be a very memorable day for the nation. Between the times of 8:46 am and 10:28 am, four airplanes were hijacked by the Islamic terrorist group named Al-Qaeda. All 4 planes crashed into different places putting the whole country in shock.  Friend stated that, “Over 3,000 Americans were killed by the terrorists who hijacked four commercial airplanes, crashing two into the World Trade Center in New York City and one into the Pentagon” (Friend). Nobody knew what had just occurred so they needed an explanation. George W. Bush owed every American citizen a clarification, so he gave his speech titled, “9/11 Address to the Nation.” In his speech he stated, “Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts” (Bush). This series of events caused everyone in the United States of America to become terrified and disturbed by the detriment. Throughout his speech he explained what happened but he also gave sympathy to the passed ones.

George W. Bush used many rhetorical devices throughout his well known speech. While he wrote the speech, he used logos and pathos. Logos is used when an author uses logic and rationality to state something. For example when the attack on September 11, 2001 happened, many people died, and the amount of deaths and fatalities would be logical, so it would be using logos. Bergen stated, “Some 2,750 people were killed in New York, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania” (Bergen). This is using logos while relating it to the terrorist attack. George W. Bush wrote his speech not only to explain what had happened to our country, but to also give sympathy to the ones who had been affected physically or emotionally. Although the rhetorical device, logos, was used many times throughout the speech, pathos was used as well. Pathos is when the author shows emotion through their writing, to arouse feelings towards the audience. Bush made many parts of his speech emotionful and very heartfelt for the people who had something tragic happen to them, their family, or their friends. Bush stated, ”Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror” (Bush). This shows sympathy for them, while being realistic with the audience about what happened. Many rhetorical devices were used in the speech, but there was also usage of different types of figurative language. For example Bush stated, ”Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me“ (Bush). This quote from his speech is alluding to the bible. He also compares America to a bright beacon by using a metaphor. As stated in the speech, ”America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon” (Bush). Overall he did a very well job incorporating rhetorical devices and figurative language into his speech. Not only did Bush have to talk about what happened during the attack, he also had to make a plan and tell the nation how they were going to recover from it.

There were many things that the US had to do to recover from the devastation. They had to fix the damage from all of the crashes, which cost over $55 billion in total. Not only did they have to fix the damages, but people also had to recover from possible lost loved ones, or trauma from the event. Many people, who were impacted by the attack, may have been injured or became severely ill, which is also a type of recovery that the US needed. Not only did the nation need to recuperate from this attack, but they also needed to figure out how they were going to prevent attacks that may happen in the future. Gregg stated, ”Following the 9/11 attacks, President Bush also presided over a restructuring of the American national security apparatus and the passage of the Patriot Act, which gave the government vast new powers in the effort to combat future acts of terror” (Gregg). The United States of America was doing everything they could at the time to help prevent this from happening again. They improved the air safety and increased the amount of air marshals on flights that traveled inside the country, to make sure there was no more hijacking that could take place. Another one of Bush’s motives for his speech was to help the American people stay positive through the hard time, and to encourage everyone to stay strong. He stated, ”These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong” (Bush). He wanted every American to come together as a whole and help each other out as time continues. As stated in the speech, ”This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace” (Bush). He wanted the best for everyone and hoped that everyone would put an effort into bringing the nation back together. 

In conclusion George W. Bush prospered with his goal of informing the nation, but also giving sympathy to the people affected, through his speech, “9/11 Address to the Nation.” With his use of logos and pathos, he allowed Americans to know what was happening in a sympathetic way. The event was unexpected and put many people into shock. Going forward, Bush strived to make the airline industry and overall the United States a safer place, trying to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. As a result of Bush’s speech, it caused everyone in the US to come together as a nation and help each other recuperate and recover from the devastations. 

Works Cited

Friend, Daniel. “President George W. Bush’s Address to the Nation After the September 11 Terrorist Attacks.” thetexan, The Texan. 11 September 2001.

Gregg, Gary L. “George W. Bush: Impact and Legacy.” millercenter, Rector and visitors of the University of Virginia, 2021. Virginia.

“Text: President Bush Addresses the Nation.” washingtonpost, The Washington Post Company, 20 September 2001.