A few weeks ago, President Obama delivered a speech to a joint session of the 112th Congress. The President requested all television networks preempt their regular programming to carry this prime time event; which they did. President Obama is a gifted orator and has been known to write many of his own speeches, at least he did prior to his election in 2008 (Newton-Small, 2008). One of his most moving and memorable speeches was delivered during the presidential campaign in 2008. That particular speech was lauded by many past presidential speech writers, pundits, and rhetorical scholars as perhaps one of the most brilliant speeches by a candidate in recent times - and Obama wrote it himself (Draper, 2009). Even if he didn't write the bulk of this one, there is little doubt that he edited it and outlined the content, context, tone and style with which it was to be written.
This particular speech, I noticed, was different in tone than many of the President's speeches; though he was speaking to Congress; his words seemed more directed toward the American people. It seemed he was attempting to persuade the body politic of three things: First, this is a time of crisis and this bill is a critical part of the solution. Second, this jobs bill contains measures that Republicans have suggested and supported in the past, and third, the citizens of the country need to help get it through Congress.
Looking closely at the first point, the time and the place of delivery emphasize the critical and urgent nature of the message. Joint sessions of Congress are typically requested by presidents (other than for the annual state of the union address, and special addresses by foreign heads of state) only when there is an urgent crisis or message the country needs to hear (U.S. Senate, 2011). By calling for a joint session to deliver this speech, President Obama was clearly sending the message that this was an urgent condition that all Americans should pay serious attention to. The setting and full media coverage insured a commanding presence for the President with a formal backdrop, adding to the credibility of his words and the serious nature of the message. The tone of the speech was stronger, more direct and devoid of the professorial edge to which we have become accustomed from this President (Stripline, 2010). Seventeen times within the speech, the emphatic plea to “pass this bill right away” in some variation was repeated, adding to the sense of urgency.
President Obama’s words appealed to a sense of unity among the American people, reminiscing about times of national crisis when citizens banded together to solve problems and overcome grave danger. No less than three times did he mention specifically democrats and republicans acting in bipartisan collaboration passing measures specifically included in the proposal he was unveiling. Strikingly, a large part of the details included investment in national infrastructure such as building bridges, repairing schools and such, yet the word “infrastructure” was never mentioned. Rather, he avoided specific words and language that might illicit emotional opposition.
This speech is an excellent example of rhetorical mastery, utilizing words, phrases, metaphors and repetition to appeal to emotions and feelings of national unity, shared objectives and the moral imperatives of justice, equality and fairness. It was delivered with passion and empathy and just the right amount of immediacy to be effective without stirring fear or reticence.
References
Draper, R. (2009). How the race speech happened. The Daily Dish, The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2009/10/how-the-race-speech-happened/195387/
Newton-Small, J. (2008). How Obama writes his speeches. TIME Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837368,00.html
Stripline, J. (2010). News: Professor in chief. Inside Higher Ed Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/02/10/obama
U.S. senate: Reference home > statistics & lists > joint sessions & meetings of congress (2011). Retrieved from http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/four_column_table/Joint_Sessions.htm
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