Strategies
to Succeed in Public Speaking
George
W. Bush's Address
to Congress on Terrorist Attack
by Lanie Smith
U.S. President George W.
Bush addressed Congress and the Nation on Thursday, September 21, 2001
concerning the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York
City and on the Pentagon building in Washington D.C. that occurred on
September 11, 2001. It was an outstanding speech, delivered with emotion
and conviction. Journalists and historians have rated it as one of the
great speeches made.
The speech was written with
the help of President Bush's chief speechwriter Michael Gerson and his
team of writers. Compared with Bush's earlier speeches, it is apparent
that the writers finally found the President's exact sound, including
the words and phrases he normally uses and the rhythm of his conversation.
Questions you may have include:
- How can I use this address
to improve my writing skills?
- How can I use this address
to improve my speaking skills?
- What is the historical
significance of this address?
This lesson will try to answer
those questions.
Learning
from speech
Read this address to Congress
to gain insight on improving your speech writing, public speaking, and
historical knowledge. Perform the exercises below, in your area of interest.
Speech writing
Things to note when studying
the speech are:
- The length of the sentences
and the number of commas. Short phrases make for effective delivery.
- The logical flow of the
speech.
- The use of imagery and
emotional appeal
Outline the the speech to
show where new ideas are presented and grouped. Point out where effective
imagery, examples, and/or emotional appeal is used.
Public speaking
Read the speech aloud--perhaps
to a small audience or to yourself in a mirror. Pause at the commas
and periods to allow for better understanding by the audience. Vary
your pitch, rate and emotional level as you see fit.
Historical
significance
The historical significance
of this speech is well-know, but it is still worth while to outline
the speech to select the major point made by the President.
Time will tell if President
Bush will achieve these goals. Your analysis can help you follow the
historical significance of his speech.
Text of
address
President George W. Bush:
Introduction
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President
pro tempore, members of Congress, and fellow Americans:
In the normal course of events,
Presidents come to this chamber to report on the state of the Union.
Tonight, no such report is needed. It has already been delivered by
the American people.
We have seen it in the courage
of passengers, who rushed terrorists to save others on the ground -
passengers like an exceptional man named Todd Beamer. Please help me
to welcome his wife, Lisa Beamer, here tonight.
We have seen the state of
our Union in the endurance of rescuers, working past exhaustion. We
have seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving
of blood, the saying of prayers - in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. We
have seen the decency of a loving and giving people, who have made the
grief of strangers their own.
My fellow citizens, for the
last nine days, the entire world has seen for itself the state of our
Union and it is strong.
Tonight we are a country
awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned
to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice,
or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.
I thank the Congress for
its leadership at such an important time. All of America was touched
on the evening of the tragedy to see Republicans and Democrats, joined
together on the steps of this Capitol, singing "God Bless America."
And you did more than sing, you acted, by delivering $40 billion to
rebuild our communities and meet the needs of our military.
Speaker Hastert and Minority
Leader Gephardt, Majority Leader Daschle and Senator Lott, I thank you
for your friendship and your leadership and your service to our country.
And on behalf of the American
people, I thank the world for its outpouring of support. America will
never forget the sounds of our National Anthem playing at Buckingham
Palace, and on the streets of Paris, and at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
We will not forget South Korean children gathering to pray outside our
embassy in Seoul, or the prayers of sympathy offered at a mosque in
Cairo. We will not forget moments of silence and days of mourning in
Australia and Africa and Latin America.
Nor will we forget the citizens
of eighty other nations who died with our own. Dozens of Pakistanis.
More than 130 Israelis. More than 250 citizens of India. Men and women
from El Salvador, Iran, Mexico, and Japan. And hundreds of British citizens.
America has no truer friend than Great Britain. Once again, we are joined
together in a great cause. The British prime minister has crossed an
ocean to show his unity of purpose with America, and tonight. We welcome
Tony Blair.
Body of
speech
On September the eleventh,
enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans
have known wars but for the past 136 years, they have been wars on foreign
soil, except for one Sunday in 1941. Americans have known the casualties
of war but not at the center of a great city on a peaceful morning.
Americans have known surprise attacks but never before on thousands
of civilians. All of this was brought upon us in a single day and night
fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack.
Americans have many questions
tonight. Americans are asking: Who attacked our country?
The evidence we have gathered
all points to a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations
known as al-Qaida. They are the same murderers indicted for bombing
American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and responsible for the bombing
of the USS Cole.
Al-Qaida is to terror what
the Mafia is to crime. But its goal is not making money; its goal is
remaking the world and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere.
The terrorists practice a
fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars
and the vast majority of Muslim clerics - a fringe movement that perverts
the peaceful teachings of Islam. The terrorists' directive commands
them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans, and make no
distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children.
This group and its leader
- a person named Usama bin Ladin - are linked to many other organizations
in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
There are thousands of these
terrorists in more than sixty countries. They are recruited from their
own nations and neighborhoods, and brought to camps in places like Afghanistan
where they are trained in the tactics of terror. They are sent back
to their homes or sent to hide in countries around the world to plot
evil and destruction.
The leadership of al-Qaida
has great influence in Afghanistan, and supports the Taliban regime
in controlling most of that country. In Afghanistan, we see al-Qaida's
vision for the world.
Afghanistan's people have
been brutalized - many are starving and many have fled. Women are not
allowed to attend school. You can be jailed for owning a television.
Religion can be practiced only as their leaders dictate. A man can be
jailed in Afghanistan if his beard is not long enough.
The United States respects
the people of Afghanistan - after all, we are currently its largest
source of humanitarian aid - but we condemn the Taliban regime. It is
not only repressing its own people, it is threatening people everywhere
by sponsoring and sheltering and supplying terrorists. By aiding and
abetting murder, the Taliban regime is committing murder. And tonight,
the United States of America makes the following demands on the Taliban:
- Deliver to United States
authorities all the leaders of al-Qaida who hide in your land.
- Release all foreign nationals
- including American citizens - you have unjustly imprisoned, and
protect foreign journalists, diplomats, and aid workers in your country.
- Close immediately and
permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and hand
over every terrorist, and every person in their support structure,
to appropriate authorities.
- Give the United States
full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they
are no longer operating.
These demands are not open
to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act and act immediately.
They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.
I also want to speak tonight
directly to Muslims throughout the world: We respect your faith. It
is practiced freely by many millions of Americans, and by millions more
in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good
and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme
the name of Allah. The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying,
in effect, to hijack Islam itself. The enemy of America is not our many
Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical
network of terrorists, and every government that supports them.
Our war on terror begins
with al-Qaida, but it does not end there. It will not end until every
terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated.
Americans are asking: Why
do they hate us?
They hate what we see right
here in this chamber - a democratically elected government. Their leaders
are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms - our freedom of religion,
our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree
with each other.
They want to overthrow existing
governments in many Muslim countries, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and
Jordan. They want to drive Israel out of the Middle East. They want
to drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and Africa.
These terrorists kill not
merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end a way of life. With every
atrocity, they hope that America grows fearful, retreating from the
world and forsaking our friends. They stand against us, because we stand
in their way.
We are not deceived by their
pretenses to piety. We have seen their kind before. They are the heirs
of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing
human life to serve their radical visions - by abandoning every value
except the will to power - they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism,
and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to
where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.
Americans are asking: How
will we fight and win this war?
We will direct every resource
at our command - every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence,
every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and
every necessary weapon of war - to the disruption and defeat of the
global terror network.
This war will not be like
the war against Iraq a decade ago, with its decisive liberation of territory
and its swift conclusion. It will not look like the air war above Kosovo
two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a single American
was lost in combat.
Our response involves far
more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should
not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have
seen. It may include dramatic strikes, visible on television, and covert
operations, secret even in success. We will starve terrorists of funding,
turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until
there is no refuge or rest. And we will pursue nations that provide
aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has
a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support
terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.
Our Nation has been put on
notice: We are not immune from attack. We will take defensive measures
against terrorism to protect Americans.
Today, dozens of federal
departments and agencies, as well as state and local governments, have
responsibilities affecting homeland security. These efforts must be
coordinated at the highest level. So tonight I announce the creation
of a Cabinet-level position reporting directly to me - the Office of
Homeland Security.
These measures are essential.
But the only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life
is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it where it grows.
Many will be involved in
this effort, from FBI agents to intelligence operatives to the reservists
we have called to active duty. All deserve our thanks, and all have
our prayers. And tonight, a few miles from the damaged Pentagon, I have
a message for our military: Be ready. I have called the armed forces
to alert, and there is a reason. The hour is coming when America will
act, and you will make us proud.
This is not, however, just
America's fight. And what is at stake is not just America's freedom.
This is the world's fight. This is civilization's fight. This is the
fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom.
We ask every nation to join
us. We will ask, and we will need, the help of police forces, intelligence
services, and banking systems around the world. The United States is
grateful that many nations and many international organizations have
already responded - with sympathy and with support. Nations from Latin
America, to Asia, to Africa, to Europe, to the Islamic world. Perhaps
the NATO Charter reflects best the attitude of the world: an attack
on one is an attack on all.
The civilized world is rallying
to America's side. They understand that if this terror goes unpunished,
their own cities, their own citizens may be next. Terror, unanswered,
can not only bring down buildings, it can threaten the stability of
legitimate governments. And we will not allow it.
Americans are asking: What
is expected of us?
I ask you to live your lives
and hug your children. I know many citizens have fears tonight, and
I ask you to be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing
threat.
I ask you to uphold the values
of America, and remember why so many have come here. We are in a fight
for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them.
No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because
of their ethnic background or religious faith.
I ask you to continue to
support the victims of this tragedy with your contributions. Those who
want to give can go to a central source of information, libertyunites.org,
to find the names of groups providing direct help in New York, Pennsylvania,
and Virginia.
The thousands of FBI agents
who are now at work in this investigation may need your cooperation,
and I ask you to give it.
I ask for your patience,
with the delays and inconveniences that may accompany tighter security
- and for your patience in what will be a long struggle.
I ask your continued participation
and confidence in the American economy. Terrorists attacked a symbol
of American prosperity. They did not touch its source. America is successful
because of the hard work, and creativity, and enterprise of our people.
These were the true strengths of our economy before September eleventh,
and they are our strengths today.
Closing
remarks
Finally, please continue
praying for the victims of terror and their families, for those in uniform,
and for our great country. Prayer has comforted us in sorrow, and will
help strengthen us for the journey ahead.
Tonight I thank my fellow
Americans for what you have already done and for what you will do. And
ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, I thank you, their representatives,
for what you have already done, and for what we will do together.
Tonight, we face new and
sudden national challenges. We will come together to improve air safety,
to dramatically expand the number of air marshals on domestic flights,
and take new measures to prevent hijacking. We will come together to
promote stability and keep our airlines flying with direct assistance
during this emergency.
We will come together to
give law enforcement the additional tools it needs to track down terror
here at home. We will come together to strengthen our intelligence capabilities
to know the plans of terrorists before they act, and find them before
they strike.
We will come together to
take active steps that strengthen America's economy, and put our people
back to work.
Tonight we welcome here two
leaders who embody the extraordinary spirit of all New Yorkers: Gov.
George Pataki, and Mayor Rudy Giuliani. As a symbol of America's resolve,
my administration will work with the Congress, and these two leaders,
to show the world that we will rebuild New York City.
After all that has just passed
- all the lives taken, and all the possibilities and hopes that died
with them - it is natural to wonder if America's future is one of fear.
Some speak of an age of terror. I know there are struggles ahead, and
dangers to face. But this country will define our times, not be defined
by them. As long as the United States of America is determined and strong,
this will not be an age of terror; this will be an age of liberty, here
and across the world.
Great harm has been done
to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger we have
found our mission and our moment. Freedom and fear are at war. The advance
of human freedom - the great achievement of our time, and the great
hope of every time - now depends on us. Our nation - this generation
- will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future.
We will rally the world to this cause, by our efforts and by our courage.
We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.
It is my hope that in the
months and years ahead, life will return almost to normal. We'll go
back to our lives and routines, and that is good. Even grief recedes
with time and grace. But our resolve must not pass. Each of us will
remember what happened that day, and to whom it happened. We will remember
the moment the news came - where we were and what we were doing. Some
will remember an image of fire, or a story of rescue. Some will carry
memories of a face and a voice gone forever.
And I will carry this. It
is the police shield of a man named George Howard, who died at the World
Trade Center trying to save others. It was given to me by his mom, Arlene,
as a proud memorial to her son. This is my reminder of lives that ended,
and a task that does not end.
I will not forget this wound
to our country, or those who inflicted it. I will not yield - I will
not rest - I will not relent in waging this struggle for the freedom
and security of the American people.
The course of this conflict
is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice
and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral
between them.
Fellow citizens, we will
meet violence with patient justice - assured of the rightness of our
cause, and confident of the victories to come. In all that lies before
us, may God grant us wisdom, and may He watch over the United States
of America.
Thank you.
In conclusion
Use this address by President
George W. Bush to improve your skills in speech writing, public speaking,
and/or history.
It is better
to seek justice than revenge
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