Condoleeza Rice Defends Post-9/11 Policies, by Monica Duffy

I chose to watch a speech made by Condoleezza Rice, one of our very own University of Denver graduates. This speech was delivered on April 8, 2004 in Washington D.C. in response to the attacks of 9/11. On September 11, 2001 one of the most horrific and devastating attacks in the history of our country was made on the United States. The terrorist group Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airline planes and proceeded to crash one of them into the Pentagon and two of them into the World Trade Center in New York. The fourth plane was heroically taken over by the passengers after it had been hijacked but devastatingly still crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Condoleezza Rice delivered this speech to make the people of our nation aware of the steps that our country was taking to retaliate against this national crisis.

This speech was successful based upon a couple key rhetorical devices used by Rice. She was able to incorporate the use of pathos, logos, and ethos as well as including many other rhetorical strategies such as extrinsic evidence and commonplaces.

One of the main reasons that Condoleezza Rice’s speech was so successful in regards to the American public would be the fact that she addressed commonplaces that applied to basically the entire nation. We, as the American people, were all deeply affected and moved by the tragedy of 9/11. This is something that affected each person in this country personally and emotionally thus creating it a commonplace. The citizens of the United States all have identical or at least extremely similar feelings of anger, shock, and patriotism. This is the commonplace that Rice tried to address. She states, “And as an officer of government on duty that day, I will never forget the sorrow and the anger that I felt, nor will I forget the courage and resilience of the American people, nor the leadership of the President that day. Now we have an opportunity and an obligation to move forward together.” Rice addresses the fact that the American people all feel the same way about the attacks on 9/11. By doing so, she unites her audience together, and is able to create a stronger message towards them. Rice’s argument that “the entire nation believes that what Al Qaeda did to our country was wrong and horrific” is an argument that is already in general circulation. Basically what this means is that Rice is stating the obvious. We know that the country feels this way about 9/11, but by Rice bringing this up in her speech, she is able to successfully add to her persuasion of her audience’s beliefs.

Condoleezza Rice was also able to use logos in her speech to successfully persuade her audience. She uses deductive reasoning to convince the people that the actions that President Bush has taken following 9/11 are the right steps to carry out. She states, “Bold and comprehensive changes are somewhat -- sometimes only possible in the wake of catastrophic events, events which create a new consensus that allows us to transcend old ways of thinking and acting… President Bush is leading the country during this time of crisis and change. He has unified and streamlined our efforts to secure the American homeland by creating the Department of Homeland Security… And he has done this in a way that is consistent with protecting America's cherished civil liberties and with preserving our character as a free and open society.” Rice creates this clear and concise argument by using deductive reasoning. In her first sentence, she makes a broad and general statement that could apply to any kind of situation, not necessarily this one particularly. Then, she takes the time to apply this idea to the issue that she is faced with today. By applying this general idea towards a specific situation, she is delivering her opinion in a way that makes it hard for her audience to argue or disagree with her.

Probably the most effective rhetorical device that Rice used in her speech was pathos. 9/11 was clearly an extremely emotional event for our country. By addressing the emotional side of this speech topic, Rice had an upper hand in convincing her audience of her argument. She states, “So the attacks came. A band of vicious terrorists tried to decapitate our government, destroy our financial system, and break the spirit of America. And as an officer of government on duty that day, I will never forget the sorrow and the anger that I felt, nor will I forget the courage and resilience of the American people, nor the leadership of the President that day.” This statement is filled with phrases that will make the American people feel either distressed, angry, or have some other extreme emotion. She appeal to the audience’s emotions on the subject by using language that is blunt and extreme. When people have emotional connections to a topic or to an idea, they have much more incentive to make that idea their own and imitate that opinion. Rice was very strategic in appealing to the audience’s emotion, especially in regards to such a strong topic such as this one.

Lastly, Rice seems like a credible source and a reliable person to listen to towards her audience. She uses extrinsic evidence to back up what she is saying. Instead of just using opinions and conjectures, she delivers her speech and fills it with facts and information for her listeners. For example, “The Department of Defense issued at least five urgent warnings to U.S. military forces that al-Qaida might be planning a near-term attack, and placed our military forces in certain regions on heightened alert.” Another example could be, “The FAA issued at least five Civil Aviation Security Information Circulars to all U.S. airlines and airport security personnel, including specific warnings about the possibility of hijacking.” Rice uses these facts from different departments of the government to prove that what she is saying is correct. By using extrinsic evidence, she is able to convince her audience of her argument by using actual facts instead of strictly opinion. People in general will always listen to facts over opinion. Facts are facts, so to speak. They are statements that cannot be contradicted because they are true. Whereas, contrary to facts, opinions are ideas that can be changed and argued against. So, by Rice using this extrinsic evidence to further her point, she strengthens her overall argument and ultimately wins the trust of her audience.

Condoleezza Rice creates an extremely compelling and trustworthy argument in the deliverance of her speech on the topic of 9/11. She not only uses logos and pathos to persuade her audience, but she also uses rhetorical devices such as commonplaces and extrinsic evidence to connect with her listeners and win their trust in her beliefs and opinions.

DU Graduate Addresses Tragedy and Changes To Come, by Sophie Amster

Almost every citizen of America can recall the events of September 11^th, 2001 with sadness in their eyes and fear in their hearts. On that day the United States came together to mourn friends, family, co-workers and local heroes. It is hard to convince a country that has just been attacked that their safety is in good hands. When people start doubting the safety net that the government provides for them, it takes a lot of courage to publicly address the fact that there is a weakness in the system. In the aftermath of 9/11, a University of Denver graduate address the Commission about what the government was going to do next. Condoleezza Rice, who received her Ph.D in International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981 was the Secretary of State at the time of the attacks. In a speech three years after the event that America will never forget, Rice addresses the 9/11 Commission and the entirety of the country about the governments knowledge of the attacks and what can be done to preserve our Constitutional beliefs.

Although this speech was delivered three years later, there are still people grieving from loss and a city trying to rebuild itself after such a horrifying event. Towards the beginning of the speech, Rice gives her condolences to those citizens that had lost someone who was involved in the attacks. In some way, this gives her an upper hand because she is reaching for a memory in people’s minds that is an area of weakness, and brings back a time when people had nowhere else to turn except to the higher government power. By bringing up a moment when things were not going well, Rice is reminding the audience of a time when the country was united by tragedy and thus gives them a reason to listen and respect her. It also gives her and the audience a commonplace, because it is something that impacted every citizen. Rice acknowledges the fact that the government was in fact aware that there had been terrorist threats on the United States. We were conscious of the fact that this was happening but, “Historically, democratic societies have been slow to react to gathering threats, tending to wait to confront threats until they are too dangerous to ignore, or until it is too late,” (Rice) and we were never expecting anything like this to happen. By admitting that there might have been mistakes made by the government and working on a way to prevent future mistakes, it shows that the government has taken a step back and looked at the way they are working and how they can better it. Because this event affected so many people, they would want to know if there was a way to avoid future situations.

Throughout the speech, Rice speaks of a time when we as a country will be able to move forward. She than talks about how changes are difficult to make, especially big changes that are necessary for this situation but how they are usually only made in the aftermath of a catastrophe. People can relate to this on many different levels because people often face a moment like that. For example, a student won’t realize they need help in school until after they have failed a test and although it might be too late to change anything; it gives them the opportunity to avoid it next time. Speaking of opportunity inspires people and gives them the idea that although it may seem like there is no hope, there is still light at the end of the tunnel.

As someone who is constantly concerned when flying and being in places where there are hoards of people around, knowing that the government has altered their policy more to protect their people prevents me from being so anxious. I always want to feel safe in my own home and feel a sense of stability when a woman as powerful as Rice promises to do anything she can to ensure my safety. It gives me and I can assume other citizens the idea that she is exactly like us. Rice, too, is concerned for the safety of the country that she has worked for and fought for.

It might seem interesting that she would give a speech like this one three years after the event when the hype and immediate shock of it has worn off. In this case, she isn’t exactly using the timing to her advantage. However, the fear of another attack is always on people’s minds, so in some ways it is perfect timing to re-address the situation and take partial responsibility for what has happened. She lists off that various positions in the Cabinet and exactly what they are doing to change our nation. She then also gives startling examples of clips that were picked up the summer before 9/11 that were considered terrorist threats. It can be scary to hear actual terrorists making threats towards our home, and even the government was unsure about how to address it.

I think Condoleezza Rice does a very eloquent job of taking responsibility for not being fully prepared for an event like this and pointing out what went wrong without saying anything that might turn the audience against her. She takes a large risk by doing this because people could easily resent her (and the government as a whole) for withholding information from them and not taking the initiative that is necessary to protect the country. At the conclusion of the speech, she describes the choices made after the attacks and promises that they were the right choices for America to make, decisions that will ensure our safety and the safety of generations to come.

Works Cited:

Rice, Condoleezza. "Opening Statement to the 9/11 Commission." Meeting of the 9/11 Commission. United State Government. Washington D.C.. 08 Apr 2003. Address.