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In:Words of Crisis as Words of Power: The jeremiad in American presidential speeches
Marta Neüff
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 77] 2018
► pp. 53–325

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Chapter 3
Crisis rhetoric and the tradition of the jeremiad in 21st century U.S. American presidential speechmaking

Analysis of President George W. Bush’s and President Barack Obama’s speeches

Published online: 24 May 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.77.c3
Article outline
  • 3.19/11 as new American jeremiad?: Analysis of President George W. Bush’s speeches following the September 11 terrorist attacks
    • 3.1.1Contextualization of the events
      • 3.1.1.1Media, 9/11, and war
        • War rhetoric vs. war propaganda
        • Selection of speeches and empirical data
    • 3.1.2Analysis of George W. Bush’s speeches following the September 11 attacks
      • 3.1.2.1G. W. Bush: Remarks at Emma E. Booker Elementary School on September 11, 2001, 9:30 a.m. and 9/11 Remarks at Barksdale Air Force Base on September 11, 2001, 1:04 p.m.
        • Bush as crisis manager in chief
        • Stigmatization of the enemy: Gender stereotypes and dehumanization
        • Terrorist attacks as crime
        • Unity and freedom
        • Crisis as test
        • Conclusions
      • 3.1.2.2G. W. Bush: Address to the Nation, Oval Office, White House, Washington D. C., September 11, 8:30 p.m.
        • 9/11 as attack on the American “we”
        • President Bush as crisis manager in chief
        • From terrorism as crime to terrorism as war
        • Bush’s rhetoric of Othering
        • Religious Othering and post 9/11 Islamophobia
        • The Bush doctrine
        • The “war on terror”
        • A rhetoric of fear and hope
        • Consumerism as patriotic duty
        • Conclusions
      • 3.1.2.3G. W. Bush: Speech at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance Ceremony, National Cathedral, September 14, 2001
        • Healing and uniting
        • From priestly to prophetic rhetoric
        • Religion and war
        • Religion, America, and Bush
        • National unity
        • The American character
        • Metaphors and war
        • Bush’s freedom
        • The Bullhorn moment
        • Conclusions
      • 3.1.2.4G. W. Bush: Address to a Joint Session of Congress following the 9/11 attacks, Washington D.C., September 20, 2001
        • Coalition building
        • The “strong” state of the union – A patriotic narrative
        • The myth of American exceptionalism and Bush’s “mission”
        • Defining the enemy: The evil Other
        • War as fait accompli and Bush’s call for renewal
        • A clash of civilizations
        • The fear of the barbaric other
        • Historical framing
        • Conclusions
      • 3.1.2.5G. W. Bush: Presidential Address to the Nation, Treaty Room, White House, Washington D.C., October 7, 2001
        • “Crusades” for “infinite justice” and “freedom” – Bush’s war as a “mission”
        • The U.S. as alleged liberator – Responsibility to Protect
        • The global dimension of the “war on terror”
        • The evil barbarians: Religion and Othering
        • Fear and hope: Necessity of war and ultimate victory
        • Conclusions
      • 3.1.2.6G. W. Bush: State of the Union Address, U.S. Congress, Washington D.C., January 29, 2002
        • Bush’s vision of America’s post 9/11 identity
        • Renewal
        • Bush’s outbound jeremiad
        • Bush’s cautiously self-reflective rhetoric – Traits of an inbound jeremiad
        • “Unprecedented danger”
        • Bush’s Manichean style
        • Moral absolutism
        • The demonic evil Other
        • “Axis of evil”
        • Liberation from tyranny
        • Conclusions
      • 3.1.2.7G. W. Bush: Presidential Address to the Nation, Oval Office, White House, Washington D.C., March 19, 2003
        • Preemption as defense
        • The global dimension of the Iraq war
        • Missionary and humanitarian rhetoric
        • Of tyrants and heroes – The demonization of Saddam Hussein
        • “Just” war narratives: Fait accompli, lesser evil, and victimhood
        • Identity constructions: In- and out-group Othering and the angel-devil melodrama
        • Hope rhetoric and American exceptionalism
        • Bush’s construction of the Iraq crisis – A modern outbound jeremiad
        • Conclusions
    • 3.1.3Conclusions on President George W. Bush’s post 9/11 crisis rhetoric
      • Characteristics of Bush’s post 9/11 crisis rhetoric
      • The evolution of Bush’s crisis rhetoric
      • George W. Bush’s post 9/11 crisis discourse – Adapting and continuing jeremiadic traditions
  • 3.2Presidential speeches in times of environmental disaster: Analysis of President George W. Bush’s and Barack Obama’s environmental crisis speeches
    • 3.2.1Contextualization of the events
      • 3.2.1.1Environmental jeremiads in the United States
        • Selection of speeches and empirical data
    • 3.2.2Analysis of President George W. Bush’s speeches on Hurricane Katrina
      • 3.2.2.1G. W. Bush: President outlines Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Rose Garden, White House, August 31, 2005
        • The media framing – Two sides of a coin
        • The environmental disasters as a presidential affair
        • Handling an “unprecedented” disaster
        • Oil, help, and hope
        • Conclusions
      • 3.2.2.2G. W. Bush: Weekly Radio Address: Katrina’s aftermath, Cabinet Room, White House, September 3, 2005
        • Disaster update from the crisis manger in chief
        • A not-so “natural” disaster
        • Katrina and racial inequality
        • Federal involvement and hope
        • Katrina in Iraq’s shadow
        • Emotions and myths in times of crisis
        • Conclusions
      • 3.2.2.3G. W. Bush: Address to the Nation on Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, Louisiana, September 15, 2005
        • Rebuilding New Orleans – A message of hope and healing in a time of crisis
        • Managing an “unprecedented” disaster: Mother nature vs. human nature
        • American myths and religious rhetoric
        • Inequalities in America
        • Conclusions
    • 3.2.3Analysis of President Barack Obama’s speeches on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
      • Background of the events
      • 3.2.3.1B. Obama: Remarks by President on the oil spill, Venice, Louisiana, May 2, 2010
        • Changing facts and informative speech
        • Obama as crisis manager
        • A “potentially unprecedented” disaster
        • Hope und unity
        • The question of blame and responsibility
        • Conclusions
      • 3.2.3.2B. Obama: Remarks by the President after briefing on BP oil spill, U.S. Coast Guard Station Grande Isle, Louisiana, May 28, 2010
        • The media
        • Updates from the crisis manager in chief
        • Framing a supposedly unique event
        • Blame and responsibility
        • Solidarity
        • Metaphors, myths, and the audience
        • Conclusions
      • 3.2.3.3B. Obama: Remarks by the President to the Nation on the BP oil spill, Oval Office, White House, Washington D.C., June 15, 2010
        • Response to a deepening crisis
        • Obama’s narrative: Capable leadership in times of “unprecedented” crisis
        • The “battle plan”
        • The blame game: BP as the guilty other
        • Constructing social identity
        • Civil religious rhetoric and community renewal
        • The deliberative function of the speech – An ecological jeremiad?
        • Conclusions
    • 3.2.4Comparisons of and conclusions on President Bush’s and President Obama’s environmental crisis rhetoric
      • Chronological evolution of Bush’s and Obama’s environmental crisis speeches
      • Characteristics of Bush’s and Obama’s environmental crisis oratory
      • Environmental crisis rhetoric – A modern apocalypse?
    • 3.3Framing the global economic downturn: Analysis of President G. W. Bush’s and B. Obama’s speeches on the financial crisis
      • 3.3.1Contextualization of the events
        • Audience and media
        • 3.3.1.1Puritans and the economy
        • Selection of speeches and empirical data
      • 3.3.2Analysis of President George W. Bush’s speeches on the financial and economic crisis
        • 3.3.2.1G. W. Bush: President Bush discusses economy, Oval Colonnade, White House, Washington, D.C., September 18, 2008 and Address on the economy, Rose Garden, White House, Washington, D.C., September 19, 2008
          • Informing and managing
          • “A pivotal moment for America’s economy”
          • Uniting words, metaphors, and motifs
          • Conclusions
        • 3.3.2.2G. W. Bush: Primetime Address to the Nation, East Room, White House, Washington D. C., September 24, 2008
          • “A serious financial crisis”
          • The bailout plan as lesser evil
          • “How did we reach this point?”: A capitalism-affirming narrative
          • Who is to blame?
          • Myths, metaphors, and deliberative discourse
          • Conclusions
      • 3.3.3Analysis of President Barack Obama’s speeches on the financial and economic crisis
        • 3.3.3.1B. Obama: First Weekly Address to the Nation, Briefing Room, White House, Washington D.C., January 24, 2009 and Push for a Stimulus: Primetime Press Conference, East Room, White House, Washington D.C., February 9, 2009
          • Defining crisis
          • The plan
          • Blaming and unifying
          • Change, optimism, and the jeremiad
          • Conclusions
        • 3.3.3.2B. Obama: Weekly Address to the Nation, Briefing Room, White House, Washington D.C., February 14, 2009 and Remarks upon signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Denver, Colorado, February 17, 2009
          • The ARRA as “the beginning of the end”
          • From blame to change
          • Unity and bipartisanism
          • Conclusions
      • 3.3.4Comparisons and conclusions on President Bush’s and President Obama’s economic crisis rhetoric
        • Comparisons of Bush’s and Obama’s economic crisis rhetoric
        • Characteristic of Bush’s and Obama’s economic crisis rhetoric
  • Notes
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