Rhetorical Analysis
On the morning of December 7th, 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack on the naval base of Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The Japanese attacked the US naval base with fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes. The attack lasted for about two hours and not only was the aftermath devastating to Pearl Harbor, but also to the entire United States armed forces. Eight Navy battleships were damaged, multiple other ships, and 188 aircrafts were destroyed. Total US casualties reached above 3,500 servicemen. The following day, December 8th, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt came out and gave a speech at the White House addressing the attack. Roosevelt’s speech was given as a way to address the nation and the world. He gave the speech as a call to action not only directed towards congress, but also that the American people to come together to help in the war effort. In his speech, Roosevelt effectively used compelling language to appeal to the emotions of the American people, his credibility of being president, and logical sense to persuade congress to declare war on Imperial Japan
The first way in which FDR was able to persuade Congress to declare war was that he appealed to not only Congress’s emotions, but also the emotions of the American people. Roosevelt appealed to the fear of America and invoked a feeling of safety. In the speech, Roosevelt stated, “The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost.” By stating that lives had been lost, FDR was able to appeal to the fear of America which made it easy for him to persuade congress to declare war on Japan. Another part in his address where he heightened levels of fear of the American people was when he stated, “There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.” In stating this and using such diction as “grave danger,” it instills fear into the listeners of his speech and creates a sense of vulnerability within them. Although Roosevelts speech didn’t only instill fear in his listeners, he also uplifted the American people by stating that they will “win through absolute victory.” With words like that, President Roosevelt boosted morals of US citizens which
The second way in which FDR’s speech was effective in persuading congress to declare war, was his credibility in being the President of the United States. With Roosevelt having such a high rank, his words have much more meaning to the United States rather than if it were just to be a random guy. Knowing that the President must fulfill requirements and obtain a certain amount of schooling, people are more willing to put their trust in him. Also, FDR was the one to enact the New Deal, a government program that was supposed to relieve, reform, and recover the nation’s economy. With Roosevelt enacting the New Deal, which was a smart decision, people trust him to make the decision of declaring war. FDR’s decision to declare war on Japan was an intelligent decision because we weren’t only fighting back but the war effort caused the United States economy to boom. Although it is Congress’s decision to declare war on foreign lands, FDR played a major role in persuading all senators to declare a state of war. Another reason why he was able to persuade congress was because of the logical sense that we should fight back.
Roosevelts third reason for having an effective speech was he appealed to the logic of his audience. Throughout history, whenever one does something to take away freedom or to put somebody in harm, the US has come to help, this can be seen in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the fight against communism, and the war on terror. The US always has everybody’s back, and will always fight for what is right. When Japan launched the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the US took that as the first punch, and as most people know, the US will always fight back. Japan not only attacked the US, but also multiple other countries in the Pacific. Because of this, Roosevelt felt that we shouldn’t only fight back for ourselves, but for the other countries as well. In the speech Roosevelt states, “With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph.” What Roosevelt means by this is that although Japan sucker punched us, we will fight back and we will win. It only makes sense that if somebody attacks, we should fight back. FDR brings up this point that we aren’t just going to sit back and allow it to happen, and since it’s the smart thing to do, he convinces Congress, using compelling and logical reason, to declare war on the Empire of Japan.
President Roosevelts use of rhetoric in his Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation was effective in that he successfully convinced Congress to declare war on Imperial Japan. He used emotion well because he made the American people feel sad, angry and fearful. He effectively used ethos because he was President at the time, had made smart decisions in the past, and spoke with authority. He successfully used logos to appeal to the logical senses of America by bringing up the wrong doing that Japan had done prior to the attacks.
On April 14th, 1942, the United States launched their first attack of many on Japan. Through his credibility as president, logical reasoning, and by appealing to listener’s emotions such as fear, his speech was successful in persuading congress in his Pearl Harbor Address.