Oftentimes in history nations have found themselves in times of distress.  During these times, the people of that nation look for someone that they can instill their trust and faith into, someone who gives them hope.  A leader with the ability to offer solutions to these catastrophic events, someone who can save the nation and its people.  The way that this person addresses the people is a theme evident in the majority of literature written by influential people, and this theme is perhaps the most important part.  There are several ways to address an audience, and a great example of the many ways to do this can be seen in George W. Bush's Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks and Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal.  Both authors take completely different approaches when proposing solutions to serious events, and their different approaches serve to have alternate effects.  There are various factors that determine how effective each man's message was during their respective times in history, but ultimately, the way in which George W. Bush presented his speech allowed it to be more effective than that of Johnathan Swift's speech.

Immediately, the titles of the two pieces of literature can attest to their differences.  Both are dealing with serious events that are having tragic effects on their respective countries; Swift speaking on the Irish potato famine, and Bush speaking on the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States of America.  However, both men approach their addresses to equally grave events in significantly contrasting manners.  Swift's piece is titled, "A Modest Proposal."  The Great Famine in Ireland killed an estimated one million people.  Nothing about this time of mass starvation and deathly famine was modest.  Swift decides to take a satirical point of view on this issue, rather than address it in a straightforward and serious way.  George W. Bush, on the other hand, is not satirical or sarcastic at all; he is being completely serious, and attempts to spark certain emotions into his listeners.  The title of his piece exemplifies this, as he includes the words "terrorist attacks".  These words will automatically invoke strong emotions into his audience, rather than the perceived humor that results from Swift's piece.

In addition to the titles, the rhetoric that both Swift and Bush use throughout their literature serves different purposes.  Swift uses words and phrases like "humbly" and "happiness", among others, and almost makes a mockery of the situation in Ireland.  He downplays the seriousness, and uses a lighthearted tone, despite the severity of the famine.  Although the proposal of using children as a food source could technically be done, and some of the points that Swift makes hold logic, the "modest proposal" seems so absurd and outlandish that Swift's satirical motive is obvious to his readers.  In short, he proposes no real, feasible step in solving the crisis that his country is in the midst of.  George W. Bush's approach is purposely full of rhetoric that will anger the reader, and persuade them to support Bush and his ideas.  By mentioning "fellow citizens", Bush gives the American people a sense of togetherness.  He uses specifics like "businessmen", "moms and dads", and "friends and neighbors" to appeal to each and every person, and bring his words to a personal level (Bush 467).  Bush also utilizes pathos to create an emotional response in his audience.  The appeal to emotions can be seen in words such as "disbelief", "terrible sadness", and "unyielding anger", as well as the visuals of "fires burning", "mass murder", and "brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world" (Bush 468).  George W. Bush gains the attention of his audience, and then is able to offer his solution.  The audience is compelled by his words, the emotional response is undeniably effective: he even makes an appeal to religion, to strengthen this bond, by quoting a bible verse, "Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me". The word choice by both authors clearly shows different intent, and different intended responses.  While both are presenting a solution to a problem, one is visibly more effective.  By using emotion and seriousness, Bush convinces the American people, and gains overwhelming support.  Swift's satirical, mocking, and even humorous writing does nothing of the sort.

The audiences the two men appeal to, also determine how effective their words are.  Jonathan Swift details the numerous social classes and their discrepancies throughout A Modest Proposal.  Taking into account these classes, it can be inferred that there are various different education levels.  It seems unlikely that Swift's writing can appeal to the whole population of Ireland.  It is geared towards a specific audience, and thus can only be so effective.  Bush, however, purposely attempts to reach as many people as possible.  He taps into religion to reach fellow Christians. He also refers to specific occupations in order to reach those people.  Bush is trying to bring together all the citizens of the United States, and persuade them all to join his cause.  He does not use language that is hard to understand, but speaks in layman's terms, with powerful visuals that will have a profound effect on everyone who is listening.

The platforms in which the two presented themselves also impacts effectiveness.  George Bush gave his speech on a national platform so that all his constituents had the ability to hear him.  Swift's writing was not as easily accessible, and as a result is less effective.  Surely the time periods affect this as well.  It was obviously more difficult in Ireland during the 1700's for Jonathan Swift to get his message across to the masses, whereas with the help of technology in the twenty-first century, Bush was easily able to spread his message throughout the United States, as well as the world.  All of these factors had a significant impact on the arguments from Bush and Swift in getting the desired results and being effective.

Another reason that Bush's speech was more effective than Swift's proposal has to do largely with the position that Bush held compared to that of Swift.  Holding the most powerful position in the world as the President of the United States of America, Bush had an enormous amount of influence compared to Swift who was just an author and political pamphleteer who supported the causes of the Irish people and was looked at unfavorably by the government.  How America would respond to the horrifying and unthinkable attacks that were dealt on our great nation that day was ultimately in the hands of President Bush.  The combination of Bush's power and his moving speech is the main reason America started the war on terror which leads to the last and most crucial point which is the actual results or changes due to the two speeches.

Jonathan Swift's proposal was a piece that was full of sarcasm and irony and added no real assistance in solving the problems of poverty-stricken Ireland in the late seventeenth century, while George W. Bush's speech completely changed America and its people of the twenty-first century forever.  Bush's speech outraged the American people, which ultimately gave the Bush administration the ammunition to declare war on Al-Qaeda, the terrorist group responsible for the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks.  The war in the Middle East started less than a month after 9/11 and is still going on today.  It is officially the longest-running war in U.S. history lasting to date, 14 years, 1 month, 3 weeks and 2 days and is also being fought in several different countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, to name a few.  War was not the only effect that resulted from Bush's speech, in fact the most notable changes caused by Bush's speech are the changes associated with airport security.  Two months after Bush's speech, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act which federalized airport security.  This act initiated stricter procedures in checking passengers and their luggage which include full body pat downs, removing shoes, the banning of liquids and even advanced technology designed to search luggage for weapons or explosive devices.  Even the airplanes themselves have undergone changes to prevent attacks such as those that occurred on September 11th 2001.  The cockpit of airplanes now have more secure doors that will help limit the interference with the pilot.  The Aviation and Transportation Security Act also officially gives pilots the option to become federal flight deck officers, which allows them to legally carry a gun on board. The changes that resulted from Bush's speech does not end here. Immigration procedures have also changed dramatically since then.  After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and Bush's speech, Bush and his administration managed to form the Department of Homeland Security. This department was designed to help deport illegal immigrants and also help prevent immigrants with terrorist ties or intentions from entering the United States.  The agency has supervised a substantial increase in deportations, which have almost doubled since 9/11.

One more result that Bush's speech had on America is the rapid increase in Anti-Islamic violence in America.  Al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization responsible for the attacks on September 11th, is an Islamic based group.  Another terrorist organization that America is currently battling is the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or ISIS, which is an Islamic based group as well.  These groups have contributed to the distrust in many Americans towards Muslim people.  According to the FBI, 28 anti-Islamic hate crimes were committed in 2000 and that number skyrocketed to a stunning 481 in 2001 which is just one year.

While it seems difficult to give equal credence to the two situations that Bush and Swift are speaking about, they were equally catastrophic during the time they occurred.  In conclusion, speeches or proposals when presented in such a way can be very powerful and can be the beginning of a chain of events, which can have a major effect on a nation. In the case of Bush's speech and Swift's proposal, both were approached very differently and had very different effects.  However, Bush's speech was far more effective than Swift's proposal, not only because of the amount of people it was able to reach in the year 2001, but because Bush's speech sent America on a course that completely changed the country from what it once was before the infamous attacks of 9/11, into the country we know today.

