On the night of September 10th 2001, citizens of the United States of America went to bed not knowing that once they woke up, their whole world would soon be turned upside down. They did not know that two planes would crash into the Twin Towers, and they did not know that their family, friends, and neighbors would be taken away from them in such a heinous, unforgivable manner. The entire nation froze with fear, and that fear grew with every passing minute. They held onto to their loved ones and waited to be addressed from our government for no one had a clue as to what was happening. Finally at 11:14pm on September 11th 2001, President George W. Bush stood up and addressed his nation with such an intense speech that both informed the people of what happened, and what was next to come. The vast majority of President Bush's speech has quite an emotional influence that uses an appeal to pathos to successfully alleviate his country of the infinite fear and sadness they were struggling with along with instituting absolute patriotic strength to overcome such a tragedy. 

Thousands of questions erupted from the American people as they waited with bated breath for information regarding the realities of the attack. The moment CNN aired the film of the President behind his desk in the Oval Office; Bush began his speech with an established yet solemn tone, as he first focused on what happened to our country earlier that morning. With a direct approach, Bush got straight to the point and confirmed that the attacks were indeed that of terrorists. He addresses the sadness and anger the world might be feeling at this moment, but suddenly, his whole attitude changes. " These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation ... they have failed. Our country is strong ... they cannot touch the foundation of America " (Bush, Line 16). Bush uses these words for his first statement to announce to the terrified and questioning public that we as a country are okay. He is reminding the audience of the pure strength the United States carries, and he shares that the reason our country was targeted was because "America [is] the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world and no one will keep that light from shining." (Bush, Line 24). Soon enough, the citizens listening to President Bush's address can breath as they realize that his statement is quite accurate. They are reminded that this country, their country, is in fact the best country in this world and we have not fallen to the terrorist because of that. As President Bush stresses the importance of the strength of the United States, he is using pathos to make his audience feel a sense of relief and furthers them to trust their leader based on this emotional aspect. 

In the second part of his speech, President Bush moves on in his efforts to pacify his people with the appeal of pathos by addressing the questions of what is going to happen next. Bush explains that the government's emergency plan has been put into action and that our military is more than qualified to deal with such heavy circumstances. Bush also makes an extremely important note that the government's first and foremost priority is to help the people who have been directly effected by these deadly attacks and that every precaution possible will be implemented to protect the rest of our nation from additional terrorist efforts. These specific remarks drive a sense of security over our frightened nation. Although something extremely evil happened earlier that day, President Bush is able to move the audience into truly believing that he and the rest of the government are doing everything they can to keep them safe. Although the majority of this speech appeals to pathos or the emotions of the audience, ethos or the sense of authority, plays a significant part as well, especially in these past statements. The man giving this address is the President of the United States of America, and the people he is speaking to were the ones who voted him into office. President Bush is considered the most powerful man in the world at this moment in time and his words truly mean something to the audience. The citizens listening to his speech are able to trust him and believe that they will be protected because of who he is and the position he holds. The audience genuinely accepts every statement he makes including the one that "[their] financial intuitions remain strong, and the American economy will be open for business"(Bush, Line 40). 

After settling his audience from the state of chaos and state of shock they were all experiencing, President Bush begins to conclude his speech by touching on the values of justice, unity, and patriotism within his audience, promoting a sincere idea of strength to overcome this tragedy. Bush first instills the value of an earnest desire for justice against the perpetrators of these terrorist attacks, and states, "The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts. I've directed the full recourses for our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and bring them to justice" (Bush, 41). This intensified account rallies up the country and promotes the intention that justice will indeed be served to those abdominal individuals who both committed these acts and who schemed them. Bush then promotes maybe the most important aspect that the country should embody. By stating, "America and our friends and allies ... [Will] stand together to win the war against terrorism ... Americans from every walk of life will unite in our resolve for justice and peace," the value of unity or the coming together as a country is established (Bush, Line 50). This statement truly embodies the appeal to the emotions by eliciting feelings of American patriotism that already resides inside audience. It is so important for the American people to experience and understand this statement and President Bush's strong delivery of this proclamation propels this idea forward. Bush makes sure his citizens realize that they are all in this together and that they will be able to stand as one and fight the war on terrorism.  

The last few messages that President Bush has for the public are extremely moving and powerful and are sure to impact anyone listening to his address. Bush asks his audience directly for "prayers for all those who grieve, for the children who's worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security have been threatened" (Bush, Line 53). This is a sure tearjerker for the audience, especially from the reference to the children who have been affected. People begin to realizes that these innocent, young lives have just had their mothers and fathers taken away from them and that they will have grow up with the knowledge that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 is the reason why their father will not see them walk down the aisle at their wedding or why their mother will not be able to hold their first born in her hands. As gripping as this realization is, Bush is able to further promote the desire of unity and justice from the sadness and unyielding anger the public feels as a whole. The reference Bush makes to children is incredibly important to note, as this tactic is extremely common in all other works that use the rhetorical technique of pathos. Finally, President Bush wraps up his speech with the purpose of patriotism as he ends with "God bless America" and by reminding his audience that the only direction we can go now is forward and we will continue to defend our democracy, our freedom, and ourselves. 

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 have left a mark on our nation and will be a day that will be remembered in history forever. The American people were in a state of utter turmoil and feeling deep accounts of fear, anguish, and animosity. Someone needed to stand up and address the public on the attacks, settle the confusion, and appease the sadness and no better person would have been able to do so than President George W Bush. President Bush was strong and steady with his delivery and was able to successfully replace the people's state of confusion and sadness with strength, patriotism, and the desire for justice. He affected the audience by emotional means and because of that, our country stands powerfully as one to this day, continuing to fight together against terrorism. 

