Persuasion Features of Presidential Scandal Speeches

Presidential Speech

The Presidents accused of scandals in the history of American politics have been known to make memorable apology speeches. Even though, the speech that the Presidents made were done by different people and in different times, marked similarities and patterns have been noted. The Lewinsky scandal was basically a political sex scandal that occurred in 1999. This scandal came out because the President was accused of having a sexual relationship with an intern in the White House, Monica Lewinsky. The Watergate scandal occurred in 1970 because five men were caught at the Democratic National Committee and further investigations led to President Nixon being found guilty of committing fraud. Another fraud that highlighted a President as the causative agent was the Iran Arms and Contra Aid Controversy. This scandal occurred when President Reagan was in the administration and the officials in charge were accused of selling arms to Iran secretly. All the aforementioned scandals presented a scenario for the presidents. Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon and Ronal Reagan all had to give speeches at one time or another to own up for their actions.

All the three presidents that gave speeches made use of a stern and strong voice w when delivering them. The presidents who were accused and found guilt could not have gotten up on stage and stated that the law and all the citizens of America were accusing them without a reason. Most of the speeches delivered had a common feature of accepting what they did wrong and having regret from the situation. The presidents gave a brief overview of what happened and how the country and the government were to deal with the situation.

Analysis of Ronald Reagan's speech regarding the Iran-Contra Scandal

The President gave the speech regarding this issue on March 4th 1987 from the White House. Even though he wasn't directly linked to it as severely as Clinton or Nixon was, the president knows that it had the tendency to ruin his term as a president. He could have gone through impeachment or be forced to resigned. Knowing that he was in a soft corner, the President started the speech by getting in a good light in front of the citizens. Attitude and sternness is never really a choice that presidents should opt for when concerning an apology speech. The speech started off by confirming the power that the people have. The president claimed that he had no idea about what was happening behind his back. In this scandal, it was quite apparent that Vice President George Bush, Col Oliver North, Admiral John Poindexter, White House and other officials took over for what the President have done. Those who have analyzed the speech went onto clearly state that the President was lying about the whole scandal. Regan was known to be a prominent figure for transferring the money and thus carrying out illegal acts. The entire speech carried out by Reagan was very convincing such that it would portray him in very good light about all that he has done.

Apart from adding a tone of trust, the President gave a view of the issues through his perceptions so he would manipulate what the audience was thinking. During the time the President was giving the speech, he known to have the American hostages freed from Iran. Before his administration, President Jimmy Carter was not successful in freeing the Americans. People might not call it a coincidence but it was odd that the hostages were being released at the same time Reagan attained his post as the President. In fact, the negotiations between the President and the Iranian regime were going on since six years. Of course, the President did go on to reveal that he found out what his officers were doing later on and how ashamed he was. He made use of rhetorical questions in his speech that made him look even more innocent. He was attempting to get at the same thought level as the people who were listening to the speech. After asking these questions, the President also gave the answers in such a way that the people listening to him got satisfied. Blaming your own self and showing regret has been a common use in speeches made by the presidents. He went on to say the things he did wrong and how he should have made his moves more carefully. He made use of topicalization when he was talking about how angry or how disappointed he could have been.

Another thing to notice about the speech delivered was that most of the paragraphs ended with something about him. Even though he had the people listening to him, he brought their attention back to what he would do. Constantly, Reagan was reminding people indirectly how he was a fair and just President.

Even though the President may be lying or be telling the truth, he was very blunt and straightforward in stating what went wrong. He made use of direct speech and first person as well probably to feel more personal with the people he was addressing. He promised the families whose loves ones were captured. Because most of the problem in this scandal was because of the people who were corrupt and the officials who 'went behind his back', the President went on to give a detailed summary of the people who are working under him. He gave summaries of them and about their job descriptions. The president kept on reminding the people that the new persons hired will be trustworthy. This was necessary to keep bringing up because he himself knew that these people were outright guilty. The President kept on saying words like "first, now, secondly" to keep the interest of the people. He kept on reminding them about what he was talking about and how is determined to fix what the situation is.

The president also used a lot of pauses and explanatory statements so the people who get his message across. He admitted for his mistakes and promised a better future. He told the people about the plans he had and how is wishing to implement them to make the lives of the people much better.

Analysis of Richard Nixon's Speech regarding the Watergate Scandal.

The Speech that Richard Nixon gave was yet another one that was full of lies. Nixon had been lying about the scandal for two years and he opted for resignation so that he wouldn't have to serve prison time. His speech didn't start like Reagan's but he was more of an accuser rather than a person who was regretting what he did. Nixon blatantly accused his political rivals and the media for going on and on about the Watergate scandal. This approach was rather different and went on to make a much negative impact on public. The accusations soon did turn in to regrets where he did accept his own mistakes. However, he talked about false charges against him which obviously showed that he was lying about the entire matter. The tone of Nixon's speech was more of a person who is extremely sorry for his mistakes. This in contrast to Reagan's speech did sound very fake and thus not very convincing to the audience.

Since Watergate is one of the biggest scandals to have taken place in the history of the country, the audience expected him to make a speech that would be apologetic to the nation. However, this was not the case. He did not really talk about the scandal and only touched it lightly. For most part of the speech, he only talked about the level of sincerity that he had for the country and how much he was concerned about protecting the interests of the country. He was also smart enough to use challenging vocabulary so that most people who would not even understand what he was trying to say. Needless to say, he did make a lot of contradictory statements in his speech as he said that there was no personal agony involved in his resignation, whereas the main reason behind his resignation was the lack of political support and therefore he had to resign even before he could complete his term. The discussion of how his speech lacked any apologies has been a topic of debate since the delivery of the speech back in the days. He did not make an apology to the audience for the Watergate scandal and that is what indicates the lack of sincerity for the country that Nixon carried. Even his body language was very still and monotonous.

Since the speech was directed for the whole nation, it was not a good idea to use difficult words and challenging vocabulary. He used words like abhorrent, precedent, vindicated and turbulent, which were not understood by the people who are not that well educated and that counts for a significant amount of Americans who are not highly educated and therefore they were unable to understand what he was trying to say or imply by using such big and difficult words.

Barely talking about the Watergate scandal, Nixon announced the time at which he would resign for the presidency. Many analysts believe that he was referring to the Watergate scandal when he said that some of the judgments made by him were very wrong. By saying that he made some decisions that he thought were in the interest of the country, he basically tried to imply that he does not regret whatsoever happened during the whole Watergate episode. Although, he was not regretful or apologetic in any way, he constantly made remarks to reassure the people that whatever he was doing, he was doing it for them. These statements only showed that he was trying to save his face.

Nixon is labeled as a fail president of America, as he was unable to keep his promises to the Americans and he could not uphold the oath of his office and therefore he was an embarrassment for the Americans when he let them down. After his speech, many analysts made very staunch remarks about him. It would not be wrong to say that his speech was nothing more than a disgrace to the country and that no other president was unscrupulous. Even when he was called in for interview later on, after his resignation, he did not make any apologies to the nation. To err is human, even presidents can make mistakes, but he should have apologized to the country and its people for making wrong decisions and should have offered explanations for the Watergate scandal is his resignation speech.

Analysis of Bill Clinton's speech regarding the Monica Lewinsky scandal

During the presidency tenure of Bill Clinton, there was a scandal about him and Monica Lewinsky having a relationship. Since he was the president, the eyes of the whole nation were set on him and people wanted to know what was going on between the two of them. This scandal was extensively discussed for as long as seven months, after which Bill Clinton decided to, make a speech in front of the whole nation to make his stance in front of them clear. It should be noted that the speech that was made by Clinton was very precise and to the point and there was no distraction from the real topic that was being discussed.

In front of the whole nation, Bill Clinton admitted that he had a relationship with Monica that was not right. This shows that he had a conscience, and he did think that he was at fault for which he wanted to apologize to the country. At more than one places, he explained to the audience that even though the matter was very personal, but he is still there to answer the questions that are being raised in the minds of the people regarding him and Monica.

By saying that he did not have his confidence in the independent counsel that was looking into the matter, he was only directly targeting his enemies. He made use of words that can be considered harsh. For example, he used the phrase 'prying into our private lives', for the independent counsel. He did sound ashamed of what he did in the past, but kept on covering up for his actions by emphasizing on the fact that it was his private life and whatever he did, he did it to save himself and his family from embarrassment. The tone of the president during the speech that he made regarding his sexual relationship with Monica, who was an employee at the White House, was full of anger and he said very firmly that the investigations need to be stopped as the whole matter is being politicized. Yet again, Clinton wanted to get away with the matter by making the audience believe that whatever he did was for the interest of the nation and that the country should focus on the 'real' issues of the country and not his private life. Since this was only a five-minute speech, not much analysis could be made out of it. However, it is very evident from what he said in these five minutes that he did not believe in the investigations that were being carried out and used the name of his family as well as God to save himself from the embarrassment.

To make a proper analysis of the five-minute speech that was made by Bill Clinton at 10 in the night, it is important for one to know the historical background of the speech as well as the group of people that he was targeting. We need to make a critical analysis and then evaluate whether or not, this speech was convincing enough for the audience to make them believe that he is 'actually' taking responsibility of his actions and that he is 'actually' sorry to the nation for what he did. Many analysts believe that he had to make this speech and apologize to the nation so that he does not get impeached because of his sexual relationship with an intern at the White House.

It would not be wrong to say that Clinton was successful in making an apology to the country. The opinion of the nation was divided, however. There were some people who thought that he should be impeached on the basis of his misconduct with the intern as well as his denial over a period of seven years. Meanwhile, there was another group of people who believed that he should be allowed to take the responsibility of his actions and that he should not be impeached and be allowed to complete his term at the office.