Richard Nixon’s Resignation Address In 1974 after the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the first and only president to resign the office. His speech to the American public was meant to inform everyone about his resignation and to clear his name, but ultimately his speech was ineffective because of the lack of ethos, a remorseful tone, and an apology. Richard Nixon opens the speech by stating he “always tried to do what was best for the nation” throughout his presidency. This seems like an attempt to build his ethos, but fails because instead of apologizing and moving on he defends his actions. Nixon continues to play the victim and blames congress for his lack of support. The tone in the beginning of the speech sounds somewhat guilty, but by not taking responsibility for his part in the Watergate scandal Nixon loses whatever ethos he still had. …show more content…
Nixon uses words like “abhorrent,” “vindication,” and “turbulent” that may be hard for all Americans to understand. Since Nixon’s audience is all of the American public, the language used should be easily understandable. The use of varied syntax is effective in keeping the audience’s attention even if they cannot understand everything Nixon says. Richard Nixon talks in long, complex sentences for a long paragraph and then adds a short concise sentence. In this manner, Nixon simply states that he has “never been a quitter” between explanations of why he must resign. The concise sentences seem more effective in informing the audience of the important facts, like his resignation, while the complex statements are only present to defend
is all that people seem to remember about President Nixon's 6 years in office. This makes some
The underpinnings in Richard Nixon’s argument lack an appropriate logical foundation for defending his stance, as throughout the speech he deviates the attention of the audience from the main idea which was whether he did or did not appropriate himself from the funds intended toward his political campaign for personal use. However, he manages to persuade the audience through an unconventional approach to this rather common political tactic. Indeed, his speech was effective to save his candidacy; the notion that Nixon was giving full account of his arguably honest intentions by “openly” speaking about the issue and “providing evidence” made it seem like he was confronting accusations, while in reality
Nixon further uses logical fallacies in his speech, including the use of begging the question and appears in the manner of circular logic. This is shown in statement "Now, was that wrong? And let me say that it was wrong. I'm saying, incidentally, that it was wrong and not just illegal. Because it isn't a question of whether it was legal or illegal, that isn't enough. The question is, was it morally wrong?" This is an attempt to bring into question
Due to the rapidly changing America, in his farewell address, Ronald Reagan expresses the need for unification of America, and America’s culture. In Reagan’s address, he uses many rhetorical devices to advance his purpose of unifying America, for instance, Reagan utilizes tone, syntax, and pathos to portray his pride, hopefulness, and patriotism for America. He uses these devices to show Americans of the unification America needs.
On the evening of September 23, 1952 former President Richard Nixon, then senator of California addressed issues regarding counter critics who claimed he took $18,000 contribution and used it for personal expenses. His purpose was to persuade Americans of his moral innocence. The speech that was not named but due to the fame of the speech it became known as Checkers Speech, as Nixon admits that his family dog, Checkers was a political gift. Nixon appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos throughout his speech by persuading to credibility, emotions, and reasoning.
Former President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford gave a speech pardoning his predecessor, former President Richard Nixon, of all offenses against the United States that he may have committed during his presidency. The announcement was made live on September 8, 1974. The speech was written to persuade the country to agree with the pardoning of Nixon and forgive him for the crimes he had committed against his country. Ford states that “Theirs (Nixon’s Family) is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.” President Ford argued that the pardoning
Former President Richard Nixon is most well-known for his role in the Watergate crisis in the early 1970’s. The Watergate crisis started in June of 1972, when the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters was broke into by members of Nixon’s re-election committee. The press took this breaking news and began to dig deeper into what the Whitehouse (President Nixon) was hiding. Over the next two years heavy investigations into the Watergate incident revealed that President Nixon did, in fact, ordered a cover-up to keep the incident under control. Fearing impeachment, President Nixon resigned his presidency in August 1974,
In 1974, President Richard Nixon announced his resignation. In response to this Vice President Gerald Ford spoke of his opinion on the situation. Nixon’s letter of resignation is a direct effect of the Watergate scandal, The purpose of these speeches is to make Ford look more trustworthy.
Every president has a specific vision on how to influence America with their policies. Being the only president to resign from the presidency makes one wonder “what did Nixon want to accomplish as president.” During, every president’s first term, they have to figure out how to navigate the office. The inaugural speech, usually, gives the American people an idea of what the president plans to do, for America. As president, Nixon accomplished many things and strived to fulfil the promises in his inaugural speech.
Imagine that you were the first president to resign from office… Richard m Nixon was first to resign from office. Nixon lived on his fathers lemon farm in yorba Linda California. He had became a fine man who had moved to whiter California. In his adult life, he had made lots of achievements during his presidency like he improved relations with China. He will go down In history as our 37th president
In Washington’s farewell address letter, he uses different rhetorical strategies to assert his purpose. In his letter, he reaches out to the people of America. Washington promotes the importance of unity across America to ensure the nation will only become stronger in his absence.
On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon was the first, and so far the only president of the United States to resign from office. Out of what looked like to be an inevitable impeachment, Nixon became a part of one of the biggest scandals ever known. President Nixon believed he was taking the necessary measures to reunite a divided country that was undergoing the Vietnam War. About 2 years prior, a group of burglars were arrested at the Watergate complex after breaking into the office of the Democratic National Committee. A security guard noticed there was taping over some of the locks of the building and responded by immediately calling the police. The thefts were involved in the reelection campaign for Richard Nixon’s second term by stealing
President John F. Kennedy was a very serious and powerful speaker when it came to addressing the people of the United States of America. In the early 1960’s the US economy was recovering from a tremendous recession. The steel companies had decided that they were going to raise their price of steel by 3 ½ percent. President Kennedy was not too thrilled when he found out what the steel companies were going to do. Since President Kennedy was an enormous supporter for stable prices in the nation, he wrote a speech with such powerful rhetoric appeals such as ethos, pathos, and logos to unify the people of the United States against the steel companies. President Kennedy also supported his appeals with the use of diction, tone, atmosphere, imagery, and evidence.
After the case was final, Richard Nixon released all of the tapes. It was confirmed that he was involved with the watergate scandal. He had contact with the men that he ordered to bug the committees office. He shortly resigned after everything releasing the tapes. He became known as the first president to resign in history. This case is very famous and will go down in history forever. It was reenacted in one of my favorite movies, Forrest
Nixon wrote his speech with the acknowledgement that the war was of great concern to his fellow Americans. He then based that concern in a way to establish an emotional connection with the audience. He continued that connection with the audience by developing questions which many Americans listening to this speech would have already raised themselves. For example Nixon asks, “What choices do we have if we are to end the war?” By asking these questions he is showing that he understands the concerns of what the people have on the Vietnam War. He also makes it seem like he is not just making a speech to make him look better; he has taken in consideration the feelings and concerns of the people. By asking questions this sets up a balance early in his speech which he would then continue on by examining the facts and answering those questions. For this reason it makes him seem like he has a caring heart and is not just out for another vote in the ballot box. Another question Nixon asks is “How and why did America get involved in Vietnam in the first