Rhetorical Analysis of Woodrow Wilsons War Address to...

Rhetorical Analysis of Woodrow Wilsons War Address to Congress With the status of the country’s belligerency heavily in question, an apprehensive President Woodrow Wilson prepared to request from an unmotivated and unprepared country a declaration of war against Germany. After exerting every attempt possible to retain the peace and honor of the United States, the President was finally forced to choose between the two, in which he opted for the latter (Seymour 26). As he sat down to compose his congressional address proposing war, the uncertainty of his decision overwhelmed him. He confided to a member of his cabinet, Frank Cobb, that he had never been as unsure about anything in his life as the judgment he was†¦show more content†¦The same man who was reelected in 1916 on the platform â€Å"he kept us out of war†, who delivered the â€Å"peace without victory† speech, who urged his country to remain neutral â€Å"in action† as well as â€Å"in thought† was now asking Congress to approve American entry into the war. As President Wilson confronted the nation on the evening of April 2, 1917, he presented a case of past offenses coupled with present circumstances in hopes of providing a more effective case for leading America into war (Blakey, 2). He employed antecedent-consequence throughout the beginning of his address to warrant his call for belligerency. By recapitulating the events of German abomination as seen most profoundly in the sinking of United States vessels, Wilson let the record speak for itself. He appealed to the sense of compassion in his audience with the mention of â€Å"hospital ships as ships carrying aid to the stricken people of Belgium....have been sunk with the same reckless lack of concern or principle† (Baker 510) It was these â€Å"hard-hitting charges of outrage and insult by Germany† that stirred Wilson’s listeners (Baker 514). He continued to relate events of the past to his present standpoint by admitting that he was at first â€Å"unable to believe that such things could be done by anyShow MoreRelatedRhetorical Analysis of President Woodrow Wilsons War Message2466 Words   |  10 Pagesbelligerency heavily in question, an apprehensive President Woodrow Wilson prepared to request from an unmotivated and unprepared country a declaration of war against Germany. After exerting every attempt possible to retain the peace and honor of the United States, the President was finally forced to choose between the two, in which he opted for the latter (Seymour 26). As he sat down to compose his congressional address proposing war, the uncertainty of his decision overwhelmed him. He confidedRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Impo rtant Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pages, Rethinking the Cold War Eric Foner, ed., The New American History. Revised and Expanded Edition E SSAYS ON _ T WENTIETH- C ENTURY H ISTORY Edited by Michael Adas for the American Historical Association TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS PHILADELPHIA Temple University Press 1601 North Broad Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122 www.temple.edu/tempress Copyright  © 2010 by Temple University All rights reserved Published 2010 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication