Bill Clinton’s speech in Georgetown University

The text that I am going to analyze is about the speech by Bill Clinton. He delivered the speech in an event about human empowerment which was sponsored by the Center for American Progress at Georgetown University. It was held last October 18, 2006.

The speech is aimed to empower the American people with the use of information and knowledge. The then-President Bill Clinton was the chosen speaker, because of his knowledge about politics and dealing with the people. He expresses that by making the people understand the issues happening around them during that time, they will be able to face the challenges of the times. His main focus on the speech was more on informing the people about the difference between philosophy and ideology, and between the philosophers and the ideologues, and its implication on our society (Blue & Gray, 2006). The speech delivered by Clinton, the ex-President of the United States of America is in some part political because of the speaker’s background. However, it is more focused on educating the people about certain issues of concern that’s why it was very important in the event.

The speech is relevant to the society because if we look at the events that happened at that time, we can see that it is somehow related to the decision making of the leaders regarding the war against terrorism, and it tries to explain their way of thinking in relation to the outcome of their military actions. The speaker was trying to tell the audience that the war was a result of a close-minded decision, and those were the works of the ideologues, through relating it to various occasions and experiences. According to him, these ideologues have a made-up mind so no matter what others do, their decision is always final. He’s also trying to say that a philosopher is better because he considers the opinion of others before arriving at a compromised decision. Somehow, he was trying to point out that the results of the war could have been favorable if the leaders at that time were a philosopher rather than an ideologue.

If we are going to closely analyze the speech, we can see that the speaker that we have is credible, especially with his background. He is the ex-President of the country, and he knows a lot about such policies, so the information that he gave in his speech could be backed by experience and clear understanding of the situation. He tries to give the people the necessary knowledge regarding the situation by offering his side of the story. He does not indoctrinate in the speech, as it would mean forcing the people to do what he wants. Instead Bill Clinton gives considerable suggestions that people can really do and observe (Beebe & Beebe, 2000).

The speech given is very much related to the occasion, an event sponsored by the Center for American Progress for the purpose of empowering the people for their own sake. It plays a great importance with the event’s purpose, with the message calling for a critical mindset in choosing the leaders for the country, which could also be interpreted as a political move from the ex-President (Six Minutes, 2008). The speech was informative, as he relates personal experiences and events, in association to the event’s purpose. It is part a political campaign, but Clinton did not say directly who he’s campaigning for, instead he addressed the people to take action.

Somehow, coming from a Democrat, it was probably to advance the interest of his fellow democrats.
The speech is directed to the people in general. If we go back to the event’s purpose and aims, which is to empower the people through information, then it is really for the people. The people who attended the event and heard the speech were from different walks of life: dignified title holders, homemakers, students, teachers, all of them were able to hear the president’s speech. It was an informative speech, but it was also able to ask the audience to move and do what is right. It was presented in a problem-solution pattern, wherein from the start Clinton already addressed that something went wrong with the government’s decision making, and in order to solve this problem, he is inspiring the people listening to move and to be critical in making their decisions (Blue & Gray, 2006).

References:

• Beebe, S. A., & Beebe, S. J. (2000). Public Speaking: An Audience-Centered Approach (4th Edition ed.): Allyn & Bacon.
• Blue & Gray. (2006). Bill Clinton Urges Focus on ‘Common Good’.
• Six Minutes. (2008). Speech Analysis #1: How to Study and Critique a Speech. Retrieved 2008, December 2, from http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/speech-evaluation-1-how-to-study-critique-speech/