Oklahoma City Speech, April 23, 1995

I know this speech was older than the time frame that we were supposed to use (and I hope that was ok), but I felt that this was a great example of rhetoric when our nation needed it. This speech was in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombings in 1995 and was made by then President Bill Clinton.
President Clinton uses a multitude of pathos in this speech for many reasons. He was addressing to a crowd of people who had just lost their love ones, family members, friends, and co-workers in a senseless attack. One powerful use of pathos is "Our words seem small beside the loss you have endured." President Clinton knew that the words that he said could not possibly make up for the people who died in the bombing. He is reassuring and caring, and he knew that it would not be long before the responsible people were punished for the attack. This is an example of deliberative rhetoric because President Clinton stated what had occured in the past, and what measures were going to be taken in the future and upcoming days to punish the attackers.
From an emotional and pathos standpoint, my favorite line from this speech is the following:
"It was a dogwood this its wonderful spring flower and its deep, enduring roots. It embodies the lesson ... that the life of a good person is like a tree whose leaf does not wither. My fellow Americans, a tree takes a long time to grow, and wounds take a long time to heal."
While President Clinton uses forensic rhetoric to examine what has happened in the past with the bombing, he is also using deliberative rhetoric to look to the future for Americans and the families affected by the Oklahoma City Bombing.