Last name 7
Name
Professor Martin
English 1301
20 February 2007 (your essay should be six FULL/COMPLETE pages)
Dewey for President
“With mischievous glee, President Truman hoisted the post-election copy of the Chicago Daily Tribune aloft for all in the assembled crowd at Union Station to see” (Hughes). The entire nation doubted that Harry S. Truman would win the 1948 election. In fact, the Chicago Daily Tribune even published a headline that declared Thomas Dewey victorious. However, everyone was wrong, and from that moment on, Truman’ greatness shined, even at the end of his presidency, in his farewell address. Using an array of literary devices and rhetorical appeals, Truman convinces us we are bound to each other, that he was a President of accomplishment, and that we all must always take action.
The very first three words of Truman’s farewell address encourage the idea that we are bound to each other, “My fellow Americans.” By the careful picking of these three words, Truman makes us feel close to him and makes us feel that we are all in this crisis, life, and in this world together. Further supporting Truman’s connection to his audience is the fact that George Washington first used this phrase. Here we see Truman connecting us all to the first president who not many will deny was an astounding President. In addition, these words serve as “images” or symbols of American patriotism and brotherhood; we see ourselves wiping a tear away as we stand before the American flag, we see ourselves shaking the coarse hand of an American soldier home from fighting, and we see ourselves creating and penning the triumphant words of the Declaration of Independence. Through this familiar phrase we see the long shadows of unity that reach back throughout our history. In these three words, we find ourselves connected to one another, to the president, and to America’s greatness. The appeal of pathos is evident here. Overall, these words inspire harmony, unity, and love, in that they connect us to each other and to our country. Throughout the speech, Truman also connects us by a simple two-letter word “We”—although a small word, it holds insurmountable power. In using “we,” Truman is appealing to pathos by inspiring accord and affection in us for our fellow man. But in these instances, Truman speaks of a family of Americans; however later in his address he connects us more concretely to the entirety of the world.
To demonstrate our tie to the world, Truman states, “There is a plateau in Ethiopia some 6,000 to 8,000 feet high, that has 65,000 square miles of land just exactly like the Corn Belt in northern Illinois. Enough food can be raised there to feed a hundred million people.” To this point, we are connected to each other in our own land, and now Truman unites us to the world. Using images of a far off place, he brings us straight back to our America, our Illinois. Truman’s words about feeding the hungry and poor cut deep into our humanity. He appeals to emotion to by referencing Ethiopia, which, even when the speech was delivered, was known as a poverty-stricken country, and since we have already connected Ethiopia to Illinois, to America, we are encouraged to feel our fellow man’s call to action. As foreign as a landmark in Ethiopia is to us, the idea of farmland or country is just as comfortable. Thus we have brothers and sisters as far as Ethiopia. To this point, we are connected as Americans and then as humans, yet Truman goes on the erase the gaps of time to bring us together with peoples of the past.
To take our hearts to the people of the past, Truman uses ethos to promote his own dream of a sort of utopia: “I can't help but dream out loud just a little here. . . . The Tigris and Euphrates Valley can be made to bloom as it did in the times of Babylon and Nineveh.” Truman further encourages us to imagine his dream by making an allusion to places of beauty and times of long ago. Babylon and Nineveh are places of biblical importance, and are of an age long past. In general, people tend to think of the past as a better time. Anyone knowing of the traumatic events of Babylon later on may wonder as to the significance of this allusion. Yet Truman is specific in his diction to point out an exact time. By speaking of the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys being alive and new in growth, Truman is exacting the image of only a prosperous time. Once again we are connected to the past and all of the people therein. After these ties of human heart to human heart are woven, Truman connects us all by categorizing us as good or evil.
Now we all are connected as Americans, as humans in any age: “The determination of free people to defend themselves has been made clear to the Kremlin.” Encyclopedia Britannica defines the Kremlin as “Central fortress in medieval Russian cities, usually located at a strategic point along a river and separated from the surrounding parts of the city by a wall with ramparts, moat, towers, and battlements” (“Kremlin”). Truman uses the word “Kremlin” to refer to the Soviet Government as an enemy. Again he uses allusion to express his point. The Soviet Union is the enemy. In this allusion, we find ourselves also with the image of a fierce, guarded castle from medieval times. The knights had to storm the enemies’ lair to rescue the princess. The imagery in this allusion is also aided by Truman’s words. We hold ourselves as a democratic thus free society that is good rather than evil. Truman expressly uses “free” to point our thoughts in this direction. Then by referencing only the Kremlin for the Soviets, he implies that they are evil, establishing a contrast between us and them. They are not even people, but only the enemy. Truman increases this impact with an emotional appeal: “Their’s is a godless system, a system of slavery; there is no freedom in it, no consent.” These are words of consuming emotion. These words overpower any doubt that they are the enemy. Now that the threads of our heart are connected to that of each other, that of the world, that of past peoples, and that of all good people, Truman goes on to convince us that he was an accomplished President.
Truman’s arguments of his success as President are just as thorough and impossible to disbelieve as his idea that we are joined to the world. A rhetorical question is the start of his argument. After describing the task he had to meet his Presidential duties while the White House was closed Truman states, “Fantastic, eh?” Truman is stating he has worked for us. By use of ethos, he pounds this idea into an unquestionable point. He employs ethos again to express how hard he has worked later when he talks about the short amount of time in which he accomplished much. Truman argues as well for the idea that he was a good President because he was a good man, and he shows us that he is a good man by showing us how humble he is: “When Franklin Roosevelt died, I felt there must be a million men better qualified than I, to take up the Presidential task.” With this statement, Truman expresses his humility, which is a characteristic of greatness, so in turn, Truman is actually commenting on his greatness—on his job performance. Through these appeals to ethos, he is building up his legacy, so he will be well-remembered. He also does this be appealing to logic, by stating facts: “We have 62 1/2 million people at work,” and “There hasn't been a failure of an insured bank in nearly 9 years.” The man is stating facts. These quotes are just a few of the proof of his accomplishments. He is almost screaming “Look what I did. I, Harry Truman, was a good President!” Truman even manages to draw attention away from what some may consider misdeeds on his part: “We are living in the 8th year of the atomic age. We are not the only nation that is learning to unleash the power of the atom. A third world war might dig the grave not only of our Communist opponents but also of our own society, our world as well as theirs.” Here Truman uses logos to connect with our common sense. He is advocating that we are careful with our atomic bombs because now everyone has the knowledge of these monstrous weapons. Yet this is the man who used this horrific power. With one swoop of logos he draws attention away from his past mistakes and further encourages support of his success as President. The best part is, the whole situation is ironic enough to allow for overlooking his clever move. Just to make sure we buy it though, he goes on to say how unsound it would be for us as sane individuals to use atomic bombs (Balilies). Again he appeals to our common sense to sell us his point.
Finally Truman uses these devices to encourage us to always keep hope. In articulating his desire for us always to take action, he says, “There are places in South America--places in Colombia and Venezuela and Brazil-just like that plateau in Ethiopia--places where food could be raised for millions of people.” Truman wants us to think of the possibilities. The land is there already. It is ready to be tilled. The land waits for people to give their time, energy and resources. These are facts. He uses logos to appeal to our rational side. The land is available but not being used. We must move to use it. Once more we find ourselves connected to Ethiopia, and now Truman has connected us to these other lands he mentions. He continues in this vein, using logos to call us to move. In fact, Truman practically shout for us to take action: “These things can be done, and they are self-liquidating projects. If we can get peace and safety in the world under the United Nations, the developments will come so fast we will not recognize the world in which we now live.” He just keeps convincing us in a rational way to take up these tasks. And this is the tie that binds the entire speech together.
Truman has moved us to feel the connections to all good and decent humanity no matter the era, he has made us realize the magnitude of his success as President displaying how he was a man of action, and finally he motivates us to be people of action and help those we are connected to. He worked hard for us, and now we should feed our brother and sister! We should take action! He passes us the torch now, “And now, the time has come for me to say good night--and God bless you all.”
Works Cited
"Kremlin." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 2007. Web. 20 Feb. 2007
Truman, Harry S. “Farewell Address.” Washington D.C. White House. 15 Jan. 1953. Speech.