Situational Analysis - Obamas Inaugural Speech - Essay Example

due Situational Analysis: Obama’s Inaugural Speech. President Obama’s inaugural speech was delivered on January 20, 2009, in Washington D.C., the United States Capital. His remarks, to a mammoth crowd of Americans, were also being broadcasted all over the world. Obama, being the first African American president delivered his speech at a time when the United States of America was not just undergoing economic hitches, but was also at war, “far-reaching war of violence and hatred”. (Auckland) Consequently, it came at a time when Obama was being criticized and commended for his orating skills.

A time when the nation was experiencing racism, expensive health, employment fatalities, inefficient education, energy dependence on other nations as well as loss of hope by the American people. It comes at a moment when Obama had to address his supporters after a successful campaign trail. He has to reassure his American supporters and non supporters as well as the whole world of his manifesto. He has to make his promises realistic, measurable and achievable. He acknowledges that the problem America is facing is real and as a nation they have due responsibility to join hands and work together.

He reminds them of a young nation, being driven by their fore fathers, by comparing the American history with the issues at hand. This creates a sense of patriotism and hope that indeed it can be done. It is also a significant speech to all Americans and to the whole world at large as it comes at a time when America is at war and it is also being faced with economic challenges. A time when religious and tribal rivalry still threatens to tear the unity of the United States apart, the peace and prosperity for the Americans is also under threat from nuclear warfare.

President Obama mobilizes his audience to awaken to a new age which will embrace all individuals in America regardless of their race or religious affiliations. He gives hope for the dwindling economic throttlehold which has seen the deterioration of health, education, business and employment sector as a result of greed, irresponsibility of a few and the collective failure to make hard choices. To tackle the war, president Obama promises that America will responsibly withdraw its forces from Iraq and also “forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan” (Auckland) and to work tirelessly with “old friends and former foes to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet”.

(Auckland) Obama, the first African American president, is addressing an audience drawn from all races at a time when the whole world is experiencing economic problems or war of a kind. The words must be well selected so as to appeal and put insight into the audience but not to provoke hard feelings from “old friends and former foes.” He must also bear in mind the millions of non-Americans listening to his speech, anxiously waiting for his remarks on the nuclear menace and war at large.

America being the super-power and being at the watch by the world, his speech has to be well articulated. He has to tackle for instance terrorism and religious schisms well, in an attempt to unite the world once more. He does this by speaking directly to the people, the Muslim world, current leadership around the world, poor nations as well as prosperous nations. Being an African American, he has to address the issue of racism well, as this vice previously blackened the American History. He acknowledges that the future of the American people depends upon the current generation that has the sole responsibility to deliver the nation safely to future generations.

Obama being the choice of many not only from America but also from across the globe could have done it no better. Being an expert rhetorician, he had to accept the challenge of the people through the inaugural speech. Regardless of the constraints, Obama knew his audience and hence tackled the exigencies well in his speech. He succeeded in mobilizing the audience (which responded by a tremendous applause) by appealing to their patriotism and reminding the Americans of their heroic though painful past.

Work cited U.S. Presidential Inaugural Addresses from Washington to Obama: Various. Auckland, N.Z.: Floating Press, 2008. Internet resource.