A PRESIDENTS LEGACY: CLINTON AND IMPEACHMENT - Movie Review Example

American Government Running head: A PRESIDENT’S LEGACY: CLINTON AND IMPEACHMENT Clinton and Impeachment: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos (University) (Date) Clinton and Impeachment: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos Clinton’s speech after the impeachment predominantly used pathos as means of persuasion or argument. It was very apologetic and it can be heard from Clinton’s tone that he felt the speech truly needed to be apologetic. Clinton said at the beginning that this speech cannot be as simple as all the other speeches he did in front of the whole nation.

Anyone could easily agree to that. Admitting a wrongdoing after blatantly denying it can never be easy for common people, much more if you are a president of a nation. Here, ethos can be questionable, since ethos is based on the credibility of the speaker. And Clinton is not so much of a credible personality during the time he addressed this speech to the nation. Logos is also not much of a use for this speech, since logos is based on reason or logic. However, on a personal note, I believe Clinton was able to use pathos in his speech.

Pathos appeals to the emotion, and indeed, his speech was very emotional. He asked for forgiveness from his family, to Lewinsky, to Lewinsky’s family. It can be said that for a religious personality like Clinton, admission of a sin can be extremely difficult. Still, he did not move away from mentioning his faith and religious beliefs just so he could at least cover up for his mistake. Instead, he mentioned it more to make it known to everyone how much he knew he was wrong. He quoted strong passages from the Bible to emphasize is faith and remorse.

He mentioned how he is asking for pastoral help, which highlights his weakness at this point in his life. The more he opens up and shows himself as a vulnerable soul, the more he appealed to the listeners’ emotions. Surely, not everyone can be pleased. Surely, there are still some people who look at this speech differently. But for a regular, common citizen like myself, I can honestly and frankly say that this speech effectively appealed to my emotions, therefore having its desired effect. Reference Roosevelt, F. D., Churchill, W.

, MacArthur, D., Truman, H. S., Kennedy, J. F., X, M., Nixon, R. M., . Nostalgia Company. (2007). The greatest speeches of all time. Rolling Bay, WA: The Nostalgia Company.