Thank You for Arguing: Chapter 26 Summary & Analysis

On July 27, 2004, a man named Barack Obama gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that changed history. At the time, Obama was a little-known politician, with an out-of-print book and an unsuccessful Senate bid. But his speech made him a “political rock star”—just four years later, he was elected president. In this chapter, Heinrichs will discuss the structure of Obama’s speech, and why it’s a masterpiece of rhetoric.

Obama’s speech is a classically structured piece of rhetoric. He begins with an introduction in which he establishes his ethos by modestly claiming, “My presence on this stage is pretty unlikely.” Then, he narrates the story of his parents, emphasizing his connection with the American dream and further boosting his ethos. Then Obama moves on to the division, emphasizing the differences between Republicans and Democrats with a single sentence, “We have work to do” (suggesting that George W. Bush, the current president, has been a disaster). Next comes the proof: Obama catalogues the signs of the work that lies ahead of the country (violations of civil liberties, oil companies being too big, an unjust war). For the refutation, Obama criticizes the “spin masters” who seek to divide America, and emphasizes the unity in America today. To conclude, Obama throws his support to the Democratic candidate, John Kerry, emphasizing that Kerry will bring the country together. Kerry didn’t win the election, but Obama’s speech helped him get elected four years later.

Obama’s first inaugural address was another masterpiece of rhetoric. He used demonstrative rhetoric to unite his audience, alluding to a common foe—the people who supposedly want to destroy American values. He also found a clever way to turn a problem—the horrible economy—into strong rhetoric about identity, insisting that his constituents’ grandchildren would look back on them as a great, proud generation.

In other speeches, Obama has used other notable rhetorical techniques. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention, he admonished his audience by flattering it, saying, “America, we are better than these last eight years.” He used imagery that felt almost cinematic to enthrall his audience, describing how a labor movement demonstration had been broken up by police gunfire. Obama also uses balancing figures to make complex concepts seem very simple. In 2008, after coming under fire for his connections to a controversial reverend, Jeremiah Wright, Obama took a big risk by arguing that Wright’s extremism was a reflection of the complicated story of race. He uses antithesis, the pairing of opposites, to talk about the pros and cons, the “kindness and cruelty” both of Wright’s persona and of “the black experience in America.”

Another rhetorical strategy that Obama uses frequently is connecting unlike things through alliteration (e.g., “This is the price and the promise of citizenship”). He often stresses an idea by saying that he has “one word, just one word,” and then introducing an emotionally charged word or phrase, such as “tomorrow.” In his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama was a master of channeling the ethos of great historical figures, such as Martin Luther King Jr. He made speeches that imitated King’s fondness for symploce, the rhetorical technique of repeating the beginning and end of successive clauses. Then, in one of his first speeches as president, Obama channeled another famous American, John F. Kennedy, by talking about duty to one’s country. In doing so, Obama focused his country’s attention on the future, moving from demonstrative to deliberative rhetoric.