Essay Example on Hillary Clinton: From Presidential Candidate to Motivational Speaker

Introduction

In the year 2016, Hillary Clinton was nominated as the presidential candidate for the democratic party in the United States. Despite being in different positions and a runner-up to Donald Trump, who is currently the 45th president of the United States, she enthusiastically congratulated him for his victory in her concession speech. She resolved to work with him for the good of all Americans in the United States.

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She gives a motivational speech which gives hope to thousands of Americans who had invested their hope in her. In her speech, she gives hope to women and young girls which empowers them to believe in the achievement of their dreams. She also gives hope to the less fortunate by assuring them of ever standing with them. Her speech is also persuasive in that it coaxes thousands of Americans to accept defeat and thus the incoming president, “…Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead….” She asked American citizens to have each other’s backs and to acknowledge Donald Trump as their 45th president of America.

Hillary Clinton’s concession speech falls under a judicial rhetorical category (Nordquist, 2019). This is because her speech considers justice from the election’s outcome. She agrees that the election was free and fair and Trump’s victory was genuine, “…But I still believe in America, and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look at the future….” The aspect of deliberative rhetoric comes in where Hillary persuades her beloved supporters to agree to take the results and focus on the forthcoming. It is also seen where she visualizes Trump’s reign as president and hopes that he rules Americans well, “…I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans….”

Role of a Concession in American Politics

A concession speech is given by a losing candidate to an audience out of courtesy to thank his or her supporters and to accept the outcome before the winning candidate gives his or her acceptance speech (Rothman, 2016). A concession speech is important in that it brings together individuals from different parties after elections are over. Elections are well-thought-out to be a tough fight. Concession reinforces democracy and so formulas for concession should be encouraged in American politics (Rappeport, 2016). The concession has been there in the history of America for such a long time. Examples of these speeches include John McCain’s concession speech in 2008 in the honor of Obama’s victory, Mitt Romney’s concession speech in 2012 in honour of Obama’s victory, John Kerry’s speech as he conceded to George W. Bush’s victory and Hillary Clinton’s speech of concession when she conceded to Donald Trump in 2016 (Rothman, 2016).

Differences with Her Previous Concession Speeches

In her concession, Hillary Clinton was quite different from the previous concessions in a couple of ways. First, she happens to be the first person to use the phrase “I’m sorry” in her concession, “…I’m sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country,” she said. This was brought out appropriately to supporters who expected her to win but were later disappointed. Clinton also wore purple which is way different from the typical blue, red and white won by male candidates (Wieczner, 2016).

How Hillary’s Speech Reinforces Democracy Quo

Hillary’s speech reinforces the democracy quo in the United States. This is by focusing on the ideas that she gave to her supporters in her concession. She agreed to partner with her counterpart, Donald Trump, in ensuring the welfare of American citizens. She expressed her love for the country and urged her supporters to treasure the fact that America is confident, comprehensive and good-natured. She also outlines that she has given Donald Trump the opportunity to lead open-mindedly, “Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power (Golshan, 2016). We don’t just respect that. We cherish it” she also identifies leaders whoever ruled America and commends them of their impeccable service for the country.

An Alternative for a Concession

The government should employ and implement an initiative where after an election, the winning candidate and the losing candidate give a common speech which focuses on important issues affecting the nation rather than politics (Landsbaum, 2017). This should be after a thorough scrutiny of important sectors of the economy and thus they conjoin ideas which help in reinforcing the economy. This alternative is not employed in this case because it is insurmountable to determine the winning candidate early enough to prepare for such a speech. Besides, there will not be a genuine and precise methodology to be used to ensure that this is achieved.

How Exigence Accommodates Transformation in a Speech

Exigency helps in discovering the purpose of the rhetoric. It gives a clear stance on what the treatise is trying to realize. It prompts one to speak or write about something. Exigency sets something which under all circumstances has to be done. It helps us deal with situations which leave us in question. This is vital to accommodate the transform that the audience goes through as a result of the speech.

How Hillary Clinton Employed Pathos and Ethos

Hillary Clinton makes use of pathos where she expresses her disappointment and her followers’ as well. This evokes pity from her utterances, “This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for, and I’m sorry we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country.” Similarly, she makes use of ethos where she stresses about maintaining unity and love in the United States. Despite herself losing, she still finds the ground to spread the information about how America’s greatness should be maintained.

Audience Type

Due to differences in ideas, there have to be different audiences. a neutral audience is one which is in one way or the other interested in whatever you are saying or not ready to capitalize on your ideas. A hostile audience is one which is in total disagreement with your ideas. An uninformed audience is one which has no or limited knowledge on the ideas you are talking about. An expert audience is one which is familiar with your idea and is ready to support them. The business audience is one which has no time for lengthy speeches and so only important issues are addressed.

Real and Explicit Audience of the Speech

The real audience of the speech is the supporters of Hillary Clinton who were present when the speech was being delivered whereas the explicit audience is those who witnessed the speech although they were not there in person.

Styles Employed

She used the formal style with intricate complex sentences and well-structured phrases which are logical and coherent. This formal style is systematic to her previous ones. This is because she always gives public speeches formally.

Agency Involved

In her speech, the agency was not that her ideas were to be implemented immediately, but when need be, when it is right to do so. She only reiterated on significant matters which had to be reinforced and soothed her supporters for the disappointment they got from the results. Her ideas and arguments enforced certain important ideas and her position.in her ideas, Hillary emphasizes on women and girls. Which indicates that she was not limited by her gender, “And to all women, and especially the young women, who put their faith in this campaign and me: I want you to know that nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion.”

Type of Organization Adopted

The type of organization adopted in this speech is topical or categorical. Hillary organized her speech in important topics which she addressed with ease and in chronological order. She organized her information in categories which help to support the main information of the speech. This has enabled her to organize her information consistently. An erotetic speech involves a rhetorical question. There are no rhetorical questions in Hillary’s speech and so it is not erotetic. However, the speech lives us with an obligation. The speech is not based on collateral concepts because Hillary is not pledging to anyone. It is rather persuasive and deliberative. Hillary is defending the rights of Americans in her speech. She is not accusing anyone, “We respect and cherishes these values, too, and we must defend them.” In her ideas, she did not leave out important virtues which work in conjunction to support these rights, “…the American dream is big enough for everyone. For people of all races, and religions, for men and women, for immigrants, for LGBT people, and people with disabilities. For everyone.”

Reasons for Giving a Formal Speech

The reasons for and the real motive of choosing this style (formal) is because she was addressing the public. This is to make her speech comprehendible and consumable by people from all sorts of backgrounds and formalities. Moreover, her speech was official and was to be published.

How Exigence Affects the Speech

The exigence gives a good ground for the speech. Concessions involve official matters which have to be addressed formally. Due to this fact, the formal style and structure have to be used to meet with the standards required.

How the Speech Involves Rhetorical Iconicity

The speech involves rhetorical iconicity by giving the audience obligations from the main ideas of the speech. Hillary has involved rhetorical iconicity by giving options which are mandatory and with positive impacts. This is from her urge to the audience considering the well-being of all Americans.

Is the Audience before the Speech in the Same State as the Audience at the end of The Speech?

The audience before the speech is way different from the audience after the speech. Democrats were disappointed by their lose and considered it a huge blow. Hillary’s speech cooled down their wrath and gave them hope for future victory. This is why a concession speech and any other speech is important as it can influence one in a good way. Her speech gave hope to many who had lost it and made them realize that there is always another chance.

How Ethos was Employed

Ethos was employed through evocation and enactment. This is because it recalls a memory to one’s subconscious mind. Hillary’s speech figures out images in the audience’s subconscious mind and allows them to internalize. Similarly, it prompts us to abide by some rules and important responsibilities as per the constitution.

Conclusion

As depicted from Hillary’s speech, a concession speech is given by one who loses the presidency (Elving, 2016). It should be formal and should outline important issues regarding the well-being of citizens. Speeches come in a variety of types and all have their styles and structures. These styles differ with the audience and the occasion in which the speech is being given. The way the speech is organized depends solely on the genre of the speech. This is how the ideas are brought up by the speech- maker. These ideas ought to follow chronologically depending in how the speaker wants to deliver his or her speech. Is is also important for the speaker to learn about his or her audience and make it lively by involving them in many different ways. This makes the speech to be home and well consumed by the audience.

References

Elving, R. (2016, November 8). Concession Speeches Capture A Gracious Moment In Election Season.

Golshan, T. (2016, November 9). Hillary Clinton's Concession speech full transcript: 2016 p...