Page 2 (Uses of Rhetoric in History)

Historical Uses of Rhetoric

World War II

Due primarily to the severity of the peace agreement in post-World War I Germany, the economy was in crisis and the national morale was low (1). The people needed a rallying point to bounce back, and they found it in the form of Adolf Hitler. 

(1)

The rhetoric that Hitler used to gain momentum had several parts to it. First, he targeted his hatred at Jewish people. Second, he emphasized his point that it was the fault of the communist Jewish people that Germany had lost in the Great War and fallen into economic collapse. (1)

The strategy that he used that propelled his momentum was decidedly choosing a group to view as 'the enemy' while incorporating the fear and frustration that Germans felt in the difficult times after the war. The people were demoralized and needed something to serve as the basis for their bounce back, and this is where Hitler used his antisemitic rhetoric to act as the rallying point the country needed. (1)

Through his use of hateful and angry rhetoric, and with the particularly powerful element of pandering to the broken and demoralized post-WWI Germany, Hitler propelled his political career through the Nazi Party, paving the way for his eventual rise to supreme leader of Germany. 

McCarthyism

The era of McCarthyism, or the Red Scare, was a time in America in the early 1950's when fear overtook logic and reason. At the height of the Cold War, many Americans lived in constant fear of nuclear war or communist invasion, and were therefore more susceptible to rhetoric that targeted "the enemy", whom in this case were communists. (2)

Senator Joseph McCarthy is the politician the movement is named after because of his consistent insistence that Soviet spies had infiltrated the United States. McCarthy was very fervent in his attacks, often pointing to specific public figures and accusing them of communist sympathies. (2)

(2)

The danger that McCarthyism posed to the country was that the allegations were primarily based on lies, and very few of the accused were proven to have any ties with the Soviets or even communism itself. By utilizing the widespread fear and rhetoric, McCarthyism was a dark era for social justice. (2) 

Protesting the Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, unlike any other major American war, was the first to have significant protests against it. Many Americans believed that the war efforts and even the reasons for fighting were pointless, which led them to take to the streets to publicly denounce the government. 

(3)

The protests of the Vietnam War were an interesting time for rhetoric because the protest rhetoric was in direct contradiction with the pro-America and pro-democracy rhetoric that the government was giving. 

Actress and singer Eartha Kitt famously called out President Lyndon B. Johnson at a White House dinner. "They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam" (3). This serves as an example of how the protestors used the element of fear within their rhetoric to encourage other Americans, especially the young men of drafting age, to stand up and fight for their right to live, to not die in a pointless war. 

President Johnson, however, defended his decision to remain in the war, saying "Sometimes you have to take a stand, you cannot take liberty for granted" (3). In contrast to the protest rhetoric, the President and the government utilized the rhetorical tactic of "Pro-America, Pro-Freedom, Pro-Democracy" to appeal to American's care for their country, saying that if they don't fight, they might not have a country to call home. 

Post-9/11

Just nine days following the attacks on September 11th, 2001, President George Bush declared a "war on terror" (4) to combat the fear the country felt after the terrorist attacks. 

(5)

The rhetoric used to promote this 'war on terror' is similar to the previous examples, since it was specifically targeted to ease the minds of all the worried American citizens. Statements like "it is civilization's fight, not just America's" (4) by Bush encouraged Americans and several countries throughout the world that the fight against terrorism needed to be fought, or the same tragedy could easily repeat itself.

However, the problem with the post-9/11 rhetoric and it's targeting of fear is that it was not directed at solely terrorists. Instead, people of the Muslim and Islamic faith were dragged into the hateful rhetoric, despite having no affiliation with the terrorist group Al Qaeda. With well-known scholars promoting the idea that the Muslim faith was an inherently violent religion, it became so that Muslims and terrorists were seen as hand-in-hand. (4)

Works Cited

1. Rothman, Lily. “Hitler and Nazi History: How He Came to Power in 1920.” Time, Time, 24 Feb. 2015, https://time.com/3712734/1920-nazi-party-history/. 

2. Llewellyn, Jennifer, and Steve Thompson. “McCarthyism.” The Cold War, Alphahistory, 30 Sept. 2020, https://alphahistory.com/coldwar/mccarthyism/.

3. Levy, Daniel S. “Behind the Protests against the Vietnam War in 1968.” Time, Time, 19 Jan. 2018, https://time.com/5106608/protest-1968/.

4. Tazamal, Mobashra. “How Anti-Muslim Rhetoric Drives the Imperialist ‘Global War on Terror.’” Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University Initiative, 4 June 2018, https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/how-anti-muslim-rhetoric-drives-the-imperialist-global-war-on-terror/. 

5. “Opinion Journal: 9/11: The War on Terror Continues.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, https://www.wsj.com/video/opinion-journal-911-the-war-on-terror-continues/E083A2E2-4A71-4A25-81E8-817FB45FED31.html.