Rhetorical Analysis Of Bill Clinton's Speech

After a year of questions about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, Bill Clinton had to sit in front of the American public and admit he had been deceiving them about the affair. Clinton issued his official apology to the citizens of the United States, but simultaneously worked to repair his soiled public image. After being closely scrutinized over his affair with Lewinsky and effectively lying about it, Clinton worked to take the attention away from him, convince the public the investigation had preyed on him, and reassert his status as President of the United States. Initially humble and apologetic, he takes responsibility for his actions. Clinton begins the speech by reminding the American public that he is their president. By immediately stating his location in “this room, from this chair,” while referring to the oval office, Clinton establishes his authority. This shows he has not fallen from grace and remains in office. Clinton then insists that the questions he had to answer to the Office of Independent
He becomes more accusatory and petulant. He states that he must “reclaim [his] family life,” implying that it was taken from him, which presents him as a victim. By insisting that “even presidents have private lives,” Clinton is reasserting his authority and suggesting that presidents are just like everyone else. He implies that it is wrong to assume otherwise and that the investigation against him did exactly that. Clinton establishes himself as a victim again when he calls for the stop of the “pursuit of personal destruction and the prying into private lives.” The use of the dysphemisms “destruction” and “prying” also serves to imply that Clinton is a victim of a political movement, rather than at fault for having an affair with Lewinsky. By repeating the phrase “private life,” Clinton insists that he deserves one and that the affair is a matter for him to deal with, rather than the entire country