The Real Apology Essay Example

The Real Apology the American People Needed On September 11, 1998, President Clinton gave his infamous speech he titled “I have Sinned” at the Prayer Breakfast. In this speech, he addressed the issue of having a sexual relationship with a woman named Monica Lewinsky and apologized for his actions. The nature of his first speech seemed more of “self-defense” rather than the apology the American people wanted to hear (59). In the attempt to have a successful speech, President Bill Clinton had to have a remorseful, yet confident attitude that did not come across insensitive. I believe that in his speech, he was truly sincere and meant his apology. The beginning when President Clinton said, “I do not think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned,” clearly shows the content of this speech will be different from the first. However, Clinton giving his speech in front of an audience presents the idea of it being more personal. In the first speech, known as the “Map Room Speech”, there was never a real apology; Clinton seemed to say the American people should apologize to him, rather than him apologizing to the people (59). This confused many people and the state of the speech seemed doomed.
Clinton asked for forgiveness, in his breakfast prayer speech, early on. “I have asked all for their forgiveness”. Also, he spoke about the steps he could take to make things right again. When he states, “First, I will instruct my lawyers to mount a vigorous defense, using all available appropriate arguments. But legal language must not obscure the fact that I have done wrong,” lets the people know he is dealing with the legal matter of the subject, but he is not going to hide that he has done wrong.
In addition, he spoke about how the young can look at him as a role model for learning and growing from their mistakes (60). In his speech Clinton says, “The children of this country can learn in a profound way that integrity is important and selfishness is wrong,” this