Every president of the United States of America had an inaugural speech before about their

hopes and dreams to making America a great country under their hands for the upcoming 4
years and possibly the next 8 years. But what was so different and unique about Bill Clintons
inaugural speech that touched many of the democratic people?

In this essay I will be outlining and covering how Bill Clinton conveys his message through an
emotional connection using pathos and imagery and the mystery behind how he wants to
renew America. The themes that I will go through is reconciliation and Unity.
 
Bill Clintons goal is being a president who can get the people of America to come to an
agreement and stop conflict between the nation by a reconciliation, meaning that he wants
everyone to be satisfied and putting an end to the conflicts that have been created. In his eye’s
reconciliation is by being bold to renew America. Bill Clinton said, and I quote “We must do
what no generation has had to do before. We must invest more in our own people, in their
jobs, in their future, and at the same time cut our massive debt. And we must do so in a world
in which we must compete for every opportunity.” (22) This is linked to his renewal and
reconciliation because he wants America to be the first generation under his hands that will do
something that has never been done, and by doing that you need to be bold and that’s the
renewal he wants to approach for the coming Americans and pass it on to other generations.
Renewal also means to revitalize democracy. “Americans deserve better, and in this city today,
there are people who want to do better. And so, I say to all of us here, let us resolve to reform
our politics, so that power and privilege should no longer shout down the voices of the people.
Let us put aside personal advantage so that we can feel the pain and see the promise of
America.” (29) This renewal is all about reconciliation in terms of every American getting the
rights and needs regardless of the power and privilege they hold, because everyone deserves to
get a voice that should be heard. This links to my next theme where he talks about unity, it is
linked to unity because we cannot have a reconciliation without uniting everyone.

Now that we have covered the bases of renewal and reconciliation, we have to mention how
unity comes a long and how important It is for Bill Clinton and his citizens. He wants to rebuild a
home where everyone is united so America can be in peace to avoid Americans going into
different parties and hating on one another whether its race or your social class. Because that is
the last thing Bill Clinton wants. “While America rebuilds at home, we will not shrink from the
challenges, nor fail to seize the opportunities, of this new world. Together with our friends and
allies, we will work to shape change, lest it engulf us.” (34) This defines unity for Bill Clintons
ideal statement of how he wants unity to be perceived in his country, by friends and allies
working together to rebuild America at home and being one. He made it clear that part of
creating unity is no longer having a longer division between his people. “we must meet
challenges abroad as well at home. There is no longer division between what is foreign and
what is domestic—the world economy, the world environment, the world AIDS crisis, the world
arms race—they affect us all.” (32). He is clarifying that he does not want to see anything that
can affect creating unity as a whole. These two themes are conveyed through and emotional
connection by using pathos and imagery to show his dedication and sympathy for America.

In most presidential or for instance formal speeches there would usually be a good distribution
between pathos, logos and ethos to get the message out by having a balanced message
between being emotional and factual. However, in this speech, it seems like it was mostly
pathos and imagery that was being used to engage and getting the attention from his people.
One of the things that caught my eye when he used pathos was when he said “This new world
has already enriched the lives of millions of Americans who are able to compete and win in it.
But when most people are working harder for less; when others cannot work at all; when the
cost of health care devastates families and threatens to bankrupt many of our enterprises,
great and small; when fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom; and when
millions of poor children cannot even imagine the lives, we are calling them to lead—we have
not made change our friend.” (14) In this statement he was not talking like a president but on
behalf of what the citizens worst fears are as an American, he wanted to get a deeper with his
audience and talked like he was a scared citizen himself who could not provide for his family or
the tension you’re feeling when your child is endangered. This was a powerful and emotional
move to let his people understand the position they are In and letting them know that this will
not be tolerated anymore and there will be change. In terms of imagery, he uses the expression
of seasons changing, meaning that there will better season coming. “"A spring reborn in the
world's oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America." (3). In
this statement he is referring to spring being born as he is becoming the new president with
bright and fresh ideas that will help reinvent America.

To conclude Bill Clintons goal from that speech was to get the idea of having a renewal through
a reconciliation as well as creating unity, which in eyes his is the best thing America needs for
the present and upcoming generation. In his speech this was conveyed through and emotional
approach by connecting the audience by using a pathos and imagery for them to grasp the idea
he has in mind for them and that America will be great under his hands. He sees himself as not
only president of America but also as in a understanding citizen who wants to help.