MariaJuliaFlores

Whenthinkingaboutthetexttobechosenforanalysis,manyideascametomind.On

onehand,Iwantedtochooseahistoricaltext,becauseIthoughtitmightshedlighton

therhetoricbeingusedtoday.Ontheotherhand,Iwantedtochooseacontemporary

text, because I thought it would be interesting to analyze the juxtaposition of new

millenniumrhetoricanditsXXIcenturyproblemswiththeunderpinningideasofour

country.

Granted,IamnotwellaquatintedwithmanyhistoricalUSpolicies/events,

howeverIhavefoundmyselfnotonlybeingseducedbybutalsocompelledtolearnU.S

history. U.Shistoryisnotonlyinteresting,butIdiscoveredthatbyunderstandingit,

onecanconsequentlycognizemanyunderpinningsofglobalrelationstoday.

AfterconsideringmylackofknowledgeonU.Shistory,mytopicsofinterest,and

myfavorite/leastfavoritepeopleinU.Spolitics,IconcludedthatIwantedtoanalyzea

StateoftheUnionAddress.ThereasonIchoseaSOTUisbecauseitiswhentheU.S

president has a date/meeting with the people of the United States. It is when the

Presidenttalkswithusabouthisideas,ideals,fearsandvisionforthefuture.Personally,

IthinkthattheSOTUisabeautifultradition,becausethePresidentdoesmuchmore

thanjustreleasingacoldandhardgovernancereport.IwillbeanalyzingtheStateof

the Union Address made President Barack Obama in January of 2016 real

contemporary,right?

Now,Iknowwhatyouareprobablythinking;Julia,thatspeechwasliterally

givenayearago.Granted,itisafairlynewspeech,butthe2015SOTUisthefirsttime

aPresidentutteredwordsliketransgenderandinstagram.Itwillbeinterestingto
analyzeaspeechofthePresidentwhohassosubtlyredefinedthetraditionalroleof

POTUS.

Iwouldliketostartbyanalyzingthefollowingparagraph:

Today,wearetheonlyadvancedcountryonEarththatdoesntguaranteepaidsick

leaveorpaidmaternityleavetoourworkers.Fortythreemillionworkershavenopaid

sickleave43million.Thinkaboutthat.Andthatforcestoomanyparentstomake

thegutwrenchingchoicebetweenapaycheckandasickkidathome. (TheWhite

HouseOfficeofthePressSecretary.2015)
The idea of liberalism is very vague here, but let us analyze for a moment. The

foundationalideasofliberalismarefreedomandequality.Whereisequalityifnotallof

usascitizenshavepaidsickleave?Wherecanwefindfreedomifwehavetochoose

betweengoingtoworkandtakingcareofonessickchild?Thedefinitionoffreedom

accordingtoMerriamWebsteris:theabsenceofnecessity,coercion,orconstraintin

choiceoraction. (MerriamWebstern.d.) Aswecansee,freedomisnotnecessarily

presenthere.

Letusemphasizetheideaofliberalismbeingpresentbyaddingthefollowingsentence:

SoIllbetakingnewactiontohelpstatesadoptpaidleavelawsoftheirown.(The

White House Office of the Press Secretary. 2015) That is liberalism because the

presidenthimselfwilltakeactioninordertoachieveequality.

On this paragraph we can see the idea of social contract and liberalism

intertwinedwitheachother. DuringWorldWarII,whenmenlikemygrandfather

wentofftowar,havingwomenlikemygrandmotherintheworkforcewasanational

securityprioritysothiscountryprovideduniversalchildcare.Intodayseconomy,

whenhavingbothparentsintheworkforceisaneconomicnecessityformanyfamilies,

weneedaffordable,highqualitychildcaremorethanever.(TheWhiteHouseOffice

ofthePressSecretary.2015)Thenotionofsocialcontractisveryclearhere,whilstthe

womenhelpedwithnationalsecuritythegovernmentprovidednotonlythetraditional

sense ofindividualrights towomenbutitalsoadded provideduniversalchildcare.

Now,wecanseeliberalismbecausenoindividualpersongottochoosewhetherthey

wanted universal childcare or not. Universal childcare was given on the basis of

achievingfreedom.Freedomforthewomentogooutandworkwithouthavingtoworry
aboutleavingtheirchildrenunattended,withintheframeworkofthesocialcontractat

thattime.

Letuslookatthisparagraph:Whenwemakerashdecisions,reactingtotheheadlines

insteadofusingourheads;whenthefirstresponsetoachallengeistosendinour

military then we risk getting drawn into unnecessary conflicts, and neglect the

broaderstrategyweneedforasafer,moreprosperousworld.Thatswhatourenemies

wantustodo.(TheWhiteHouseOfficeofthePressSecretary.2015)Thisparagraph

refers to idealism and international law, because it is promoting diplomacy over

weapons.Albeititalsoacknowledgesthatifprovokedbyourenemieswewilltogoto

war and act irrationally, all in order to protect our allies and ourselves, a perfect

exampleofrealismandwar.

ThecontinuationtothisparagraphbetterexplainswhatIjuststated:Welead

bestwhenwecombinemilitarypowerwithstrongdiplomacy;whenweleverageour

powerwithcoalitionbuilding;whenwedontletourfearsblindustotheopportunities

thatthisnewcenturypresents. (TheWhiteHouseOfficeofthePressSecretary.

2015)Itclearlystatesthatweinourcountryfavordiplomacy,butneverwillweleave

our military power too far behind. The latter paragraph is a perfect portrait of the

symbiotic relationship between realismwar and idealisminternational law in our

country.

Lookingtothefutureinsteadofthepast.Makingsurewematchourpowerwith

diplomacy, and use force wisely. Building coalitions to meet new challenges and

opportunities.Leadingalwayswiththeexampleofourvalues.Thatswhatmakes

usexceptional. Thatswhatkeepsusstrong. Thatswhywehavetokeepstrivingto

holdourselvestothehighestofstandardsourown.(TheWhiteHouseOfficeof
thePressSecretary.2015)ThisisAmericanexceptionalism.Ihonestlythinkthatthere

isnotmuchexplainingtodo.Ourvaluesarewhatmakesandkeepsusstrong,andour

standards/valuesarethehighestofthemall.

AsaconclusionIwouldliketostatethatourfoundingpillarshavenotchanged,

westilllivebythevisionthatourfoundingfatherhadforus.Theonlythingthathas

changedisthatmanyofthecontextshaveeitherevolvedorchangedcompletely.Itis

interestinghowPOTUSideastheideasthatwereanalyzedareliberal,andlowthe

wordliberalchangesmeaningfromcountrytocountryanderatoera.Onethingthat

caughtmyeye,andthatIamstillponderingisthefactthatourmilitarywillalways

haveanimportantroleinmanyaspectsofourlivesasUScitizens.P.BarackObama,in

thisspeechparticularly,hasproventobealiberal,yes,butaliberalthatiswillingto

workwithallideologies.Ifindthatthisspeechisaspeechthatmanypeoplecanrelate

to.

Lastly,IwouldliketosaysomethingaboutAmericanexeptionalism.Asakid,I

remember being taught American exeptionalism by stories and songs. I hope this

traditionorideologyneverceasestoexist.

Webography

*Citations listed according to the Chicago manual of style.

(The White House Office of the Press Secretary. 2015)

https://www.whitehouse.gov/thepressoffice/2016/01/12/remarkspresidentbarack

obamaprepareddeliverystateunionaddress(AccessedMarch,17th,18th,19th,2016).

MerriamWebsterDefinitionofFreedom.MerriamWebster.com.

http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/freedom(AccessedMarch19th,2016).