Barbara Nixon Speech Rhetorical Analysis

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Barbara Jordan gave a powerful speech regarding President Nixon and his possible impeachment for the Watergate Scandal. Throughout the speech, Jordan expressed her standpoint and reasoning as to why Nixon should be impeached. The main argument that Jordan presents in this speech is that the President should be impeached due to his actions that jeopardize the people of the United States and the Constitution. Barbara Jordan uses a great deal of effective language within her speech. I found her to be very eloquent and expressive when she spoke. Jordan used statements such as “We the people” to connect with her audience. She very often used the word “I” to show her credibility and her true views on the issue. It is obvious that Jordan is well educated, and it shows through her diction and her choice of words. …show more content…

I think Barbara Jordan did a great job defining impeachment and clarifying its criteria. In her speech, Jordan discusses impeachment and states, “We know the nature of impeachment. We’ve been talking about it a while now. It is chiefly designed for the President and his high ministers to somehow be called into account. It is designed to “bridle” the Executive if he engages in excesses. It is designed as a method of national inquest into the conduct of public men”. Later on in the speech, Jordan speaks about impeachment again and states “A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution”. She provides a clear definition and even states James Madison’s view of impeachment when he was at the Constitutional