As everyone is still buzzing about the President Obama's speech in Cairo, this is not the first time that a presidential speech has been thoroughly examined in the public. When comparing his speech to those of former American President's spoken words to those in a foreign land, Obama has mixed reviews in comparison.
A criticism of Obama's speech was that he failed to make a strong stand and make the points that needed to be made (Fixing relations between Palestine and Israel). This was one of the main problems found by the students at Cairo University.
In comparison, Ronald Reagan made a strong stand when he told the Soviet Union to "tear down this wall." Reagan wasn't afraid to say what needed to be said and drew great reaction from the 20,000 people who came to watch him speak that day in Berlin.
But Obama speech, while not taking as firm a stand as Reagan did, still received a great response from the Cairo community. Barack Obama has continued to gain popularity and is considered as popular as a Hollywood actor. This can be compared to Ronald Reagan, who originally was a Hollywood Actor, and had everyone in love with him, as he was the nation's grandfather.
Another comparison can be looked at with JFK's speech in West Berlin which was famous for the his line "Ich bin ein Berliner" which in the native language mean that he is a native of Berlin. JFK used this to find a connection with the home country and bring ease to the situation.
President Obama used this strategy as well. Throughout his speech he used frequent quotes from the Koran, which won loud applause from the highly Muslim audience.
But Barack Obama's charm will not continue to work, he has to learn to take a definite stand on the issues the public wants as his personality will only get his so far in his presidential term.
President Jimmy Carter showed this by his toast in Iran for the Shah of Iran. With his little "speech," a seizure of an American Embassy happened and led to the end of Carter’s presidency.
President Obama needs to watch his foreign relations and what he says in a foreign land, or else he could be like the previous President, and be target practice for shoe throwing people.
I agree. I think President Obama sees himself playing a key role in bridging the divide between the U.S. and Muslims, but he is the U.S. President and that alone will still bring him some grief.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jennifer in that President Obama sees himself playing a key role in bridging the divide. He made some key points in his speech and related well to the people in Cairo using quotes from the Quran and bluntly addressing controversial issues. There seemed to be more negatitivity in reactions from Americans on Obama's speech while internationally it seemed to be generally positive.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what has already been said. Earlier, I found an article that mentioned how some of the Muslims said that they won't automatically trust in what Obama is saying/promising to them because of what has occured in the past. I think in a way Obama came in with the idea that Muslims would be able to easily trust in his words without keeping in mind the past few years. However, that doesn't seem to be the case. I think you did a good job comparing a variety of presidential speeches. Something you might be able to add in could be why the people are reacting the way they did or are. Such as, is there a particular reason why everyone seemed to end up being more in favor of Reagan's speech and yet Obama seemed to be split.
ReplyDelete