Barack Obama Tucson memorial speech
Encyclopedia
President of the United States
Barack Obama
delivered a speech at the Together We Thrive: Tucson and America memorial on January 12, 2011, held in the McKale Center
on the University of Arizona
campus.
It honored the victims of the 2011 Tucson shooting
and included themes of healing and national unity. Watched by more than 30 million Americans, it drew widespread, unusual praise from politicians and commentators across the political spectrum and from abroad.
, head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. That day and the next, he spoke with relatives of the victims of the shooting, including Mark E. Kelly
the astronaut who is Gabrielle Giffords
' husband.
The formal speechwriting process began on January 10, with staff speechwriter Cody Keenan. Previously a staffer for Senator
Edward Kennedy
, Keenan helped write the remarks Obama delivered after Kennedy's death. Keenan is a Chicago native, and a recent graduate of Harvard University
with a master's degree in public policy.
White House staffers found a copy of Faces of Hope, a book picturing 50 babies born on September 11, 2001. One was Christina-Taylor Green, the girl killed in the shooting. That book contained a quote from the book's author that Obama incorporated into his speech: "I hope you jump in rain puddles."
White House staffers exchanged email with religious advisors about biblical passages, settling on the Book of Job
and Psalms 46. Obama decided to quote the lesser-known, middle part of the psalm, feeling it better fit his theme as opposed to more frequently quoted verses.
He quoted from Psalms
46:4-5, and then summarized the events of the previous Saturday morning, when six people were killed and Gabrielle Giffords
was shot through the head, while "gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech."
Six times over, he devoted four or five sentences each to summarizing the lives of the six who were killed: Judge John Roll, Dorothy Morris, Phyllis Schenck, Dorwan Stoddard, Congressional aide Gabe Zimmerman and Christina-Taylor Green. Summarizing this section of the speech, he said, "Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken - and yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness."
He then mentioned the 13 people who had survived being shot, specifically Congresswoman Giffords, who was the most seriously injured. He went on to praise the heroism of those who acted to save people, including those who provided emergency first aid, those who helped disarm and subdue the gunman, and the nurses, physicians and emergency personnel who helped save the lives of the wounded.
He mentioned his visit to the hospital and, with permission from her family, said four times that "Gabby had opened her eyes" for the first time since the shooting, to rapturous and the most sustained applause of the many applause breaks during the speech.
Obama discussed how people were seeking to make sense out of something senseless by debating issues such as gun safety laws and the adequacy of the mental health treatment system, observing that such discussions were necessary in exercising self government. He spoke of a new "National Conversation" already beginning after the tragedy.
He urged that presently polarized national debate be conducted "in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds." Quoting the Book of Job
30:26, he observed that "terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding." He then said, "For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack", and that no one can know "what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind". Urging his listeners to avoid using the tragedy as "one more occasion to turn on one another", he recommended humility, empathy and especially reflection instead, urging people to consider whether they have "shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives".
He said "we are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame -– but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better."
He then returned to a tribute to those who were killed, praising their virtues, and concentrating specifically on the example of Christina-Taylor Green, the nine year old girl who had been born on September 11, 2001. He recommended that people should be motivated by their loss to "strive to be better in our private lives", and to "help usher in more civility in our public discourse." At this moment he again addressed the causes of the tragedy, saying " ... let us remember it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy — it did not...."
Commenting that "those who died here - those who saved lives here - they help me to believe", he observed that, in the end, "people are full of decency and goodness."
Wrapping up his speech with more anecdotes about Christina-Taylor Green, he said, "All of us — we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations". After referencing heaven and rain puddles there, and "commitment as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit", he closed the speech with a blessing.
called the speech a turning point in the Obama presidency. "It was his most important speech so far, one that history is going to reflect on," said Brinkley. "There was a bit of Dr. King to him. That's simply been missing in his presidency so far. I was sitting there and I realized, 'This guy might be a great man.' I had forgotten about that."
Michael Beschloss
said that, "I thought it was one of the best speeches he's ever given. Not only the message, which was to pull the redeeming things out of this horrible episode, but also the way he really sort of came to life while giving it."
History professor Ellen Fitzpatrick of the University of New Hampshire
said that, "It was really a sign of what we expect from our president, that is what a leader does in a time of crisis and division and tragedy is to reduce, not heighten tensions. And I thought by his example, the way he described the humanity of all of the people involved in this tragic event, that he showed by the way he spoke and what he asked Americans to do. He led by his own example in a very powerful way."
Garry Wills
wrote that "Obama had to rise above the acrimonious debate about what caused the gunman in Tucson to kill and injure so many people. He side-stepped that issue by celebrating the fallen and the wounded and those who rushed to their assistance. He has been criticized by some for holding a "pep rally" rather than a mourning service. But he was speaking to those who knew and loved and had rallied around the people attacked. He was praising them and those who assisted them, and the cheers were deserved." Wills thought very highly of the speech, comparing it to Lincoln
's Gettysburg Address
and Second inaugural address
and to Henry V
's speech at Agincourt
in Shakespeare
.
Doris Kearns Goodwin
was struck by the emotion that the usually self-controlled Obama showed during the speech. "He did exactly what the moment called for, in a way that was consistent with him as a cerebral president. It was a completely authentic moment."
conducted a poll that asked about Americans' response to Obama's speech in Tucson. The report said that "the aftermath of the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., dominated the public's news interest last week as President Obama's speech at a memorial service won praise -- across party lines -- among those who had read or heard about the event." According to Pew, "Most Americans say they heard at least a little about Obama's speech at the Jan. 12 memorial service at the University of Arizona (75%). Among that group, nearly seven-in-ten (69%) say the address was either excellent (36%) or good (33%), while 21% rate the speech as only fair (15%) or poor (6%)."
ABC News
and The Washington Post
conducted a poll that gauged public response to Obama's response to the shootings, including his Tucson speech. Pollster Gary Langer reported that "Seventy-eight percent in a new ABC News-Washington Post poll approve of the way Obama has responded to the shootings, which he addressed in a speech in Tucson last week; that includes 71 percent of Republicans and conservatives alike."
One week after the speech, John Harwood
of CNBC
reported that a poll conducted by NBC News
and The Wall Street Journal
found that Obama's job approval rating had increased from 45% to 53% in the past month. Harwood said that Obama was "strengthened by his adjustment to Republican gains and his response to the Tucson shootings", and that as a result, he "approaches next week's State of the Union address with renewed political momentum".
While Obama's speech was widely praised, some television viewers felt that excessive applause and cheering from the audience created an inappropriate pep rally
-like atmosphere at the service.
called it "easily the best speech of his presidency."
Charles Krauthammer
praised the speech, especially in regards to Obama's mention of Gifford's opening her eyes for the first time: "the way he seized the moment and he brought the audience to that and became so inspirational" was "quite remarkable and extremely effective."
David Frum
added that the "president's challenge, as so often, was to make a human connection. In that, he succeeded tonight. He paid tribute to the individuality of the lost, honored the pain of the bereaved, and was crucial in bringing together the collective community acknowledgment of grief that is the only available comfort to those who mourn."
Senator John McCain
praised Obama's call for civility as a "terrific speech. McCain said that Obama had "comforted and inspired the country."
McCain also said that Obama had "movingly mourned and honored the victims", and "encouraged every American who participates in our political debates - whether we are on the left or right or in the media - to aspire to a more generous appreciation of one another and a more modest one of ourselves."
The Wall Street Journal
reported that praise for the speech came from conservative pundits such as Charles Krauthammer
and prominent Republicans including Newt Gingrich
, Tim Pawlenty
and Ed Rollins
. The newspaper reported that Obama was making "an effort to recast himself as a unifying figure, after two years of partisan fights" and that "it was clear he had taken another step in that direction".
Linda Feldmann of the Christian Science Monitor reported that Glenn Beck
called the speech "probably the best speech he has ever given." Pat Buchanan
called it "splendid." Michael Gerson
, speechwriter for George W. Bush
, said "it had a good heart." The newspaper reported that Fox News panelists Brit Hume
and Chris Wallace
had praised the speech.
Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly
wrote an opinion piece in the Boston Herald
, saying,
"In an excellent speech eulogizing the six dead and paying respect to the critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Obama appealed to the nation to cool down and stop the nonsense." O'Reilly went on to say that Obama should have given the speech sooner.
In addition, various political commentators noted the significance of the speech. David Jackson of USA Today
wrote that "A little more than a week after the deadly shooting in Arizona, it seems clear that President Obama's political standing is stronger." Describing the impact of Obama's speech, he said that it had "won near-universal praise, his approval ratings are back at 50% or higher in several polls, and many commentators put him in an improved position for re-election in 2012."
Discussing the speechwriting process, Lynn Sweet
of the Chicago Sun-Times
wrote that the speech was "memorable" and that it "has gotten good reviews, for content and hitting the right pitch".
"The Plum Line" editorial in The Washington Post
commented: "The Tucson speech may go down as one of the most important of Barack Obama's presidency, so it's worth nailing down its most important accomplishment: He finally got conservatives to listen to what he had to say - about them.
In Slate
, legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick
wrote that "President Obama's speech in Tucson last night should be ranked with his greatest oratorical moments, largely because in the end he was brave enough to sidestep politics and ideology, and speak instead of love, and family, and the need for kindness."
Kent Ward of the Bangor Daily News
called it "arguably as fine a speech as he has made in his ceremonial role as head of state."
of the University of Toronto
wrote that "Mr. Obama rose above tacky surroundings to deliver the best speech of his career."
Al Jazeera
's Patty Culhane, said Obama's speech set a new marker for how politics is carried out during the rest of his presidency. "From here on out I think everything he does will be measured by the pundits against this incredible speech he gave here tonight," she said. "We've moments in the past where mass tragedies have led to legislation but we haven't seen a change in the tone in Washington.
In the United Kingdom
, Ewen MacAskill of The Guardian
chose to end a positive article by quoting James Fallows
in The Atlantic "A performance to remember. This will be, along with his 2004 convention speech and his March 2008 'meaning of race' speech in Philadelphia, one of the speeches he is lastingly known for – and to add to the list of daunting political/oratorical challenges Obama has not merely met but mastered."
French
conservative newspaper Le Figaro
considered the discourse "Moving, empathic, and above the raging political conflict." It also noted "a religious approach in phase with a deeply believing America" L'Express
claimed that "many people compare his moving appeal to national mourning and solidarity within this ordeal, on January 12, to the decisive Bill Clinton
speech after the 1995 Oklahoma City
bombing
, or the day after 9/11 George W. Bush
discourse". It noticed that, while Obama had been criticized for his lack of empathy before, he managed to express his emotions.
The Times of India
called the speech "a stirring memorial address by President Obama on Wednesday that abjured politics and called for 'talking with each in a way that heals, not a way that wounds'".
In The Sydney Morning Herald
an article by Simon Mann titled "The killer political metaphor under fire" examined the wider political atmosphere surrounding the killings. It referred to The New York Times
columnist Paul Krugman
's use of the term "eliminationist rhetoric" to describe the atmosphere which preceded them. It also quoted Andrew Sullivan
: "To rate this address on any political meter would be to demean it. The President wrested free of politics tonight and spoke of greater things." Mann also mentioned two congressmen who said they intended "packing heat" more often when meeting constituents in future, but that "others seemed resigned to merely a (post speech) truce in the high-octane political sport of baiting and debating" He ended with a quote from Erick Erickson
about obstacles to civil politics: "Too many people earn a really good living pushing this tone and this hate."
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
delivered a speech at the Together We Thrive: Tucson and America memorial on January 12, 2011, held in the McKale Center
McKale Center
McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena located at 1756 E University Blvd on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is primarily used for basketball, but also features state-of-the-art physical training and therapy facilities. Its construction is marked with a large...
on the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
campus.
It honored the victims of the 2011 Tucson shooting
2011 Tucson shooting
On January 8, 2011, a mass shooting occurred near Tucson, Arizona. Nineteen people were shot, six of them fatally, with one other person injured at the scene during an open meeting that U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was holding with members of her constituency in a Casas Adobes Safeway...
and included themes of healing and national unity. Watched by more than 30 million Americans, it drew widespread, unusual praise from politicians and commentators across the political spectrum and from abroad.
Writing the speech
Obama began writing his speech the day of the shooting, discussing the matter with young Pentecostal clergyman, Joshua DuBoisJoshua DuBois
Joshua DuBois is the head of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Executive Office of the President of the United States under President Barack Obama....
, head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. That day and the next, he spoke with relatives of the victims of the shooting, including Mark E. Kelly
Mark E. Kelly
Mark Edward Kelly is a retired American astronaut, U.S. Navy captain and naval aviator who flew combat missions during the Gulf War. He was selected to become a NASA space shuttle pilot in 1996 and flew his first mission in 2001 as pilot of STS-108. He piloted STS-121 in 2006 and commanded STS-124...
the astronaut who is Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Dee "Gabby" Giffords is an American politician. A Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, she has represented since 2007. She is the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress...
' husband.
The formal speechwriting process began on January 10, with staff speechwriter Cody Keenan. Previously a staffer for Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Edward Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
, Keenan helped write the remarks Obama delivered after Kennedy's death. Keenan is a Chicago native, and a recent graduate of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
with a master's degree in public policy.
White House staffers found a copy of Faces of Hope, a book picturing 50 babies born on September 11, 2001. One was Christina-Taylor Green, the girl killed in the shooting. That book contained a quote from the book's author that Obama incorporated into his speech: "I hope you jump in rain puddles."
White House staffers exchanged email with religious advisors about biblical passages, settling on the Book of Job
Book of Job
The Book of Job , commonly referred to simply as Job, is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of Satan, his discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The book is a...
and Psalms 46. Obama decided to quote the lesser-known, middle part of the psalm, feeling it better fit his theme as opposed to more frequently quoted verses.
Summary of speech
Early in the speech, Obama said, "There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole in your heart," and said that the hopes of the nation were with those in mourning.He quoted from Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
46:4-5, and then summarized the events of the previous Saturday morning, when six people were killed and Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Dee "Gabby" Giffords is an American politician. A Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, she has represented since 2007. She is the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress...
was shot through the head, while "gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and free speech."
Six times over, he devoted four or five sentences each to summarizing the lives of the six who were killed: Judge John Roll, Dorothy Morris, Phyllis Schenck, Dorwan Stoddard, Congressional aide Gabe Zimmerman and Christina-Taylor Green. Summarizing this section of the speech, he said, "Our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. Our hearts are broken - and yet, our hearts also have reason for fullness."
He then mentioned the 13 people who had survived being shot, specifically Congresswoman Giffords, who was the most seriously injured. He went on to praise the heroism of those who acted to save people, including those who provided emergency first aid, those who helped disarm and subdue the gunman, and the nurses, physicians and emergency personnel who helped save the lives of the wounded.
He mentioned his visit to the hospital and, with permission from her family, said four times that "Gabby had opened her eyes" for the first time since the shooting, to rapturous and the most sustained applause of the many applause breaks during the speech.
Obama discussed how people were seeking to make sense out of something senseless by debating issues such as gun safety laws and the adequacy of the mental health treatment system, observing that such discussions were necessary in exercising self government. He spoke of a new "National Conversation" already beginning after the tragedy.
He urged that presently polarized national debate be conducted "in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds." Quoting the Book of Job
Book of Job
The Book of Job , commonly referred to simply as Job, is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of Satan, his discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The book is a...
30:26, he observed that "terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding." He then said, "For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack", and that no one can know "what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind". Urging his listeners to avoid using the tragedy as "one more occasion to turn on one another", he recommended humility, empathy and especially reflection instead, urging people to consider whether they have "shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives".
He said "we are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame -– but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better."
He then returned to a tribute to those who were killed, praising their virtues, and concentrating specifically on the example of Christina-Taylor Green, the nine year old girl who had been born on September 11, 2001. He recommended that people should be motivated by their loss to "strive to be better in our private lives", and to "help usher in more civility in our public discourse." At this moment he again addressed the causes of the tragedy, saying " ... let us remember it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy — it did not...."
Commenting that "those who died here - those who saved lives here - they help me to believe", he observed that, in the end, "people are full of decency and goodness."
Wrapping up his speech with more anecdotes about Christina-Taylor Green, he said, "All of us — we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations". After referencing heaven and rain puddles there, and "commitment as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit", he closed the speech with a blessing.
Responses by American historians
Douglas BrinkleyDouglas Brinkley
Douglas Brinkley is an American author, professor of history at Rice University and a fellow at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy. Brinkley is the history commentator for CBS News and a contributing editor to the magazine Vanity Fair...
called the speech a turning point in the Obama presidency. "It was his most important speech so far, one that history is going to reflect on," said Brinkley. "There was a bit of Dr. King to him. That's simply been missing in his presidency so far. I was sitting there and I realized, 'This guy might be a great man.' I had forgotten about that."
Michael Beschloss
Michael Beschloss
Michael Richard Beschloss is an American historian. A specialist in the United States presidency, he is the author of nine books.- Early life :...
said that, "I thought it was one of the best speeches he's ever given. Not only the message, which was to pull the redeeming things out of this horrible episode, but also the way he really sort of came to life while giving it."
History professor Ellen Fitzpatrick of the University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...
said that, "It was really a sign of what we expect from our president, that is what a leader does in a time of crisis and division and tragedy is to reduce, not heighten tensions. And I thought by his example, the way he described the humanity of all of the people involved in this tragic event, that he showed by the way he spoke and what he asked Americans to do. He led by his own example in a very powerful way."
Garry Wills
Garry Wills
Garry Wills is a Pulitzer Prize-winning and prolific author, journalist, and historian, specializing in American politics, American political history and ideology and the Roman Catholic Church. Classically trained at a Jesuit high school and two universities, he is proficient in Greek and Latin...
wrote that "Obama had to rise above the acrimonious debate about what caused the gunman in Tucson to kill and injure so many people. He side-stepped that issue by celebrating the fallen and the wounded and those who rushed to their assistance. He has been criticized by some for holding a "pep rally" rather than a mourning service. But he was speaking to those who knew and loved and had rallied around the people attacked. He was praising them and those who assisted them, and the cheers were deserved." Wills thought very highly of the speech, comparing it to Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...
and Second inaugural address
Lincoln's second inaugural address
Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, during his second inauguration as President of the United States. At a time when victory over the secessionists in the American Civil War was within days and slavery was near an end, Lincoln did not speak of happiness, but of...
and to Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
's speech at Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
in Shakespeare
Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
.
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Doris Kearns Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American biographer and historian, and an oft-seen political commentator. She is the author of biographies of several U.S...
was struck by the emotion that the usually self-controlled Obama showed during the speech. "He did exactly what the moment called for, in a way that was consistent with him as a cerebral president. It was a completely authentic moment."
Public opinion regarding the speech
The Pew Research CenterPew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. In 1990, Donald S...
conducted a poll that asked about Americans' response to Obama's speech in Tucson. The report said that "the aftermath of the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., dominated the public's news interest last week as President Obama's speech at a memorial service won praise -- across party lines -- among those who had read or heard about the event." According to Pew, "Most Americans say they heard at least a little about Obama's speech at the Jan. 12 memorial service at the University of Arizona (75%). Among that group, nearly seven-in-ten (69%) say the address was either excellent (36%) or good (33%), while 21% rate the speech as only fair (15%) or poor (6%)."
ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
and The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
conducted a poll that gauged public response to Obama's response to the shootings, including his Tucson speech. Pollster Gary Langer reported that "Seventy-eight percent in a new ABC News-Washington Post poll approve of the way Obama has responded to the shootings, which he addressed in a speech in Tucson last week; that includes 71 percent of Republicans and conservatives alike."
One week after the speech, John Harwood
John Harwood
John Harwood is an American journalist who is the Chief Washington Correspondent for CNBC and a writer for The New York Times. He writes a weekly column entitled "The Caucus" that appears on Monday about Washington politics and policy...
of CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
reported that a poll conducted by NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
and The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
found that Obama's job approval rating had increased from 45% to 53% in the past month. Harwood said that Obama was "strengthened by his adjustment to Republican gains and his response to the Tucson shootings", and that as a result, he "approaches next week's State of the Union address with renewed political momentum".
While Obama's speech was widely praised, some television viewers felt that excessive applause and cheering from the audience created an inappropriate pep rally
Pep rally
Pep rallies are events that occur primarily in the United States and Canada. A pep rally is a gathering of people, typically students of middle school, high school and college age, before a sports event. The purpose of such a gathering is to encourage school spirit and to support members of the...
-like atmosphere at the service.
Domestic responses to the speech
The speech was notable for receiving acclaim from Republicans and conservatives. Mike HuckabeeMike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
called it "easily the best speech of his presidency."
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...
praised the speech, especially in regards to Obama's mention of Gifford's opening her eyes for the first time: "the way he seized the moment and he brought the audience to that and became so inspirational" was "quite remarkable and extremely effective."
David Frum
David Frum
David J. Frum is a Canadian American journalist active in both the United States and Canadian political arenas. A former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, he is also the author of the first "insider" book about the Bush presidency...
added that the "president's challenge, as so often, was to make a human connection. In that, he succeeded tonight. He paid tribute to the individuality of the lost, honored the pain of the bereaved, and was crucial in bringing together the collective community acknowledgment of grief that is the only available comfort to those who mourn."
Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
praised Obama's call for civility as a "terrific speech. McCain said that Obama had "comforted and inspired the country."
McCain also said that Obama had "movingly mourned and honored the victims", and "encouraged every American who participates in our political debates - whether we are on the left or right or in the media - to aspire to a more generous appreciation of one another and a more modest one of ourselves."
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
reported that praise for the speech came from conservative pundits such as Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...
and prominent Republicans including Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
, Tim Pawlenty
Tim Pawlenty
Timothy James "Tim" Pawlenty , also known affectionately among supporters as T-Paw, is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Minnesota . He was a Republican candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election from May to August 2011...
and Ed Rollins
Ed Rollins
Edward John "Ed" Rollins is a Republican campaign consultant and advisor who has worked on several high-profile political campaigns in the United States. In 1983-84, he was National Campaign Director for the Reagan-Bush '84 campaign, winning 49 of 50 states...
. The newspaper reported that Obama was making "an effort to recast himself as a unifying figure, after two years of partisan fights" and that "it was clear he had taken another step in that direction".
Linda Feldmann of the Christian Science Monitor reported that Glenn Beck
Glenn Beck
Glenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...
called the speech "probably the best speech he has ever given." Pat Buchanan
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
called it "splendid." Michael Gerson
Michael Gerson
Michael John Gerson is an op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, a Policy Fellow with the ONE Campaign, and a former senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as President George W...
, speechwriter for George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, said "it had a good heart." The newspaper reported that Fox News panelists Brit Hume
Brit Hume
Brit Hume is an American television journalist and political commentator.For twenty years he was a correspondent for the American Broadcasting Company, including Chief White House Correspondent. He then spent ten years as the Washington, D.C. managing editor of the Fox News Channel and the anchor...
and Chris Wallace
Chris Wallace (journalist)
Christopher "Chris" Wallace is an American journalist, currently the host of the Fox Network program, Fox News Sunday. Wallace has won three Emmy Awards, the Dupont-Columbia Silver Baton Award, and a Peabody Award. Wallace has been with Fox News since 2003...
had praised the speech.
Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
wrote an opinion piece in the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
, saying,
"In an excellent speech eulogizing the six dead and paying respect to the critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Obama appealed to the nation to cool down and stop the nonsense." O'Reilly went on to say that Obama should have given the speech sooner.
In addition, various political commentators noted the significance of the speech. David Jackson of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
wrote that "A little more than a week after the deadly shooting in Arizona, it seems clear that President Obama's political standing is stronger." Describing the impact of Obama's speech, he said that it had "won near-universal praise, his approval ratings are back at 50% or higher in several polls, and many commentators put him in an improved position for re-election in 2012."
Discussing the speechwriting process, Lynn Sweet
Lynn Sweet
Lynn Sweet is the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times and a columnist for The Hill, a weekly newspaper that covers the U.S...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
wrote that the speech was "memorable" and that it "has gotten good reviews, for content and hitting the right pitch".
"The Plum Line" editorial in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
commented: "The Tucson speech may go down as one of the most important of Barack Obama's presidency, so it's worth nailing down its most important accomplishment: He finally got conservatives to listen to what he had to say - about them.
In Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick
Dahlia Lithwick
-External links:*...
wrote that "President Obama's speech in Tucson last night should be ranked with his greatest oratorical moments, largely because in the end he was brave enough to sidestep politics and ideology, and speak instead of love, and family, and the need for kindness."
Kent Ward of the Bangor Daily News
Bangor Daily News
The Bangor Daily News is an American newspaper that was founded on June 18, 1889; in 1900 the paper merged with the Bangor Whig and Courier. The Bangor Publishing Co. publishes the paper in Bangor, Maine, in addition to two weekly papers distributed by the BDN and several others distributed by the...
called it "arguably as fine a speech as he has made in his ceremonial role as head of state."
International response
Political science professor Clifford OrwinClifford Orwin
Clifford Orwin is a Canadian professor of ancient, modern, contemporary and Jewish political thought. He is also a prominent controversial writer on contemporary politics and culture.-Academic career:...
of the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
wrote that "Mr. Obama rose above tacky surroundings to deliver the best speech of his career."
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
's Patty Culhane, said Obama's speech set a new marker for how politics is carried out during the rest of his presidency. "From here on out I think everything he does will be measured by the pundits against this incredible speech he gave here tonight," she said. "We've moments in the past where mass tragedies have led to legislation but we haven't seen a change in the tone in Washington.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Ewen MacAskill of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
chose to end a positive article by quoting James Fallows
James Fallows
James Fallows is an American print and radio journalist. He has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly for many years. His work has also appeared in Slate, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker and The American Prospect, among others. He is a...
in The Atlantic "A performance to remember. This will be, along with his 2004 convention speech and his March 2008 'meaning of race' speech in Philadelphia, one of the speeches he is lastingly known for – and to add to the list of daunting political/oratorical challenges Obama has not merely met but mastered."
French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
conservative newspaper Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
considered the discourse "Moving, empathic, and above the raging political conflict." It also noted "a religious approach in phase with a deeply believing America" L'Express
L'Express (France)
L'Express is a French weekly news magazine. When founded in 1953 during the First Indochina War, it was modelled on the US magazine TIME.-History:...
claimed that "many people compare his moving appeal to national mourning and solidarity within this ordeal, on January 12, to the decisive Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
speech after the 1995 Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
bombing
Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
, or the day after 9/11 George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
discourse". It noticed that, while Obama had been criticized for his lack of empathy before, he managed to express his emotions.
The Times of India
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
called the speech "a stirring memorial address by President Obama on Wednesday that abjured politics and called for 'talking with each in a way that heals, not a way that wounds'".
In The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
an article by Simon Mann titled "The killer political metaphor under fire" examined the wider political atmosphere surrounding the killings. It referred to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
columnist Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman
Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist, professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times...
's use of the term "eliminationist rhetoric" to describe the atmosphere which preceded them. It also quoted Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Michael Sullivan is an English author, editor, political commentator and blogger. He describes himself as a political conservative. He has focused on American political life....
: "To rate this address on any political meter would be to demean it. The President wrested free of politics tonight and spoke of greater things." Mann also mentioned two congressmen who said they intended "packing heat" more often when meeting constituents in future, but that "others seemed resigned to merely a (post speech) truce in the high-octane political sport of baiting and debating" He ended with a quote from Erick Erickson
Erick Erickson
Erick Erickson , also known as Erick-Woods Erickson, is a politically conservative American blogger and managing editor of the blog site RedState.com. In 2010, he became a political contributor for CNN's John King, USA...
about obstacles to civil politics: "Too many people earn a really good living pushing this tone and this hate."
See also
- 2011 Tucson shooting: Aftermath and reactions
External links
- Tragedy in Arizona Video and transcript on the White HouseWhite HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
web site. - "President and First Lady Honor Victims" video of memorial on C-SPANC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
.org - "Obama's Tucson speech transcript: Full text of prepared remarks". The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
. January 13, 2011.