Abstract

This paper aims to analyze how Barack Obama won the voters’ support in his first term as the President of the USA by means of Aristotelian rhetorical appeals, including logos, ethos, and pathos. Barack Obama’s speeches have left a deep impression on people and show the audiences his great personal charm. With regard to the ethical appeal, Obama established his credibility by displaying his competence, sound character, and goodwill toward his audiences. Regarding the emotional appeal, Obama made use of national pride and the voters’ personal woes increasingly to enhance pathos effects. By employing the logical appeal, he convinced American people to vote for him in the general election. He proves in his practice that the Aristotelian rhetorical appeals is a good means to reach the speaker’s goals.

Key words: Barack Obama  Aristotelian rhetorical appeals  speeches

摘  要

本文主旨在分析巴拉克•奥巴马在其第一届美国总统任期内如何运用亚里士多德的逻辑，道德和情感等修辞诉诸来赢得选民的支持。奥巴马的演讲给人们留下了深刻的印象，为观众展示了其伟大的人格魅力。首先，奥巴马通过向观众展示自己的能力，良好的品德以及友善态度来建立可信度。其次，奥巴马利用民族自豪感和选民的个人困境极大地增强演讲效果。第三，通过逻辑诉诸，获取美国人民的信任，赢得了大选。奥巴马用实践证明亚里士多德的三大修辞诉诸理论是达到演讲目的的一个好方法。

关键词： 巴拉克•奥巴马 亚里士多德的修辞诉诸 演讲

1 Introduction
This paper intends to provide a rhetorical study on Obama’s public speeches in his first term as president of the USA and try to shed a light on the understanding of his short journey from an unknown community organizer to the most powerful man in the world.
In the past two decades, a number of researchers have done considerable researches on Aristotelian rhetorical appeals in Western countries.George Campbell, an English rhetorician, claims in his book “The Philosophy of Rhetoric” that in the practice of rhetoric, the first consideration is that of the character to be sustained by the speaker. The speaker who is both wise and good promotes the success of the orator. Campbell also states that there is close relationship between “ethos” and “authority”. He brings forth new ideas about the ethos effect.