Trump's 2019 Fourth of July Speech, an Encomium to Power

President Donald Trump

In his Fourth of July speech this evening, President Donald Trump turned the annual celebration into a spectacle that praised the United States' military might. As he did so, he told us what his values are. His ultimate value was power. As Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca pointed out in their epic study The New Rhetoric, ceremonial speeches are about values. And the Greek philosopher Aristotle said thousands of years ago that a ceremonial teaches about honor and dishonor, praise and blame. Trump's speech honored the military for its might and power. In the speech's main part, he announced the accomplishments of each branch of the military while aircraft from each branch flew overhead in turn: Air Force One, the Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber and F-22 fighter plane, the Navy's F-35, the Blue Angels, the VH-92 helicopter, and so forth. M-1 tanks were on display. Various military bands and choirs, who were excellent as always, performed their branch's favorite tunes.

Trump's emphasis on the military was dramatic: "We celebrate our history, our people, and the heroes who proudly defend our flag – the brave men and women of the United States military." He recounted the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the creation of the Constitution. He recounted the founding of the Navy. He recounted various successful wars and battles.

Trump listed various accomplishments, such as the launching of the Apollo astronauts (he also promised to go to Mars). He praised Clarence Henderson's part in the Woolworth sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina 50 years ago. Given Trump's sketchy record on civil rights, that was, I suppose, a nice touch.

Trump's conclusion was a ringing endorsement of the old doctrine of American Exceptionalism, which holds that United States is a special and sacred nation, the "shining city on a hill:"

Blue Angels in 2018

"Thank you. We will always be the people who defeated a tyrant sword into the heavens. . .. We will never forget that we are Americans and that the future belongs to us. The future belongs to the brave, the strong, the proud. . . .  We are one people chasing one dream and one magnificent destiny. We all share the same heroes, home, heart, and we are all made by the same Almighty God. From the banks of the Chesapeake, to the cliffs of California, from the humming shores of the Great Lakes to the sand dunes of the Carolinas, from the fields of the heartland to the Everglades of Florida, the spirit of American independence will never fade, but will reign forever and ever."

Let's take a minute to compare Trump's speech to President Barack Obama's 2016 Fourth of July speech. The differences strike to the core – strike to two different images of the United States.

1. Trump's speech was a magnificent spectacle, the creation of a master showperson who worked with an enormous budget, made up of someone else's money, to create the impression of power and magnificence. In contrast, Obama's speech was informal, casual, and friendly in tone.
2. Ceremonial speeches tell us about values. Trump emphasized the national unity that we all know does not exist in real life, and which, to all appearances, applies only to people who share his perspective. Obama, however, in addition to praising the military, took time to remember people who were poor, homeless, hungry, or uneducated. Trump, expressing much different values, acted as if such people had already been swept aside. Indeed, he spoke as if marginalized or neglected people did not even exist. Instead, he depicted America as a nation that is and always has been magnificent, great, and, to all appearances, flawless.
3. In terms of policy, Trump hinted at the need for military power and might, while Obama instead hinted at the need to remember the people who were being left behind.
4. Obama spoke from the White House, leaving the spectacle to others. In Trump's speech, the spectacle was a major point. Trump ignored the rain and created his show.

Trump and Obama represented two visions of America. They chose two different visions of America that came from two different concepts of conscience and two different sets of values. I sympathize much more with Obama's values. The conservative mentality arises from the feeling that we don't need to change and therefore should leave things the way they are. The liberal mentality arises from the view that, although many things are good, there is always room to improve. So, as Trump flattered the United States, he left us to wonder why anyone would want to change such a magnificent, powerful nation. But to admit that we need to improve requires us to admit that there is something wrong and if we never admit that anything is wrong we don't need to change – or do we?

The technical term for a ceremonial speech is epideictic. An epideictic speech literally "shows forth." And so Trump's speech showed forth indeed. His opponents must remember that many Americans share the vision that he showed forth.

P.S.: Interesting contrast is Mark Twain's 4th of July speech - quite a different idea!

P.P.S.: Did Trump say that the Revolutionary Army took over the airports in the 18th Century? Apparently he did say that. He will be ridiculed for eternity. Did he misread the script? Are his speechwriters complete idiots? Was he saying that America was so exceptional that we had airports centuries before airplanes were invented? Or what? We may never know... He also mixed up the Revolutionary War (no song called "Star-Spangled Banner" and the War of 1812 (had a song called "Star-Spangled Banner.") Is American education dead? 

Blue Angels photo from US Navy website.
Trump photo from WhiteHouse.gov