Alexandria DeNunzio
PAF 9199
Professor Hoffman
5 August 2015
Mayor Giuliani’s Speech to the UN General Assembly on Terrorism
On October 1st 2001, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani spoke at the United
Nations General Assembly Special Session on Terrorism. This speech was in light of the
atrocious terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, which sent two planes into the Twin
Towers and one into the Pentagon. These acts were an act of terror promulgated by the
group Al-Qaeda under the leadership of Osama Bin Laden. This speech is crucial
because it is the beginning of the plea to the United Nations to begin acting against
terrorism. In addition, this speech was given only three weeks after the attacks shows
particular strength and perseverance from the city of New York. The speech itself can be
seen through an ideographic, civil religion and shared text lens that put forth strong
words about the city of New York, Mayor Giuliani and the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The
insights gained will hopefully make one aware of the combination of constitutive
rhetoric, ideographs and pure emotion can be an extremely successful one on the political
stage.
The orator of this speech is Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Prior to be elected Mayor of
New York City, Giuliani graduated form New York University Law School in 1968
(Biography of Rudolph Giuliani). In 1983, Giuliani was appointed U.S. Attorney in the
Southern District of New York where he “spearheaded the effort to jail drug dealers, fight
organized crime, break the web of corruption in government and prosecute white-collar
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criminals; he had 4,152 convictions with only 25 reversals including cases he had against
the Italian Mafia (Biography of Rudolph Giuliani). In 1989, Giuliani decided to run for
Mayor of New York City but lost. In 1993, his campaign focused primarily on reforms
on quality of life, business, education and crime won him the election (Biography of
Rudolph Giuliani). He made New York more accountable by reducing crime by 57% and
murder by 65% (Biography of Rudolph Giuliani). His tax reform and fiscal
responsibility took New York from a $2.3 million dollar budget deficit into a multi
billion-dollar surplus, adding jobs and making New York City a hot spot for tourism
(Biography of Mayor Giuliani). Giuliani has been characterized as a “no nonsense” tough
on crime leader. He appointed Police Commissioner, William Bratton, and both believed
in a “broken window” theory of crime where small crimes can lead to a lawless
environment and create larger crimes (Thomas,1). This persona was absolutely
transmitted in Giuliani’s Speech after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. This
Speech at the UN was part of a weeklong forum to discuss terrorism for the first time
since the attacks (Christensen).
New York City after the attacks on 9/11 was in shambles. Many felt hopeless and
lived in fear of terrorists. Whenever a situation like this occurs the electorate look to their
leaders for guidance and assurance that all will go on as normal. This has proven to be
especially true in history with Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and Franklin
Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression and World War II. September 11th 2001
was no different and President George W. Bush and Mayor Rudy Giuliani were under the
magnifying glass of the media and public on how they would respond. Now, many have a
disdain on how politicians handled themselves during this time and the “War on Terror”
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but in 2001 that was not the case. People were looking for a leader after those horrifying
events. Giuliani’s speech was held in high regard by the media as a result. After 9/11
Giuliani’s popularity soared where the speech was considered impassioned and a rare
opportunity for the Mayor, being only the third mayor to address the U.N. (Schemann).
He was most remembered through his powerful allusions and didactic tone that unified
the audience, which consisted of not only diplomats but also New Yorkers (Schemann).
As a result, Giuliani gained respect from many members of the delegation although there
was still concern about how to proceed. Still, the speech itself was very well received.
The reason for Giuliani’s success in this speech is for a few things. It was not only
his didactic, harsh tone but it had much to do with the type of constitutive rhetoric.
Giuliani opens his speech by thanking his fellow delegates and discusses what happened
on September 11th 2001. He then launches into his own definition of what it means to be
American. He states:
The strength of the American response flows from the principals upon which we
stand. Americans are not a single ethnic group. Americans are not one race or
religion. Americans emerge from all of your nations. We’re defined as Americans
by our beliefs, not by our ethnic origins, our race or religion. Our belief in
religious freedom, political freedom, economic freedom—that’s what makes an
American. Our belief in democracy, the rule of law and respect for human life.—
that’s how you become an American (Giuliani).
He explains that these values are what are crucial to being American and that is what
terrorists threaten. By doing this Giuliani traces this throughout the speech to create a
good vs. evil rivalry. The constitutive rhetoric then is further used to discuss a “deterrent
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of terrorism is to spread principles of freedom, rule of law and respect for human life.”
By stating this, Giuliani further makes his argument about the spreading of democracy in
an, us vs. them standoff. In addition to these statements and Giuliani’s stern “no
nonsense” tone and New Yorkers in the audience, contributes to Giuliani being able to
inspire animosity towards the behavior of terrorists. With his definition of what an
American is, he subsequently defines the converse of that being a terrorist by the Mayor’s
standards. Instead of saying “American values, he states specific values that it would be
difficult to go against especially anything with freedom attached to it. Instead of sounding
imperialistic, Giuliani does an adequate job of gaining the attention of the audience.
Giuliani furthers this when he states:
On one side is democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human life; on the
other, its tyranny, arbitrary executions, and mass murder. We’re right and they’re
wrong. It’s as simple as that. And by that I mean that America and its allies are
right about democracy, about religious, political and economic freedom. And the
terrorists are wrong and, in fact, evil in their mass destruction of human life in the
name of addressing alleged injustices (Giuliani).
In turn, this constitutive rhetoric of respect for the law, economic, political freedoms and
value for human life was able to form a rivalry between terrorism and democratic values.
Giuliani does this seamlessly without coming off as imperialistic. It brought the
European, Asian, Middle Eastern, African nations and America on the same platform.
While having diverse backgrounds, much like United States citizens, onto a level playing
field. Giuliani advocates that while these nations have different cultures, ones that are not
necessarily “American in nature”, that it does not matter. He uses the concepts of
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Americans, more specifically New Yorkers, as a nation of immigrants are more
connected by their values than divided by their differences and that is what Giuliani does
in this speech with his constitutive rhetoric of values.
Whilst those values are at work, he adds vivid imagery to the audience’s
perspective to appeal to the emotions. When discussing whether or not terrorism is a real
threat he states, “the evidence of terrorism’s brutality and inhumanity, of its contempt for
life and the concept of peace is lying between the rubble of the World Trade Center, less
than two miles from where we meet today (Giuliani).” When the attacks on 9/11 occurred
many were aware of the horrors and how many people were not recovered. Giuliani’s
vivid imagery and the close proximity of it, brings to life, the reality of a terrorist attack
that cannot be accessed while watching television. Giuliani also unites the audience as he
claims that terror groups are against the children. Through his statements of “children
growing up without fathers and mothers, and parents who have had their children ripped
from them,” creates this imagery of going after the innocents in society. Giuliani
strategically frames this into a collective villain, terrorists. He presents this in a manner
that not only claims terrorists to go against democratic values but also children. By
presenting this through an image, it not only vilifies terrorist groups but also plays on the
audience’s emotions and unites them against this cause.
Giuliani throughout the speech uses many elements of ideographic nature, civil
religion and shared texts. There are a multitude of shared texts that appeal to the
audience. Giuliani opens the speech and describes the attacks and states:
On September 11th 2001, New York City—the most diverse city in the world—
was viciously attacked… more than five thousand innocent men, women and
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children of every race, religion and ethnicity are lost. Among these were people
from 80 different nations. To their representatives here today, I offer my
condolences to you as well on behalf of all New Yorkers who share this loss with
you. This was the deadliest attack—terrorist attack in history. It claimed more
lives than Pearl Harbor or D-Day (Giuliani).
Giuliani who utilizes the diversity of the audience also employs his knowledge of
historical allusions. Pearl Harbor and D-Day were both events that occurred during
World War II. World War II is one that was regarded as one that was violent and shook
the entire international discourse. Pearl Harbor was considered an attack and act of war
from the Japanese on the United States Navy in Hawaii. D-Day was a major turning point
during the War where the Allies gained control of the beaches of Normandy, France. The
whole precipice of World War II is that it was a war between the Allies and Axis powers.
The Allies consisting of the United States and England, pillars of democracy and a free
society were going against Germany, Italy and Japan. The Axis was practicing under
Fascist regimes and suppressing the rights of their citizens. Many of the main powers
within the United Nations were involved in World War II and the fear of those events
resonates to this day, in addition to those New Yorkers who are Veterans of World War
II. Giuliani employs this allusion to unite the audience under a painful historical memory.
By using the statistical evidence and number of deaths from 9/11 it create this anxiety
that world violence is escalating. This is efficient in bringing together all the delegates
under a collective memory to make the speech more effective.
In addition Giuliani praises the certain values aforementioned and praises them
and the United States. He states, “Its these very principles and opportunities these
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principles give to so many to create a better life for themselves …to make America and
New York a shining city on a hill” (Giuliani). This first Biblical allusion has appeared
multiple times in the history of the United States. The Governor of the Massachusetts
Bay Colony, John Winthrop, first uttered it during the Colonial Era. Winthrop stated, “
we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us” (U.S. History). The
Massachusetts Bay Colony was filled with Puritans who escaped their European
oppressors to practice freedom of religion. The goal was to have the city emulate good
values that God would approve of. Massachusetts was considered part of the foundation
of the United States and traces back to the roots of what America is all about. Giuliani
may have mentioned this to evoke the audience in an aura of nostalgia of American
values. The phrase “shining city upon a hill” was also stated during the farewell address
of former President Ronald Reagan. Giuliani could have employed this in order to
emulate the strength of Ronald Reagan. Reagan was notorious for his stern diplomatic
relations especially during the Cold War. His utterance to “tear down this wall Mr.
Gorbachev” displayed his conservative and lack of tolerance to the threatening of
American values and existence. This could have presented a tough front to the
international community that Giuliani, as well, was going to be tough on terrorism and
threats to the American values and existence. Giuliani furthers his use of shared texts to
unify the audience under the common goal of protecting democracy and shared values to
combat the evils of terrorism.
An additional historical allusion Giuliani implements is the mention of Neville
Chamberlain. Chamberlain is known as the British Prime Minister who, “negotiated with
Nazis and emerged hopeful that he had achieved peace in this time. Hitler’s wave of
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terror was only encouraged by these attempts at appeasement” (Giuliani). He uses
Chamberlain as an example of what not to do in international discourse. If Chamberlain
took a different stance similar to Giuliani’s on organized crime, Giuliani leads the
audience to believe that Hitler never would have rose to power. He argues for a tough
united front against terrorism one that does not placate them. In addition, this goes along
with his “broken window” philosophy and by taking a stand to this type of behavior early
certain violent actions can be prevented. His tough stance against terrorism not only puts
forth a conservative international diplomat but one that unites the audience of New
Yorkers and citizens. His historical allusions bring together the audience under one
umbrella of anti-terrorism with the hopes they can unite and eradicate them together.
In one of his closing arguments Giuliani also employs the shared text “Be Not
Afraid and Freedom from Fear.” Freedom from Fear is one of the basic human rights that
were put forth by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to outline his war aims and to
ensure that the fight in World War II was one for peace and freedom (FDR and the Four
Freedom’s Speech). Be Not Afraid is a Biblical verse for those walking on a path to keep
walking and God will protect and guide them. Giuliani brings these both to restore faith
with the common Biblical text and to ensure that moving forward against terrorism is one
that is worth the cause. Franklin D. Roosevelt is considered one of the nation’s greatest
Presidents and he too brings forth a unifying voice for the audience and European
diplomats that Giuliani successfully utilizes.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is remembered as one of New York City’s greatest
mayors through his many accolades. He is remembered as a revered politician and lawyer
who successfully took on crime in New York City. Most notably, he is known for his
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handling of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City. He was able to
unite a city under a common goal to better New York and combat terrorism. His 2001
speech to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on terrorism does that
successfully. He employs multiple historical allusions, shared texts and constitutive
rhetoric to not only united the New Yorkers in the audience but also the European
diplomats to move forward to combat terrorism.
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Works Cited
A. "Biography of Rudolph Giuliani." Biography of Rudolph Giuliani. The City of
New York Office of the Mayor. Web. 5 Aug. 2015.
<http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/rwg/html/bio.html>.
B. Christensen, Jeff. "Giuliani Addresses U.N. Before Terrorism Debate."
USATODAY. USATODAY, 1 Oct. 2001. Web. 5 Aug. 2015.
C. "FDR and the Four Freedoms Speech." Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential
Library and Museum. Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum. Web. 6
Aug. 2015.
D. Giuliani, Rudolph. "Rudy Giuliani - 9/11 Speech to the United Nations
General Assembly Special Session on Terrorism." American Rhetoric:
Rudy Giuliani - 9/11 Speech to the United Nations General Assembly
Special Session on Terrorism. American Rhetoric. Web. 6 Aug. 2015.
E. Schmemann, Serge. "GIULIANI IS BLUNT IN RARE U.N. TALK." The New
York Times. The New York Times, 1 Oct. 2001. Web. 5 Aug. 2015.
F. Thomas, Evan. "Growing Up Giuliani." Newsweek. Newsweek, 24 Nov. 2007.
Web. 5 Aug. 2015.
G, "The City Upon a Hill." U.S.History. Independence Hall Association. Web. 6
Aug. 2015. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/3c.asp>.
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