All three of the major networks carried a speech by President Bill Clinton on November 8 2000, the day after the 2000 presidential election resulted in indecision. The speech was brief and lasted approximately 6 minutes on the nightly news.
The topic of President Clinton’s speech was significant. He was making a speech whose topic was the undecided result from the previous day’s presidential election, a rare occurrence in American political history. Clinton narrowed his topic to the fact that “while the American people have spoken” it is going to “take some time to figure out what they said.” However, Clinton promised that exactly what the people said would be discovered in a fair, timely, and legal manner. Clinton’s demeanor during the speech was light-hearted and jovial as he smiled and emitted a soft chuckle when he said the line about it taking some time to determine what the people said. In a way, it looked like the scandal-worn president was almost relieved he was addressing the public about a controversial and sensitive issue NOT involving himself.
Of course, as the President of the United States, Clinton brought a high degree of credibility to his speech via his official position. The presidential seal, the American flag, and other tools were used to help convey this authority and credibility to the viewing audience. Clinton appeared to use no particular order for his speech, starting with humor and ending with a firm commitment to Americans that in the best of democratic tradition, the situation would be resolved in a fair, timely, and legal manner in accordance with American rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Clinton’s brief speech made it possible for him to adhere to the main goal of the speech – assuring Americans that there was no constitutional crisis to worry about and that the election results would be accurately, fairly, and legally accounted for. Cl
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