Perspectives

This part of the study guide will give you a broader perspective on George W. Bush’ s 2002 State of the Union address by looking at current issues and similar political speeche…

...

Current issues

In your analysis of George W. Bush’s 2002 State of the Union address, you should consider its relevance today, considering how the issues he discussed have evolved.

The speaker mentions the US 2001-2002 economic recession. In time, things got worse for Americans, and the country later saw the fall of the property market, marking the 2008 global economic crisis, whose effects are visible even today.

In terms of George W. Bush’s global War on Terror, we know that his rate of approval decreased gradually; the longer the war lasted (with the invasion of Iraq), the less th…

...

Textual perspective

In your analysis of the speech, we encourage you to look at other State of the Union addresses, such as President Barack Obama's 2015 State Of The Union address. Obama focuses on economic issues like unemployment, education, healthcare, taxing the wealthy, etc. and on cooperation with other states. As you can see,…