A Comparative Study of Political Rhetoric in the Speech of Presidents of Iran and USA

Political language is a complex language filled with various strategies to persuade public opinion. One of the major strategies of linguistics to be analyzed in political discourse is the political rhetoric. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study is to analyze the rhetorical notion in the context of political discourse of two different speech communities from the perspective of Beard’s (2000). The main issue in this research is to explain the similarities and differences of the rhetorical strategies of politics used by the two Presidents of Iran and the USA in an attempt to gain power, persuasion and to reach their audiencechr('39')s consent. To this end, we have collected the data in a library process and analyzed them analytically to answer these questions that how do both presidents use language trying to get their listenerschr('39') consent and persuading them? What are the rhetorical similarities and differences between the two presidents? The results show that both presidents use contrastive pairs, repetition and three-part lists, utilizing pronouns, verb voices, and sound-bites strategies. Rouhani’s main strategy is the utilizing pronouns in different ways and Trumpchr('39')s most common strategy is the use of repetition. The use and avoidance of analogy is another aspect of difference between speeches of mentioned speakers. Overall, the present study illustrates the fact that through the study of Beardchr('39')s strategies (2000) one can easily discern politicianschr('39') different linguistic strategies, in particular top executives to persuade audiences, make speech more and present more positive and popular face.