George W. Bush vs. Clint Eastwood

The speech I have found most effective is George W. Bush's post-9/11 speech.  The target audience of this speech was nearly all of America, as almost everyone would have been glued to the news at this time.  This speech took place the night of September 11, 2001--the day of the infamous terrorist attacks.        I think he succeeded at addressing the questions and concerns everyone had.  He assured the American people that our country was strong enough to hold together despite such a tragic event and comforted them with the fact that a response plan was already underway.  I would say the main weakness was that he was rather vague.  I'm sure many were left wanting to know more specific details of the plan and suspect that some thought his general/clearly-scripted statements lacked genuineness.  

The speech I have found least effective is Clint Eastwood's speech at the Republican National Convention.  The target audience was America in general, specifically Republicans.  This speech took place in campaign season leading up to the 2012 presidential election.  I think many of his points were strong--the state of the economy under Obama's leadership, the fact that Gitmo is still operating, the fact that troops are still overseas, etc.  His ethos was also a big strong point as he is so widely known and loved.  I think he went wrong with his lack of preparation.  After looking at the transcript, it was evident that he hadn't spent much time articulating his points.  I think more preparation would have enabled him to articulate his good points in a more effective way.