Rhetorical Analysis Of President Kennedy's Speech

During the early 1960’s America faced a “rolling recession”, a recession that is focused on a few specific industries, which had hit the automobile industry particularly hard. The US gross national product was falling and so was the US economy and many Americans had fallen on hard times. On April 10, 1962, to make matters worse, the United States steel corporation executives had simultaneously raised the price on all steel by 3.5 percent. The rise in cost would ignite severe backlash among many Americans who saw the rise in price as a crippling blow the general prosperity of the United States. As a result President John F. Kennedy decided to address the working class citizens in order for them support him in convincing the executives to lower

The series of essays in the novel “Profiles in Courage” by John F. Kennedy all demonstrate the single, truly rare character trait of courage through the actions of senators. The story of Edmund G. Ross undoubtedly portrays courage by his collected and determined demeanor in voting to avoid national corruption through a single phrase. Kennedy, through writing, is able to tell the brave story of Ross in the role of the shy, weak, underdog senator who makes a single decision that would destroy his political life, but save America from corruption. In “Profiles in Courage”, John F. Kennedy successfully uses his structures of his ideas and his detail placement of descriptive phrases, and words which set the tone and rhetorical devices that persuades the

President John F. Kennedy, in his conference to the American people and steel industries regarding the spike in steel prices, empathizes with average Americans in hopes to stabilize the steel prices and portray that he is willing to fight for the lower class, helping American industry. America’s economy was recovering from enough strain following the Vietnam and Cold War. Through his utilization of alliteration and diligent tone, Kennedy manages to empower his audience and approach the steel companies appropriately. John F. Kennedy emphasizes the drastic change made by the steel industry's choice to raise their price by 3.5%. He indicates his frustration through his strong choice of diction by calling the situation a “crisis” or “irresponsible defiance”.

In response to the steel companies, who where determined to raise prices, John F. Kennedy speaks to millions of Americans about sacrifice for the country, and once again reminds the country that they are truly the United States of America. Despite being the head of the country, JFK instantly includes himself in with the common American citizen. All throughout Kennedy's speech, rhetoric is used to appeal to the audience, and to show the steel companies that they are being selfish and negatively effecting the united community of America. In the first paragraph, JFK relies heavily on diction to set up his speech and call the audience to listen to him.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy commonly called simply by his initials “JFK”, delivered the 35th presidential inauguration address on January 20th of 1961. This speech was extremely powerful and comforting that the entire nation turned an ear to hear the words of their new leader. During this time period, America was in the middle of a racial battle within their borders, fighting Communism and the Cold War across the ocean, and overall worried about the chance that another completely devastating war could break out at any time. What Kennedy’s speech did was address these issues and give the citizens of the United States hope for the future. It employed a strong appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos; which is why people continue to talk about it even to

Kennedy’s Appeal to Steel Companies President John F. Kennedy, known for his persuasion and diligence, met for a news conference to speak against the rises in steel prices by 3.5 percent. President Kennedy used tactics such as diction, repetition, statistics and emotional appeals to persuade steel companies to lower their prices. The president begins his speech by setting a strict tone, "In this serious hour in our nation's history", to let steel companies know the hikes in steel prices has become a national problem, furthermore, Kennedy informs the steel companies that the prices affect everyone and in doing so, uses his first strategy, repetition. President Kennedy consistently uses words such as "we" or “us” to convey that even the president of the United States of America is affected by this outrage. Afterwards, President Kennedy also uses a cause and effect tactic and merging that tactic with a guilt ridden type of tonality in the third paragraph, "If this rise in

Kennedy appeals to the citizen’s pathological need to eliminate conflict, solve problems indefinitely, and protect their rights. He does this type of persuasion to cause the people to react to his presidency positively. This speech was said during the Cold War, so people were on edge because of the impending battle, and he consoled the people with his confident diction. He outlines a “peaceful revolution of hope” that will help connect the neighboring countries and lower poverty rates (Kennedy). By saying “peaceful” he minimizes the fear of having a endless battle with the Soviet Union.

Kennedy says in his news conference," If this rise in the cost of steel is imitated by the rest of the industry, instead of rescinded, it would increase the cost of homes, autos, appliances, and most other items for every American family. It would increase the cost of machinery and tools to every American businessman and farmer. It would seriously handicap our efforts to prevent an inflationary spiral from eating up the pensions of our older citizens, and our new gains in purchasing power"(line 23-31) This shows that when the decline of the companies it will seriously handicap the American people due to the large increase in prices. This is also shown in, "And it would surely handicap our efforts to induce other industries and unions adopt responsible price and wage policies"(line 43-45)

On April 10, 1962, steel companies raised the prices by 3.5 percent of their products. President John F. Kennedy had tried to maintain steel prices at a stable rate. President John F. Kennedy, known for his diligence and persuasion, held a news conference about the hikes in steel prices. President John F. Kennedy, in his speech, uses rhetorical strategies such as diction, emotional appeals, and a persuasive tone to convince Americans that steel companies are declining the standards to maintain stable prices. Kennedy states that the steel companies are a national problem due to the increase of steel prices.

As President Kennedy enters office he gives an speech on the celebration of freedom; symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning of a new nation. Kennedy rises for the opportunity for persuasion after his inauguration has been addressed and he scarcely beats nixon. President Kennedy uses his authority for persuasion to bring the american people together under his power. The president uses the experience of war,poverty,and the desire for peace to develop an emotional appeal between the U.S and the world population. In this speech Kennedy uses ethos,pathos,logos,as well as other rhetorical devices to convince the audience.

Kennedy often sets himself equal to his audience, as if saying that he is no better than anybody else, gaining their respect and support. For example in Kennedy’s inaugural speech, he states, “ United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures.” In this Kennedy is placing himself in the same category as his audience and saying that he needs them, just as much as they need him. Another example of Kennedy setting himself equal to his audience is, “ In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.” In this statement, John F. Kennedy is saying that the people of America, united, have more power than him.

J.F Kennedy, the president of United States wanted to put the first Americans to the moon-America exploring the moon, so he directed his speech to the people of taxes and Rice University to promote his space exploration program that will help America to be the first country to explore the moon. He believes that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. Throughout J.F Kennedy's speech, the speaker makes effective use of evidence, reasoning, rhetorical elements, and rhetorical devices that together form his argument to gain people support for his space exploration program. J.F Kennedy was trying to prove his point of view by giving examples and using a lot of Rhetorical devices and appeals that would grab the reader's attention

In 1962, in the midst of the international space race, steel prices in the U.S. began to rise. In this speech delivered by John F. Kennedy, he claims that there is no justification for these increasing steel prices through the use of logos and pathos. Whilst attempting to convince and create reason for steel companies to reduce their prices, JFK employs the use of logic-best argumentation in order to convey his message. However, at times, because his audience isn't merely citizens of the country but also executives of the steel companies, the line between pathos and logos is subtle, for he appeals to the emotions general American public through the use of verifiable data.

In the beginning of his speech Kennedy uses words like “unjustifiable,” and, “a responsible,” to show how he feels about the actions of the leading steel corporations. Later in his speech Kennedy uses the phrase “ruthless disregard of their public responsibilities,” to show his complete disagreement with the steel corporations and their decision to unreasonably raise the steel prices in America. By using negative words Kennedy is able to clearly get his opinion across to the audience of the press conference. In his speech there are many more examples of diction with the way he uses specific words. Most of these words happen to be negatively charged at the Steel Industries.

Also, he is stating to never be afraid and figure out ways to face them. By doing this, Kennedy left a greater impact on people by making his speech more