Preview

Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
350 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address
For the duration of the presidential inauguration, President John F. Kennedy employed the Leader Card to address the nation and its citizens. Because of this the president does not rely on any other talk card during the address. The Leader Card allows the speaker to present his motivations and intentions to facilitate change in society. During the inaugural address the Leader Card allowed the president to be perceived as a charismatic and charming commander in chief. Thus, President John F. Kennedy could maintain a strict but friendly manner. However, if the president had chosen to use a friendlier card, then his style would have come across powerless and less credible. The style of the address allows Kennedy to balance the liking, formality, and power. …show more content…
Kennedy’s inaugural address was to inspire a nation to seek peace during a time of conflict. The audience was likely looking to observe the elected President of the United States and to conclude the character of the speaker. Thus, I don’t believe the audience and John F. Kennedy had the same goals for the address but rather they had complementary intentions. In other words, Kennedy was there to address his views and the audience was there to perceive those ideas. The use of the Leader Card gave him an overall credibility which supported his points and intentions. The success of the speech has been determined by its ability to be quoted and well-known in the history of the United

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Equally important, Kennedy effectively uses rhetorical devices such as parallelism, alliteration, and repetition in his Inaugural Address to successfully express his goal for his presidency. For example, Kenney uses parallelism in perhaps his most memorable line of his Inaugural Address, “Ask not what you can do for your country- ask what you can do for your country” (Kennedy). Through parallelism, John F. Kennedy dramatically symbolizes his entire speech into one sentence. By reversing the order of the sentences, the president challenges mankind to withhold personal desires and instead focus on the needs of others. By using parallelism, President Kennedy is able to keep his audience interested. For instance, the president illustrates “power…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The hysteria surrounding communism ravaged the United States of America when John F. Kennedy was elected president. Sputnik was orbiting in space, the Cold War raged in the background and to combat the fear, America needed a strong, dependable leader. At this time, Kennedy barely beat his presidential competitor Richard Nixon causing uneasy feelings in the American public. To alleviate the apprehension, John F. Kennedy delivered an inspiring inaugural speech which sent a message of strength to the nation and world. Kennedy saturated the speech with rhetoric and realistic goals resulting in support from the entire nation. Although the speech was mainly intended to inspire American citizens, Kennedy used repetition, catalog, and allusions to convey a clarion in the final sections of his inaugural speech.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In a brief word, JFK wisely involved the use of rhetorical devices and appeals within the above excerpts by persuading the audience in an innovating approach using alliteration, antithesis, and pathos. Because of such devices, indeed, influenced the mindset of the addresses Kennedy’s inaugural address turn out to be stronger and inspirational to advocate individuals to eradicate every problem that might affect their success or purpose and life.…

    • 1652 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Kennedy used ethos, pathos, and logos as a foundation for a strong developed speech that would carry-out a formal message. Kennedy sets ethos, ethnical appeal, by putting different people of high class to make his argument strong as he starts his address by “Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens, we observe today not a victory of party, but celebration of freedom, which symbolizes an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal, as well as change.” He then also establishes logos into different sections. Which he then divides the world into different categories based on the way one lives and what they believe in. Most importantly Kennedy wrapped up his argument up by providing pathos in the appearing of American pride, and other important concepts that will be essential to the success in the Cold…

    • 1733 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    On January 20, 1961 John Fitzgerald Kennedy delivered one of the powerful inaugural address in the nation’s history. The president’s unique style, personality, and his emotional feelings were presented in well-balanced sentences. The citizens that were present on that day considered the speech a success and can still remember it to this day.…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why was President Kennedy’s inaugural address so moving? He used many rhetorical devices and formed a good rhetorical tone that made his speech very inspiring. Kennedy, in his inaugural address, talks about the problems of the country and the world and how to fix them. He wants the American citizens to be reassured that he will do many great things and hold a great term in office. One reason that his speech was so convincing was because he appealed to his audiences’ emotions (pathos) effectively all over throughout his essay.…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When electing a president, citizens search for leadership, trust, and security in an individual to lead our nation. During the beginning of the 1960s, many problems had arisen; recovering from a recession, China and the Soviet Union splitting from communism ideology, threats from the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam war beginning, etc. This left the American people perplexed and afraid, in this time we had a newly elected president, John F. Kennedy. Kennedy taking the step to help reassured the people with his speech on the issue of inflation of steel prices on April 11th, 1962. With his charisma and and knowledge, John F. Kennedy used ethos, pathos, and diction to develop his speech and inform the people of his abilities and love for the nation.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While the speech’s respectful eloquence is appropriate for the occasion of an inauguration,its youthful energy and look to the future make it distinctly John F. Kennedy'…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although, King and Kennedy’s speeches were structured similarly with their utilization of sound devices and figurative language, their purpose for speaking were quite different. Ultimately, the world needed great leaders, the world responded with Dr. King and President…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shampank

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In JFK’s Inaugural Address he uses many rhetorical terms such as allusion, metaphors, parallelism, and antimetabole. He uses these rhetoric to build up a sense of American pride, to have a common enemy, and also to ask for support of the nation to support their country. These goals are approached in a tough manner, but with the rhetoric it increases the odds of a positive reaction from audience.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ever since the establishment of America, great men have instilled wisdom to the future generations. Over the course of various time periods, different men of all backgrounds have come out to speak against the evils and injustices in society. Among these men include Martin Luther King, Jr., a Civil Rights Leader in the 1950s; John Fitzgerald Kennedy, president of the United States during the Cold War; and Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States during the Civil War. All three men have written scores of speeches concentrating on human equality and the rights of individuals. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and Abraham Lincoln suggest that mankind should live in unity because the cooperation between peoples will help a nation stand strong.…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After winning the election by only 115,000 popular votes, John F. Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic president on January 20, 1961 (historyplace.com online). Kennedy’s Inaugural Address uses logic, emotion, and figurative language to make it a remarkable speech.…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address is one of the briefest documents in history, it perfectly describes what he plans to do in his time in being president. This speech goes over the period of the Cold War and other matters going on in the world in the early sixties. This was a period in which most Americans were worried about the planet, goals that need to be achieved to ensure the safety of the people of the U.S. and also the new technological advances that were being made. The United States was torn between racism in the 1960’s and Kennedy had to address that in his time in being the president. The Cold War was also at its peak during that time (Bragdon) and the people of the U.S. knew that Kennedy was a young and inexperienced president and were worried about how he was going to lead the nation in times of crisis.…

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kennedy, distinct from many other presidents, provided a sense of hope and stability to the nation. The major backlash from the country was no surprise considering the positive affect that JFK had on the people, as well as his popularity. Considering Kennedy was the first president to participate in televised debates made him more memorable than many presidents before. The timing also came into play…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy delivered his speech to citizens and peoples of the world. Many believe it was the finest inaugural speech delivered to America. Kennedy take focus on global unity and the value of free society at home and every continent around the world. Science in warfare was on a new stage of power. Kennedy urges this political catastrophe to end and focus on our value of life by assisting the poor.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays