A Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Speech

Throughout John F. Kennedy’s speech, in which he criticized the nation’s largest steel companies for raising the price of steel by 3.5 percent, he appealed to the audience’s sense of logos and pathos, and exposed the disregard the corporations were showing towards their public responsibilities. The reason Kennedy used those strategies was to invigorate the audience’s anger and passion so that they would join him in trying to fix the problem. Kennedy did not stir up the audience so that they might convince the large steel companies to lower prices, but so that they might convince the companies to lower their prices together. Kennedy included himself in the rally by using the word “we” frequently to show that he too is involved in the cause,

There are many things that a speech must contain to make it a well written and spoken speech. John F. Kennedy 's speech he gave on September 12th 1962, titled “Address at Rice University on the Nation 's Space Efforts”, better known as “We Choose to go to the Moon” contains many of the important factors of a successful speech. Kennedy used rhetorical strategies and skills to help him influence the American people to help accomplish the major goal of reaching the moon. Kennedy did not only want to reach the moon, but he wanted to be the first country to do so. President Kennedy effectively told the objective he found important by using ethos, pathos and kairos throughout his speech to help get the support of the people. By using these three rhetorical strategies Kennedy gave a moving speech.

On a cold January day America’s newly appointed president John F. Kennedy delivered his inauguration address that was incredibly important to America’s success during the Cold War. Kennedy uses his speech as a call to arms, but not only to America but the World and our allies as a whole. He uses his strong powerful voice to appeal to the ethics of the country in the beginning of his speech telling America about the promise we made when we were founded and that we must uphold it still today, telling America we must make a difference. Kennedy also uses ethics to explain that we the people are united no matter what your background or where you are from, he refers to the Americas as one place, because he wants for us to feel unified not divided. Furthermore Kennedy’s use of powerful imagery, logic and pathos allows for him to effectively call the people of the World together during this terrible time.

In John F Kennedy’s “Inaugural address”, he tries to bring the nation together by speaking confidently and powerful. Kennedy’s vigorous use of rhetorical devices including Antithesis, Reasoning, Emotional Appeal, Allusion, and Anaphora that contribute to the success of his speech. JFK uses these rhetorical devices to convey his ambitions and hopes for america as a nation in a whole. Also hoping for a pledge of peace; that we do not show weakness. In his hopes of coming together our acts individually would make us look and be stronger. Kennedy used his speech as a way to draw all of the audience in by pulling us together.

In the beginning of his speech, Kennedy utilizes diction in order to evoke a surge of emotions in his audience. Kennedy outlines the gravity of the subject, “steel executives whose pursuit of private power and profit exceeds...public responsibility...utter contempt for the interests of 185 missions.”

A leader should be able to diagnose problems in his country and effectively navigate his people safely through that trouble-spot. President John F . Kennedy was a great leader, who was able to lead the United States through several crises. One prime example of his navigational skills through such hardships is in his dealings with the rise in steel prices in 1962. In his news conference, on the issue of steel price, President Kennedy uses parallelism and juxtaposition to create the idea that the increase in price from the steel companies is detrimental to the United States' economy.

In the early nineteen sixties the United States of America was coming out of a recession. On April 10, 1962 John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States of America at the time, gives a speech calling out the steel companies for raising their prices for personal gain. In his speech to the American public, Kennedy condemns steel company executives for their selfish, unjustifiable, and harmful hike in steel prices.

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’s. , The people of the United States desperately needed a boost in morale with ongoing tension of races, inequalities, the fight against communism and the cold war. The people were convinced that this war would be never ending, and believed in another inevitable war. From the beginning to the end of JFK’s speech, he uses a plethora of rhetorical devices to comfort the people and fill them with confidence.

As Commander-In-Chief of a nation emerging from a recession, President John F. Kennedy addresses the hike in steel prices to the American public and steel companies to stigmatize the nation’s leading steel companies for their unnecessary decision to increase steel prices. Within his speech, Kennedy’s use of rhetorical strategies to enhance his purpose is dominated by his dichotomous diction to separate himself from the affluent and align with the suffering American people, parallelism and anaphora to emphasize the equal magnitude of previous American crises to the rise of steel prices, and cause and effect organizational mode to highlight the numerous detrimental effects on the American public caused by the steel companies’ hike in steel prices.

On April 11, 1962, President John F. Kennedy held a news conference to discuss the 3.5% increase on steel prices across the country. With the country at war, and struggling to emerge from a recession, increasing the price of steel would have a negative impact. After his administration had taken steps to aid the steel companies to reach a non-inflationary steel workers union contract, the decision to increase steel prices was deemed to be a betrayal of the President and the American people. The speech was directed towards the “common man” in opposition to big steel companies. He speaks for the purpose of not only persuading the companies to lower their prices, but also to convince the public that he is looking out for their best interest. Kennedy employs a disapproving tone and strong diction in an effort to clearly achieve his goal in influencing the steel

On January 20, 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy became the youngest man to possess presidency in the United States of America. As a young, wealthy man Kennedy rapidly climbed the political ladder by initially representing a working class Boston district in the United States Congress, then continuing on to the House of Representatives, followed by the United States Senate, and ending with the victorious defeat of his presidential opponent, to become the 35th president of the United States. According to theatlantic.com, Kennedy was so admired by the public, that “in the eyes of the world, this reticent man became a charismatic leader who, in his life and in his death, served as a symbol of purpose and hope.” As a result of John F. Kennedy’s

The role of a leader is to always put the interests and needs of the people first. However, a barrier may stand in the way of this connection. While addressing the media on April 11th, 1962, President John F. Kennedy discusses the steel executives’ decision to raise the price of their product, which affected the American public. Throughout this speech, Kennedy strategically berates the executives, removing the blame off himself, as well as rallies together the American public through his appeals to the consciences of the smaller group of executives and the shared virtues of the larger group of Americans.

In this impressive speech, John F. Kennedy establishes a very distinctive line between "185 million Americans" against a "tiny handful of steel executives". While also, impressively, including himself with the 185 million Americans, us versus them, to tell his citizens of how redundant and unneeded the price increase of steel is. To top it off it shows how they can't sacrifice their "private power" and "profit" for their "sense of public responsibility". Kennedy’s well-chosen diction allowed him to achieve his goal in making steel companies reverse the

Not only did Kennedy appeal to the American public’s emotions, but also their ethics, by exhibiting that the rise in steel prices would “increase the cost of… most other items for every American family,” if the rest of the industry followed. Ethics here not only dissuade the American public from being rapacious, but also persuades them that the greed of the steel corporations is wrong and that following the lead of the steel corporations “would seriously handicap [the American’s] efforts to prevent an inflationary spiral” that would harm aspects of America ranging from the pensions of the elderly to purchasing power. Ethics is also employed by Kennedy when he relates the major crisis to America overall, mentioning that currently is “a time

John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, has become one of the most famous presidents in the nation's history due to his oratory skills and eloquence (Biane,2011). In this paper, we present an analysis the inaugural speech that he delivered in January 1961. Even though his Inaugural speech lasted less than fifteen minutes, the message that he saliently delivered was one that has continued to resonate in the very hearts of American citizens.