Analysis of Eisenhower's Farewell Address

Due to the rapidly changing America, in his farewell address, Ronald Reagan expresses the need for unification of America, and America’s culture. In Reagan’s address, he uses many rhetorical devices to advance his purpose of unifying America, for instance, Reagan utilizes tone, syntax, and pathos to portray his pride, hopefulness, and patriotism for America. He uses these devices to show Americans of the unification America needs.

Some examples of convoluted sentences from the text are “His father,” and “The people I meet.”

Ronald Reagan is known as “The great communicator” and it shows in his speech, he is able connect to the audience and this works very well for him, his speech “Address to the national challenger” it is a drastically emotional and important speech for the American people at the time it became one of Reagan’s great speeches and it was crucial to the American’s as they were all in such pain due to the accident which was the Challenger disaster. Instead of doing his report on the state union, he talks about the disaster and honors the members who had passed on board and he wishes that the United States will not stop its space exploration due to this. When listening to the speech is it distinguishable that is the speech is not something to joke about and the tone had an emotional and solemn feel with great respect to all involved being felt.

Richard Nixon was one of our most infamous presidents. He is now notoriously known for numerous scandals, one being the Watergate scandal, and consequentially his resignation. But during his time as president, he would influence one aspect of domestic affairs that would inevitably criminalize most minorities and is counterintuitive to its cause. Drugs. Nixon had persuaded the nation that drugs were our greatest enemy. He formally declared war on drugs in a press conference speech. The reason behind this declaration and the speech itself are important when evaluating Nixon’s performance as a public speaker because they show the strategies he used to sway his people into the anti-drugs mindset that is still held by many today.

Washington was a key figure in our nation’s history and his decision to step down appalled the citizens of America. In addition to shocking the country, Washington’s Farewell Address set a precedent for presidents to come. In his address, Washington gave his reasons for refusing to run a third term, and pieces of advice. The first warning Washington gave was to stay neutral, the second was to understand the importance of the separation of powers, and the third was not to form political parties. Though this guidance is not often followed, Washington had good reasons for giving it. His own opinions were formed by his experiences as President. Washington believed that the nation should remain bipartisan and neutral, and understand the

On January 20,1961, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated into office. According to many, like Representative Charles Buckley of New York, this was the most outstanding inauguration in history. Within the three documents: Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961 by John F. Kennedy, Inside Kennedy’s Inauguration, 50 Years On by Eleanor Clift, and Inauguration of John F. Kennedy by the United States Army Signal Corps, they show that day in diverse ways, but all hold a significant meaning. The styles of the three documents are widely contrasting. The contrast comes from the deviation in purpose, tone, and the effect that each gives to President Kennedy’s legacy.

The document, George Washington, Farewell Address, was a letter written to the citizens of the United States of America. It allowed outgoing President Washington to give advice on how to maintain the nation after he was gone. He advised our politicians to act in good faith towards all nations and to make an effort to keep peace with other countries. He cautioned to remain connected to God, maintain high moral principles and to set a good example, one that is guided by a sense of justice and kindness. He also advised that favoritism, not be shown toward or hostilities against other nations as this would cloud our judgment. He told us to remain neutral and detached since that would keep the country from being dragged into a fight. Having favorite nations could pull the nation into a war that it never wanted to be involved in. A nation that has a devoted attachment to another could find itself involved without merit in their affairs and might become controlled involuntarily by their actions. He implored the people of this nation to not allow foreigners to influence our policies or our actions as a nation. He advised us to trade freely with others, but keep politics at bay and to keep our already formed alliances but create no more. He implored that America remain free of European entanglements and that due to our location it should be easy to do. We have no business in their business. He advised that other nations would respect us when they saw us at peace, guided

The Farewell Address embodied Washington’s political principles and hopes for the United States, a newly developed nation, to grow strong and remain independent. He stressed the importance of national unity. Despite the confidence Washington had for his country to continue to thrive without his leadership, he felt obligated to forewarn the American people and future generations the greatest dangers, or threats, to the United States. Washington believed threats such as political parties, and associations with foreign alliances could weaken the nation. Today, it is believed that the Farewell Address is a prophetic warning for contemporary politics.

In President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address to the nation, he warned the United States to strive for continuous balance so that the power of the military and industrial complex would not harm the democratic process. The goal was to maintain agreement and compromise on issues existing in the current moment, as well as the solutions that would help to shape the nation in the coming future. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America’s leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment (Eisenhower, II).

Freedom is something that every American citizen is entitled to. It is one of the attributes that our country was founded on. John F. Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address” and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech focuses around the concern of maintaining America’s freedom. However, while both speeches speak of making sure that America is still the free, safe nation is was meant to be, the two former presidents had different ideas on how to do so.

On January 11, 1989, President Ronald Reagan sat at his desk in the Oval Office to address his nation for the final time. This rhetorical moment was not the first of its kind. Rather, the Farewell Address is a Presidential tradition, started by George Washington, that every president takes part in before leaving office. As a sort of “goodbye” to the nation, the President discusses the accomplishments of his administration while offering pieces of advice for the future. Washington warned against a government with an “unmoderated” political party system (Spalding 75), Ronald Reagan warned of the effects of an America devoid of patriotism.

A leader’s legacy is portrayed in a multitude of ways: from the goals and dreams he sought for, from stories and memories of the people he’s touched, and from snapshots of his accomplishments. John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address of 1961, his most famous speech, “Inside Kennedy’s Inauguration, 50 Years On”, an article by Eleanor Clift that gives a detailed description of the president’s inauguration, and an image, “Inauguration of John F. Kennedy”, by the United States Army Corp, all convey the impact of John F. Kennedy in their own unique fashion. The legacy of John Fitzgerald Kennedy is expressed through a variety of similar and contrasting styles appealing to the same rhetorical appeals but further differentiated by their syntax and

President Obama, like all Presidents before him, delivered a farewell address to the United States on January 20, 2017. As he stepped down as President he was eloquent and it was as clear as ever that he is a master of oration. Obama will go down in history as the first Black President as well as a strong orator who had the ability to captivate an audience through his use of ethos, pathos and logos amongst other rhetorical devices. His farewell address is a perfect example of Obama’s mastery of discourse as it is chock full of oratorical devices. Obama’s message to the American people and to the rest of the world is that it is essential that we maintain a sense of what it means to have a democracy and that in order to maintain peace and

Ronald Reagan’s speech while addressing the Challenger disaster is a perfect example of a speech that requires the speaker to meet various rhetorical demands. He speaks at a capacity of a president and at the same time, he speaks at a capacity of a mourner who wants to console a grieving family. In this case, it means that Reagan had multiple issues he needed to settle using one eulogy. There was the need to console the bereaved relatives who were mourning the sudden death of their loved ones. Secondly, the address also needed to address uncertainty surrounding the occasion. A nation and the whole world needed answers of what caused the disaster. He also needed to give confidence of his support to future space programs.

When analyzing the farewell speech of President George Washington, it is crucial to mention that all elements and concepts found there in can be applied to today’s politics. This can be seen by looking in depth and finding the portions of the farewell speech that apply to the issues that concern today’s society, and these are such as earning the trust of the American public when the new election of a president is coming upon us; he also speaks of what binds an American citizen to their country which is something that be a problem found within the public among Americans.