Most Americans believe that all human beings deserve freedom and basic human rights. As the United States of America is commonly called “the land of the free,” most American presidents have strived to preserve the freedom of American citizens, but in different ways. While many people around the world still struggle for freedom and rights, U.S. presidents have contributed to and addressed the movement towards world peace differently. Two presidents that focused on the preservation of freedom were Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy. The “Four Freedoms” speech by Roosevelt and Kennedy’s Inaugural Address both discuss freedom, but they contrast in historical context, the use of the word freedom and purpose.
To start, despite the fact that both presidents are delivering their speeches during times of war, the position of the U.S. in those wars, and the wars being fought, were entirely different. Roosevelt delivered his speech before the United States had joined World War II in 1941, whereas Kennedy delivered his speech during the Cold War in 1961. Throughout his “Four Freedoms” speech, Roosevelt attempts to persuade the U.S. to join the war to aid other democracies in the fight for freedom, before ultimately being forced into war by a surprise assault. Roosevelt used an emotional appeal to the American people by stating “the democratic way of life is at this moment being directly assailed in every part of the world . . . by those who seek to destroy unity and promote discord in nations that are still at peace” (paragraph 12). With this statement, Roosevelt puts the war into perspective for Americans by showing democracies, like their own, were being attacked. He explained that if America does not join the war, life as the American people know it will drastically change. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address is similar to Roosevelt’s speech in the sense that the United States is in danger. But in contrast to Roosevelt’s speech, instead of being in a position to join war, in the time of Kennedy’s speech the U.S. was already in the middle of conflict. In his speech, Kennedy addresses all enemies, specifically the Soviet Union, and requests that “both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of
Kennedy’s views on freedom are very similar to Roosevelt’s. Kennedy states, “Only few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility-I welcome it” (25). This quote shows how JFK wanted people to fight for their own freedom, just like FDR wanted. Kennedy also stated that he welcomes the act of defending freedom, similar to Roosevelt’s promised support towards those who take on the same responsibility. In contrast, the historical context of this speech is something that separates itself from Roosevelt’s speech. The background section of this document reads, “The United States was locked in a potentially explosive stalemate with the then Soviet Union and its allies.” FDR’s speech was spoken during the second world wars, setting itself apart from JFK’s time of conflict. While they are both harsh wars, Kennedy’s speech takes place during a war with a single enemy. However, the purpose of JFK’s speech is an aspect similar to FDR’s speech. Both Kennedy and Roosevelt had the intention of getting people to join the war effort. Both presidents wanted people to fight for their freedom. The purposes of both speeches mirror each other in the sense that they are calls to
There have been many great speeches delivered in the past. Some of the best ones demonstrated why our our freedoms, our liberty, and to be united as a country, is so important. John F. Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address” and Martin Luther King Junior’s “I Have a Dream” are both great examples of such historical speeches. Both these speeches have many similarities such as, referencing the past, wanting change to happen, and both desired peace. Yet with all these similarities, each one had a different style, was given to different audiences, and about different topics. In Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address”, he is expressing how the country needs to be united and “…anew the quest for peace” (11), with our enemies. King’s
The speeches “Four Freedoms” speech by Roosevelt and “Inaugural Address” by Kennedy’s have many comparisons as well as contrasts. Similarities include both speeches given at a very disrupted time in history, one being during the Cold war that affected the whole world, while the other speech was during the Great Depression affected many millions of Americans. However, President Roosevelt felt strongly about entering the world. While President Kennedy had a different view. He was wanting to make foreign policies a major interest, not only to Americans, but to the rest of the world too. The two presidents had different views on the joining of any war. Both Presidents have their different mind set as explained. The two Presidents had several comparisons and contrasts as their two types of speech.
On January 6, 1941 President Roosevelt delivered his State of the Union Address before congress. He spoke eloquently of a future world founded on the essential human freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. (Foner 2014pg842). He used this speech as a rally cry to enter World War 2. (Foner 2014, 757) These four freedoms were meant to establish basic rights for all people in the United states and still today we hold true to these freedoms. (Foner 2014 pg842) Freedom of speech came to coincide with freedom and expression which would be the best defense against corruption of democracy. (Remembering the Four Freedoms 2016). Freedom of worship or religion would be our shield against the forces of bigotry, intolerance, and fanaticism, Freedom from want, a commitment to erasing hunger, poverty, and pestilence from the earth, brought hope for citizens as they fought the Great depression and Finally, freedom from fear, a freedom dependent on collective security, a concept carried forward with our leadership in the United Nations.(Remembering the Four Freedoms 2016) As America battled the great depression, Roosevelt was confident that the war would end the depression and cause the United States to thrive once again. (Foner2014, 843) Roosevelt declared on a radio address in 1942 that the “rights of men of every creed and every race, wherever they live” implying that the four freedoms made so prominent in this time era should be a
“The Four Freedom of Speech” by Franklin D. Roosevelt and “ Inaugural Address” by John F .Kennedy were two great political speeches in the history of the United State. They were two of the greatest presidents of America. Both of them talked about the human rights and important troubles. But they gave their speeches at different times, one was during the Great Depression, which affected millions of Americans, one was during the Cold War, which impacted the whole world.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt crafted his “Second Bill of Rights.” He declared ‘freedom of want’ to be one of four essential liberties for human security. His definition of freedom included, “the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.”( Zaremski J. Miles, 11/21/12)
Both Roosevelt's “Four Freedoms” speech and Kennedy’s inaugural address support the theme of freedom. However, roosevelt's speech is on WWII and the fact he wants to support them by giving weapons to the allied powers whereas Kennedy’s speech is supporting freedom by helping other countries by protecting the western hemisphere and to assist free men during the cold war.
While he received some standing ovations and applause along the way, his talk went on without any major disruptions, apart from one minor incident at the beginning, when a student unfurled a Confederate flag from one of Memorial Hall’s upper balconies. Responding quickly with his usual witty manner, Carmichael, who had just applauded Vanderbilt University for its commitment to uphold the First Amendment’s freedom of speech guarantee, ensured the protester that he fully supported the expression of his political
To his most vehement critics, the aforementioned opinions demonstrate “contempt for American institutions” and too little respect for the Constitution, yet Brennan never acted without historical justification. In the eyes of the justice, progressive positions on civil rights, as well as abortion and the death penalty, were entirely consistent with the Founding Fathers’ clear championing of personal dignity and freedom expressed in the Bill of Rights and the later adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment. As such, if the court failed to uphold these rights by taking an originalist approach to the Constitution, they would, paradoxically, delineate from the very spirit of the document. Although Brennan earned a reputation for being amicable and open to compromise on the court bench, an impassioned speech given at Georgetown University in 1985 revealed his true thoughts concerning his colleagues who favoured judicial restraint: “It is arrogant to pretend that from our vantage we can gauge accurately the intent of the Framers on application of principle to specific, contemporary
I’ve not had the pleasure of reading a nonfiction book as intriguing and enjoyable as David K. Shipler’s Freedom of Speech: Mightier Than the Sword in a long time. The pages brought to life stories of secrecy and conspiracy, of authority and rebellion, and of missteps by public figures readers like myself often get only a glimpse of. While reading the introduction, however, I wasn’t sold; I couldn’t fully grasp what Shipler was saying, and I was concerned that the rest of the book would elicit similar feelings. Thankfully, those fears were alleviated less than three pages into Part I: Books. I found Shipler’s style of writing incredibly engaging and easy to follow, and the case studies were both interesting and new. By the end of Part
Hate speech is said to silence its targets by creating a hostile environment for a group in which those targeted are incapable of removing themselves from. Due to the hostile environment, the individual’s freedom of speech is in turn taken away by the hate speech that is enacted upon them as they are incapable of speaking out from within said environment. An example of hate speech occurring which allegedly silenced its targets is during the Skokie march in which “a neo-Nazi group planned a march through a Chicago suburb in which one out of six residents were Holocaust survivors or related to Holocaust survivors.” (Lectures 23 & 28 November. Slide 32.) Although the march did not end up taking place in Skokie, it was however protected by the
At the time, the U.S. was facing major problems with the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Vietnam. President Kennedy hoped to bring peace to those countries, he had a dream to stop communism from spreading and to advance democracy around the world. In his Inaugural Address he states, “To those old allies . . . we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do . . . Divided there is little we can do.” In his statement, he stated to those countries to forget the past because
The President’s tone, while calm and collected throughout the beginning of his speech “The Four Freedoms,” alarmed the country. He introduces urgency with a bold statement saying, “No realistic American can expect from a dictator’s peace
“Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.” These are the words of Ronald Reagan, former President of the United States of America, speaking on the topic of freedom, a subject he frequently dealt with during his long presidency. Over the years, freedom in the U.S. has become an increasingly controversial topic, and the effectiveness of the government in affording these freedoms has been called into question. Through certain historical documents and events, the government’s effectiveness at ensuring freedoms for all can be confirmed.