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John F Kennedy's Inaugural Speech

Decent Essays

Throughout the course of human civilization, there has been a need for a leader to rally up a nation during desperate times. During the early 60s, America was faced with numerous challenges, the threat from Russia, the war at Vietnam, and also the poverty problem that occurs within the country. Despite all this, John F. Kennedy, a man who was born within one of the most depressed moment in American history, had united and guided his country thought the crisis. When Kennedy was elected as the 35th President of the United States, he was to deliver a speech in front of the world during his inauguration. Instead of giving a typical speech where he could tell people what he could do, he declared his ambitions to achieve peace with other nations …show more content…

He mentioned the war that was happening in Vietnam and the cold war with Russia, “And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe.”(“1961-01-20 Inaugural Address”). This part of the speech introduce the fact that countries like Vietnam and Russia still exist and citizens at those countries are still fighting for independence and freedom. It is possible to see that Kennedy would like to encourage democracy in those countries; however, his main priority was to maintain peace with those nations as it is shown in his speech, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes…support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”(“1961-01-20 Inaugural Address”). On the other hand, Kennedy also expressed his view towards the domestic problem of America, “For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.”(“1961-01-20 Inaugural Address”). This clearly shows that he had a plan to purge the poverty that was happening in America, and it is achieve by both the government and the citizens. Overall, Kennedy hit most of the major issues that was concerning his citizens during his speech through a powerful

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