The National Address and Being American

In "The Checkers Speech," Richard Nixon responds to criticism regarding an alleged "secret fund." At this time, 1952, Nixon was running for vice president with presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower was enjoying enormous popularity when the rumor surfaced one month before the election. Nixon was accused of accepting a supplemental salary of $18,000 dollars, contributed by a group of supporters back in his home state of California. There were also rumors that Eisenhower would drop Nixon from the ticket. So Nixon was forced to come up with a remedy for the untimely situation. Not only did he have to convince the American people he was

Furthermore, Dickerson focuses on displaying Kennedy’s strengths by comparing him to other candidates. For example, he says, “Dwight Eisenhower had run television ads in 1952, but Kennedy’s ads in West Virginia in 1960 were arguably the first pivotal TV spots in American electoral history (24).” This shows how even though Eisenhower was the first candidate to run television ads, Kennedy receives all the credit due to him being more successful. Dickerson also states how there was “almost no democrat who had done more” than Kennedy in preparing for the presidential race (15). This proves Dickerson’s point in showing how Kennedy was a candidate like no other. Kennedy had an ability to surpass every other candidate, which is why readers get the

b) The checkers speech got a lot of backing for Nixon because previously people didn’t trust Nixon that much because he lied.

To connect with his audience, Kennedy utilizes diction in the form of introducing himself as an equivalent, using personal pronouns, and inferring a shared belief with the majority.  Kennedy has only recently been elected to office and it is pivotal that he connects with his audience by ensuring them he is both a “fellow American” and a “fellow citizen of the world.” Several times throughout the text, particularly when presenting another point or stressing a point, Kennedy utilizes the comprehensive pronouns “we” and “us.”

John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address was a carefully composed speech, that conveyed the primary goals of the incoming president in a convincing way. It is important for the president to have a strong inaugural address, because it informs the people of one’s intentions as president. In order for President Kennedy’s address to be effective, he uses rhetorical strategies. Through the use of rhetorical strategies, President Kennedy supports his objectives with reason and logic to appeal to the people's desire for security and structure. He also alludes to his good character to make the people feel safe and trust him to guide them. In the address, President Kennedy uses emotion to make a connection with the people, this makes him seem more relatable and connected to the people. These are strategies used in an attempt to persuade the audience to trust President Kennedy. In President Kennedy’s inaugural address, he convincingly conveys his message to his audience, through the use of rhetorical devices.

The average person when they hear the word Watergate, they immediately think of the Break-in at the National Democratic headquarters in Washington. Keith W. Olson, the author of the book Watergate: The Presidential Scandal That Shook America, proves Watergate was indeed more than just a break-in and describes the major points of the Watergate scheme. The key points of Watergate were patterns from the beginning of Nixon’s presidency, the context of the break-in, the cover-up, the disclosures, the senate committee, the struggle for the tape, the resignation, and the ends and means.

During his State of the Union address on January 1974, President Richard Nixon stated “One year of Watergate is enough”. The amount of stress and scandal that happened during this time in history was probably enough for him, but Watergate has proved to transcend this period. Decades later and we are still learning and studying the basics on how this story came to be and how it was uncovered. Though everyone who reads “All the President’s Men” may not go on to become journalists, they all have something to learn from it. The most important aspect of the book is discerning the truth from fiction. The beginning of this scandal seemed like any other robbery, but with a closer look a hidden story was uncovered. How can one know that the story

One main point illustrated in Kennedy’s inaugural address is the urgency of uniting America and its enemies together to reach a common goal of worldwide peace. This point is emphasized in the opening statements of paragraphs 15 through 18 by the repetition of the phrase “Let both sides”. Working collectively is the only way to reach a constructive consensus and eliminate the tension between the two sides, according to Kennedy. Another example of anaphora is found in the 25th and 26th paragraphs, which begin “my fellow Americans” and “My fellow citizens of the world” respectively. Through this repetition, Kennedy acknowledges his audience in these lines as fellow people who share his similar beliefs and values. Furthermore, Kennedy effectively humanizes himself; despite the power he has over these people, he still considers himself their equal and informs them that he will fight alongside them in this war on all the deficiencies of the world.

Summary: In this article Walzer discusses what it means to be American and how that differs from other national identities. In most countries, identity is tied to the land and ethnicity. In America however, is different because the ethnicities within this country are diverse. Ethnicity is not tied to American national identity because of this. The national identity of “American” is constructed in a sense, and tied to the territory. Even the Sons and Daughters of the revolution, who were English, had to break away from their ethnic ties. The oligarchy and power system in England is what they fought against. The English Americans had to break away from this and those who refused to had to move. Loyalists were treated harshly for their beliefs regardless of their ethnicity.

When a president is able to effectively use the power of rhetoric to move citizens to aspire to achieve the seemingly impossible, this president is able to transcend the limitations of the executive office itself. President John F Kennedy was masterful at this skill and the words he spoke and the dreams he invited us to share are as powerful today as they ever were. Our cultural memory of John F. Kennedy was shaped within a very narrow time frame. Kennedy, born in 1917, was only forty-six years old, when he was assassinated. He had served less than three years as president of the United States at the time of his death (Reader 's Companion to American History, 1991). He served during arguably the most turbulent time in American, and indeed world, history. The disparity between the immensity of Kennedy’s rhetoric and the actual accomplishments of his administration is a testament to the potential power that rhetoric can have. (rewrite)

John F. Kennedy’s purpose in his inaugural address was to, one, establish trust, as he was a young man beginning his term as president. Second, create a sense of peace in the height of the Cold War. Third, give hope to a brighter future, he did this by stating five points he wanted to achieve, which he later did. Throughout the address numerous figures of speech are thrown in. Among many, anaphora, abstract words, and rhetorical questions convey his purpose throughout the speech.

It is inevitable that president John F. Kennedy was one of the greatest speakers when it came to the use of rhetorical strategies. He knew how to manipulate his audience’s opinion in a matter of a few words, a talent that not many were able to obtain. Using

“Rubbish!” someone shouts. Bob Woodward strides from the shadows, holding a notebook and pen. “Bringing down a regime like Nixon’s takes more than just lounging in bed and happy songs. I spent five years in Naval Intelligence developing the investigative skills I employed at the Washington Post. Insiders like me, Carl Bernstein, Daniel Ellsberg, and Mark Felt had the ability, authority, and access you hippies lacked to take down Nixon. Insiders identified the bad apples and got rid of them. That’s how a republic works.”

The term “Watergate” has become a common household name in correlation with people's thoughts about corruption in government. President Nixon was in office at the time of this scandal and is often thought to be the most famous face in America's conspiracy of wickedness in the government. The Watergate scandal had rocked everything our country thought we knew about the American Presidency because it had forfeited the common vision of the leader of the nation. Watergate had replaced the image of elegance and worldliness of the U.S. President with a scattered vision of corruption and extreme competitive measures that the country had never been a part of. Richard Nixon and his men had taken

In this paper, I will critique one of the most famous speeches in American History. This speech