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Compare And Contrast Lincoln And Jfk Inaugural Address

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Two former Presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and Abraham Lincoln, both delivered influential inaugural addresses at the Capitol in Washington DC. Even though almost a hundred years separated these elections and addresses, the country was divided and faced unrest during these periods. During Lincoln’s presidencies, the citizens had oppossing views over slavery during the Civil War. During the time of JFK’s inaugural speech, the country was divided because the Election of 1960 was one of the closest elections in history. In addition, tensions were high during the Cold War. Even though the Civil War was an internal issue for Americans and the Cold War was an external conflict, both wars caused the presidents to address the …show more content…

In addition, they also use religion in a different way. One of Kennedy’s hopes which he addresses in his speech is for global peace. He does this by appealing to the fear and what would happen if peace was destroyed or not made, “The instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace” (2). In Lincoln’s speech, he took a different approach by appealing to reason, “One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of war” (3). Lincoln appeals to reason through the religious values that he displays in order to explain the reasons for war and God’s punishments and make his audience feel united, “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other...The prayers of both could not be answered” (3). John F. Kennedy, a Roman Catholic, used the bible in his speech to appeal to the religious value of helping the oppressed, “Let both sides unite to heed, in all corners of the earth, the command of Isaiah -- to ‘undo the heavy burdens, and [to] let the oppressed go free’" (2). Unlike how Lincoln uses religion to unify the division between the North and South, Kennedy uses figurative language and syntax in order to voice his desire for and unified the Communists and Americans, ‘Now the trumpet summons us again --not as a call to bear arms…but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, ‘rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation’ a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.“ (3) In conclusion, Lincoln focuses more on the causes of the war and

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377 Words | 2 Pages

During Abraham Lincoln’s presidency at the start of the 1860, an issue that had divided the nation was slavery. Lincoln’s election to presidency as a republic was not received well by the Southern slave states, as they thought that as a republican he was out to abolish slavery. In an effort to calm southern states and keep them from seceding from the United States, he attempts to ease them with his First Inaugural Address. In his First Inaugural Address his key points are to clam southern leaders of slave states, keep the states from seceding, and make them at ease as he enters presidency.

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RHETORICAL ANALYSIS: JOHN F. KENNEDY’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address spread messages of peace and unity to millions of United States' citizens as well as millions of people worldwide. By using a wide variety of rhetorical devices and powerful diction, John F. Kennedy conveys his message, which is simple, yet powerful. One of the most prominent messages displayed in his speech is unity. On paragraph 12, he uses an imperative sentence to request adversary nations to reconsider their rivalry so they can find the best in each other and work together as one to accomplish far more than a single nation could. He requests that, instead of using their knowledge of science to create war machines, they should use their knowledge to eradicate diseases

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428 Words | 2 Pages

In his “Address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association” on September 12, 1960 to Reverend Meza and Reverend Reck, United States President, John F. Kennedy, tries to persuade the rev. And perhaps all of America to not look at his religious beliefs for making America's choices, but rather what is best for America's people. He does this by having a frustrated tone using phrases such as “so-called religious issue” he uses these words to get his point clearly across. On September 12, 1960 people were shocked to see that President Kennedy was so annoyed with the public saying that there was an issue with his religious beliefs.

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President Abraham Lincoln, in his inaugural address, addresses the topic of the civil war and its effects on the nation and argues that America could be unified once more. He supports his claim by using massive amounts of parallel structure and strong word choice. Lincoln ‘s purpose is to contemplate the effects of the civil war in order to unite the broken America once again. He adopts a very hopeful tone for his audience, the readers of the inaugural address and others interested in the topic of American history and the civil war.

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As a devout Catholic and Christian, Kennedy recognizes the power and responsibility man has been given was granted by God. Through the appeal to religious pathos, JFK elicits in the audience a need to recognize him as the President, thus effectually uniting the nation. JFK addresses America in saying, “…The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God” (Paragraph 3). Appealing to the audience, JFK is reassuring

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732 Words | 3 Pages

He states that “both parties deprecated war; one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.” Although compromises were made between both sides of the nation they were unable to resolve the political issues between the north and the south. The war stemmed from Lincoln’s presidency and the decisions he made with his presidential power. As a result the South felt as though the threat to their institution of slavery was becoming too great. The south felt that in order to preserve their culture of slavery it would have to become its own nation and the only way the north felt they could stop the Confederacy and preserve the union was by retaliating back. Thus, making the Civil War inevitable to

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871 Words | 4 Pages

For example, JFK’s repeated use of ad hominem fallacy throughout his address united a fractured world, temporarily at least. This is especially evident when he states, “Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are -- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation, a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself. Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?” As previously referenced, JFK was heinously struck down on November 22, 1962, but in spite of his devastating death, JFK’s call for an end to the Cold War and an embrace of equality continued to resonate and as a result the

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835 Words | 4 Pages

Over 100 million people in the world do not have the same basic freedoms that every American has, and over 4 billion people face harsh religious freedoms not allowing them to believe in what they want. During times of conflict in the world the United States and its presidents work to keep the freedoms that we as Americans have. Both Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech and Kennedy’s inaugural address describe how they want to preserve freedom in our country and the world. However, Roosevelt’s speech talks about aiding other countries to protect freedom and liberty, whereas Kennedy’s speech talks more about protecting our own country 's freedom and how to do it, through negotiation.

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President Abraham Lincoln uses a variety of rhetorical strategies in his Second Inaugural Address to pose an argument to the American people regarding the division in the country between the northern states and the southern states. Lincoln gives this address during the American Civil War, when politics were highly debated and there was a lot of disagreement. Lincoln calls for the people of America to overcome their differences to reunite as one whole nation once more. Lincoln begins his Second Inaugural Address by discussing the American Civil War and its ramifications.

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While in stark contrast, Kennedy's supporters denounced any references to religion or Catholicism during his campaign, while also simultaneously appealing to specific fringe political groups; while at the same exact time, suggested that Republicans were bigoted towards Catholicism and many other religions. Kennedy used his religion as a certain kind of power during the 1960 campaign. While doing so, he also decried Republicans for their strong-held beliefs. To say that Kennedy was hypocritical is nothing short of the

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796 Words | 4 Pages

In both the Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King’s speech I believe that they both use emotional appeals, logic, and are meant to inspire people. First, the Gettysburg address gets people emotional so that they will continue fighting and dedicate the land to the people who died there. In paragraph three of the gettysburg address it states “But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate-we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

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“Abraham Lincoln is credited with coining the term "Michigander." In a speech before the House of Representatives on July 27, 1848, Lincoln referred to former Michigan governor and Democratic presidential candidate Lewis Cass as "the great Michigander. " The reference was meant as an insult, combining the word Michigan with gander” (Mlive, “All About Lincoln”). Even though “Michigander” is an insult it took an opinion and Lincoln’s attitude to form. In “The Gettysburg Address” and “Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address” president Abraham Lincoln expresses his belief that soldiers’ sacrifices for our freedom and democracy should be remembered.

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587 Words | 3 Pages

John F. Kennedy discusses and analyzes on how the nation differs from the past and present day in that time period. Kennedy narrators on the division and war in the the world to appeal to the audience patriotism by using pathos and logos. In this speech President Kennedy states “to thoses who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request; that both sides begin the quest for peace, before the dark power of destruction unleashed.” He uses this quote to obtain a logical appeal to the appeal to the people. Kennedy uses logos to show that he wants the nation to come together and be humble together in one peace.

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593 Words | 3 Pages

John F. Kennedy uses literary devices to capture the attention of the audience, sets himself equal to his audience getting their attention and support, and uses the christian religion to strike the emotions and gain the support of his audience. Kennedy uses many literary devices to catch the attention of his audience. One of these devices is repetition. One example of repetition that Kennedy uses is, “Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

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Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic candidate for president whose candidacy marked the turning point in the relationship between religion and presidential political affairs. He was famously known for saying in his Sept, 12, 1960 speech that “I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party’s candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters – and the church does not speak for me” (Kennedy, 1960). Refuting the notion that if elected president he would use his presidency to reaffirm his Roman Catholic faith and received orders from the Pope.

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