June of 1963, two African American students were admitted on the University of Alabama. George Wallace, the Alabama governor, and several state troopers would not let the two brave students into the university (Younge). Wallace was a segregationist and believed African Americans shouldn’t be able to attend the same school as white people. Soon after, District Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach told Wallace to let the students in, but he refused and began to give a speech to the people surrounding the entryway. Throughout the day, President John F. Kennedy heard word of the situation at the university and made a crucial decision: to send the Alabama National Guard to the University of Alabama and order Governor Wallace to leave. With nothing else he could do, George Wallace left and two African American students were successfully admitted. …show more content…
Kennedy decided to give a speech; although, he was advised to let the incident play itself out because there was no violence on the campus. The president wrote his speech in six hours, then delivered it on national news and radio stations in the Oval Office. He read from his own notes for most of it but then devised the final four minutes on his own while on air. Through his 13 minute speech, President Kennedy hit many topics within the idea of segregation: voting, shopping, eating, entertainment, education (Wikipedia). Using these segments of the population, Kennedy tried to persuade the audience to fight for equality amongst all races, nations, and colors of people.
President Kennedy had in mind of what he wanted America to be. He outlined several qualities and qualifications he dreamed the people could meet. Before each qualification he exclaimed “It ought to be possible.” He used anaphora to show people what we should want and strive to become as a society. This also calls people’s morals out so they can examine why they believe in what they