ipl-logo

John F Kennedy's Steel Industry

575 Words3 Pages

John F. Kennedy is a man who sought to bring regulation to the United States steel

industry. Government mandated prices and wages are the two issues that Kennedy addresses in

his proposed plan, promising that with great sacrifice as a country, the workers will be able to

live with the same low costs if they accept the same low wages. The problem with this

seemingly bullet--proof plan is the steel manufacturers who want to pump prices of raw steel,

then collect on the higher prices paid by manufacturers who purchase their raw material from the

major steel--producing companies.

The steel companies were in the middle of bouncing back from producing roughly 60%

of their profit potential; wages are not being risen because the steel output per man has increased …show more content…

There is credit to be

given to the companies for becoming so prosperous in the first place but the nation is in a

position where it needs cooperation from the incorporation.

President Kennedy sees that he needs to break up the corporate greed to protect the jobs

and lives of ~180 million hardworking Americans, Kennedy then reads that “The industry’s cash

dividends have exceeded 600 million dollars in each of the last five years, and earnings in the

first quarter if this were estimated in the February 28th Wall Street Journal to be among the

highest in history.” (Kennedy 69) this statement further proves solid ground for Kennedy’s initial

proposal to have the American steel companies sacrifice millions of dollars in profit to protect

the American people. Though many companies may think that making more money will increase

the economy they are overlooking a larger detail and that is consumer behavior. If consumers do

not want to buy a steel product then companies will purchase less steel from the manufacturers

which will lead to an over production of raw material (sunk cost) then which is a net loss for

everyone in the

Show More
Related
340 Words | 2 Pages

Kennedy used the tone in which sounded like he was disappointed of the companies. He said “ increasing steel prices by some 6 dollars a ton, constitutes a wholly unjustifiable and irresponsible defiance of the public interest,” he basically said they acted irresponsible in front of the public. He also stated, that them increasing the price of steel was hurting the

Read More
271 Words | 2 Pages

John F. Kennedy gave a speech in 1962 ,during the aftermath of a recession, in regards to the steel companies increase in steel prices. He spoke out as one of the people, he spoke for the consumers as well as the American citizens affected by the recent recession. Kennedy made sure to shame the steel companies, with his strict yet disappointed tone, for not standing by their duties to help and be fair to the consumers. John F. Kennedy’s tone,in his speech regarding the increase in steel prices, shifts from anger to disappointment by using parallelism and , in order to speak about the ongoing unfair placement of power. John F. Kennedy uses parallelism to conceive himself as any other normal American citizen in order to call

Read More
639 Words | 3 Pages

He draws a line between them, the “185 million Americans” (ln 20-21) and a “tiny handful of steel executives” (ln 17) who don’t have a “sense of public responsibility” (ln 19). Kennedy concludes his speech by saying, “Some time ago I asked each American to consider what he would do for his country. I asked the steel companies. In the last 24 hours, we had their answer” (ln 107-110). This jab at the steel companies also helps to make a point that the American people are doing more for their country than the steel companies are.

Read More
802 Words | 4 Pages

Kennedy says in his news conference," If this rise in the cost of steel is imitated by the rest of the industry, instead of rescinded, it would increase the cost of homes, autos, appliances, and most other items for every American family. It would increase the cost of machinery and tools to every American businessman and farmer. It would seriously handicap our efforts to prevent an inflationary spiral from eating up the pensions of our older citizens, and our new gains in purchasing power"(line 23-31) This shows that when the decline of the companies it will seriously handicap the American people due to the large increase in prices. This is also shown in, "And it would surely handicap our efforts to induce other industries and unions adopt responsible price and wage policies"(line 43-45)

Read More
954 Words | 4 Pages

Considering Americans are willing to, “leave their homes and families… and servicemen to risk their lives” shows corporation do not care what impact it leaves on them. He holds companies accountable of having a plan to pursue “private power” while not showing interest in 185 million American lives. Kennedy intends on grasping the attention of these steel corporations in order to explain how the rise in steel prices will not only affect the people but also others involved in the money

Read More
843 Words | 4 Pages

Carnegie, saw a new method to produce steel;he came to the U.S and built a million-dollar steel plant. He made sure Congress passed tariffs keeping out foreign steel, and keeping its price to $28 a ton. Workers were looked down on because they were poor. These businessmen were very corrupt, they maintained high prices, but kept wages very low, and still used the government's subsidies. This act left 200,000 men working twelve hours and not winning enough money to keep their families alive.

Read More
1593 Words | 7 Pages

Kennedy first starts off in paragraph 2 by highlighting that America is “devoting… to economic recovery and stability” and then follows up in paragraph 4 by mentioning that the increase in price would result in an extra “one billion dollars” (Sorenson 160, 161). As a result, Kennedy is able to demonstrate that the actions of the steel executives are against the needs of the nation because while “Americans” are hard at work focusing on fixing the economy, the steel executives are jacking up the price of steel making everyone’s lives miserable. Kennedy, however, not only attacks the executive’s lack of upholding their American responsibility, he also hammers their failure to contain any sense of moral obligation. In paragraph 7 Kennedy mentions that steel profits have “exceeded 600 million”, he then goes on to question if the executive’s profits are already so high why bother continuing to raise the prices (Sorenson 161). Not only is the raising of prices illogical it also hurts the American family that Kennedy mentioned earlier in his speech, “it would increase the cost…for every American family” (Sorenson 160).

Read More
1017 Words | 5 Pages

In the post-Civil War United States corporations grew significantly in number, size and influence. Big business had a major impact on the economy and politics in America resulting in changes for many American citizens. As been noted, one way in

Read More
284 Words | 2 Pages

Dear Joseph Kennedy III, I’m a student from attleboro high school. In my history class we are learning about economics and the effects we also learn what globalization and capitalism is. Globalization is the use of other countries buying products and investing into the production that is from another country. Capitalism is so people can have private business to make money for themselves to benefit from selling the products.

Read More
589 Words | 3 Pages

In 1962, the United States was in the middle of the Vietnam War and fresh out of a recession. Things were definitely not going very well when, all of a sudden, steel prices rose by almost 4 percent. Then President, John F. Kennedy, was very incensed by the sudden decision and wrote a very passionate speech about it. In his speech he talks about the irresponsibility of steel companies, using rhetorical devices to argue his points. He uses the points in his speech to convince his audience that rising steel prices are not in their best interest.

Read More
523 Words | 3 Pages

He want his audience to disapprove with the steel companies plans. These facts convince the audience that Kennedy is right that the steel companies should not increase the steel prices because of the recession. The numerous statistics shows how unbalance the economy is and support Kennedy’s plan to stabilize the steel prices. In conclusion, Kennedy use of diction, emotional appeals, and a persuasive tone convince Americans to change their opinion and despise the steel companies. He want his nation attention to rally them up to look down upon the steel corporations.

Read More
580 Words | 3 Pages

In 1962, in the midst of the international space race, steel prices in the U.S. began to rise. In this speech delivered by John F. Kennedy, he claims that there is no justification for these increasing steel prices through the use of logos and pathos. Whilst attempting to convince and create reason for steel companies to reduce their prices, JFK employs the use of logic-best argumentation in order to convey his message. However, at times, because his audience isn't merely citizens of the country but also executives of the steel companies, the line between pathos and logos is subtle, for he appeals to the emotions general American public through the use of verifiable data.

Read More
812 Words | 4 Pages

As America entered and went through dark economic tensions, President Kennedy strived for stable prices and wages. After the largest steel companies raised steel prices by 3.5 percent, Kennedy gave a speech in response. In the speech, Kennedy calls out the steel companies for actions that were “wholly unjustifiable” and “irresponsibly defiant” to the American people. He appeals to the audience’s emotion, uses repetition, and applies logic to achieve his goal in persuading the companies to lower steel prices.

Read More
761 Words | 4 Pages

Every time the phrase “it would” is repeated the audience recognizes the repetition causing them to keep the focus on the points Kennedy wanted to make. All of the points Kennedy wanted to make happened to be against the actions of the steel industry. This again helps link all of Kennedy’s ideas into one clear section. Similarly using the phrase more difficult, in mind 85 Kennedy uses the rhetorical strategy of anaphora. With the phrase more difficult Kennedy is able to list some of the economic conflicts created by the increase in steel prices.

Read More
1044 Words | 5 Pages

Plumbing is crucial in every home because it supports cooking, cleaning, and bathing. That also means that plumbing problems are a major disruption and potential source of expensive repairs. What 's worse is that many insurance policies exclude water damage from issues that aren 't fixed promptly or properly. That second part is particularly important. If you DIY a plumbing repair that fails and damages your home, there 's a good chance your insurance won 't cover it.

Read More

More about John F Kennedy's Steel Industry

Related Topics

Open Document