Rhetorical Analysis Of Address To The Greater Houston Ministerial Association

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Address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association On September 12, 1960 in Houston, Texas John. F. Kennedy who at the time was campaigning for president, gave a speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association. His purpose was to emphasize the separation of church and state, and to promote “the American ideal of brotherhood” (2). Kennedy’s audience consisted of the Protestant Clergy as said in opening statement of the speech; “Reverend Meza, Reverend Reck, I'm grateful for your generous invitation to state my views”. Despite the fact that many non-catholics were displeased with the idea of a catholic running for election, he clearly swayed the audience's views for he won his election in a very close race in 1961. Very early in his speech Kennedy shows pathos, or emotion, which plays an important role in the speech. He clearly states the emotional topics of the time and the issues of the campaigning era, “. . . the humiliating treatment of our President and Vice President …show more content…

Kennedy presents statistics and explains his logic of what his kind of America is. He uses past examples to support his argument and to defy the arguments of the non-catholic voters. Kennedy connects to the audience with his statement, “ For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been -- and may someday be again -- a Jew, or a Quaker, or a Unitarian, or a Baptist . . . Today, I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you . . .” (2). By using the both the elements of ethos and logos, he is not only connecting to the audience with emotion, but also using factual evidence or logic to support his statement. Kennedy questions the audience with the statement, “I do not consider these other quotations binding upon my public acts. Why should you?” (3), which triggers the audience process his view on his public acts and