Rhetorical Analysis Of Eisenhower's Inaugural Address

President Dwight Eisenhower was the president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. Before assuming his role as president, Eisenhower was an active member of the United States military. He served as a military aide to General Pershing and to General MacArthur. During World War II, Eisenhower worked his way up to become the Supreme Commander of Operation Overlord, which was the Allied assault on Nazi-occupied Europe. After noticing Eisenhower’s great success, President Truman asked him to run together in the presidential campaign with Truman being the vice presidential candidate. Eisenhower politely declined, opting to become the president of Columbia University instead. When the Korean War broke out, he became the Supreme Commander of NATO

He lists the “balance in and among national programs-balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages-balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between the actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.” President Eisenhower knew very well that the balance among these things was unequal, and he used his speech to warn the nation of what would happen in the event that these things lose their balance. He speaks of the balance between the public and private economy because the government could easily take from its people to support its debts. There must be a balance so that the people do not go bankrupt trying to support the government economy. Eisenhower then discusses the balance between the necessary and comfortable desirable. He says this to warn the nation not to become too greedy. People should only acquire what they absolutely need. Eisenhower knew that as time passed, the people of the nation would become more and greedier. The balance between the actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future means that this country should make spontaneous decisions. Every aspect of its decisions should be carefully considered. No rash decisions that would affect the future welfare of the country should be made. Eisenhower says “Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration” to close this paragraph and to wrap up his point. He is warning the country that if the next leaders of the country have poor judgment, the entire country will be unbalanced. This would cause a multitude of