Rhetorical Analysis Of Jfk Inaugural Address

JFK’s Inaugural Speech As a leader of a powerful country, American presidents have to be able to use their words to convey meaning to the public. President John. F. Kennedy was the thirty-fifth president to be elected and was also the youngest president to be elected at the time. During the time he was elected, it was a time of turmoil throughout the entire world. With the spread of communism and nuclear weapons being developed by the world’s super powers, the public were in great need for a leader and they turned to Kennedy for that. As the newly elected president, John. F. Kennedy knew that he needed to provide a good impression to the public. In his inaugural speech, JFK gives a speech that used emotion and reference to God to establish

If the public cannot believe in their president, then the public would not be able to live in peace. Throughout President Kennedy’s speech, there are many appeals that are used to raise his credibility and to gain the trust of the public. Kennedy manages to use his words to make the public feel included in his own personal goals as president of the United States. Kennedy shares the task of bringing peace to the world with the citizens of America by using lines like, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” By saying lines like these, he makes the public feel responsible for making the place they live in a better place. Aside from placing a sense of responsibility in the public, the main point of Kennedy’s speech was to place a sense of pride in the citizens of America. Throughout the speech, the Kennedy uses images of freedom to inspire his audience and to further his ethos. Kennedy goes on to tell the public that they are “Heirs of that first revolution.” This quote suggests that America is a father figure that is responsible for many nations throughout the world. Although the inaugural address mainly uses emotional language, Kennedy spends time portraying his credibility to not only his audience, but also the people of the

Even though he is the youngest president yet, Kennedy knows that he is still expected to be as good as the past presidents. Knowing this, President Kennedy tells the audience that, “[he] has sworn before [the audience] and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.” He wants to show the public that he has gone through the exact same process that every other president has gone through in the past and that he wants to let America know that he still plans on holding on to American values which the nation was founded upon. President Kennedy then goes on to make pledges to the American public, allies of America, and the enemies of America. The pledge is to assure the groups above, that the United States of America will do whatever it can do to “assure the survival and the success of liberty.” This helps show Kennedy’s ethos as a leader who will stand for democracy and freedom. Throughout the speech, Kennedy promises its allies a fruitful relationship. Kennedy even appeals to America’s enemies showing that he is willing to work things out peacefully in order to make the world a better