Rhetorical Analysis Of Let Us Continue By John F. Kennedy

America experienced one of its most tragic days on November 22, 1963; it was the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Accompanied by his wife, the President was travelling through Dallas, Texas when he was fatally shot in the head (John F. Kennedy Assassinated). Five days later on November 27, amid the grieving citizens of the United States, Lyndon Johnson, the new President, was to give a speech in the wake of Kennedy’s death (Top 100 Speeches). Referring to Kennedy’s aspirations to better America, Johnson appealed to the audience’s emotions in his speech “Let Us Continue” by urging them to carry on the work Kennedy had already began. Besides the members of the Kennedy family, Johnson was the most qualified individual to speak on the matter

No words are strong enough to express our determination to continue the forward thrust of America that he began.” This is only one example of the numerous instances in which Johnson used pathos. At such a time in which his speech was given, the evocation of emotion was not something that needed to be forced. According to history.com, “hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Washington to watch a horse-drawn caisson bear Kennedy’s body from the Capitol Rotunda to a St. Matthew’s Catholic Cathedral for a requiem Mass.” Clearly, the citizens of the United States were devastated at the passing of President Kennedy. Johnson used these emotions to urge members of Congress and the American people “not to hesitate, not to pause, not to turn about and linger over this evil moment, but to continue on our course so that we may fulfill the destiny that history has set for

His words remind everyone of the importance to carry on even in the midst of tragedy, and his speech encouraged the country’s will to continue. Johnson’s balance of ethos, logos, and pathos helped give this piece of work the reputation it has today. His use of pathos as he reminded the audience of Kennedy’s dreams for America, though, is what made this speech inspiring. “...John F. Kennedy told his countrymen that our national work would not be finished ‘in the first thousand day, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet.’ ‘But,’ he said, ‘let us begin.’ Today in this moment of new resolve, I would say to all my fellow Americans, let us continue.” Because of these words, America