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Rhetorical Analysis Of Lyndon B. Johnson's Daisy Ad

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During President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 presidential run, he released a political ad called, “The Daisy Ad.” Johnson was the democratic nominee up against Barry Goldwater, a five term Arizona senator and Republican nominee. The election was taking place a few years after the conclusion of the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis, so the thought of the world ending due to nuclear war was still a pressing thought in the American public’s mind. Goldwater was an advocate for the usage of nuclear and he thought of these warheads as just another tactile weapon. This view though, led to the election being a landslide victory for Johnson. Johnson’s Daisy ad begins with a young girl with blonde hair in a grassy field plucking petals from a daisy. Birds are chirping in the background and the girl is counting the petals she plucks, but out of numerical sequence. Suddenly, the screen freezes and zooms into the blackness of her eyes while an ominous voice is beginning a military style countdown from ten to zero. The girl’s eyes then transform into the aftermath of a nuclear bomb detonation. With smoke billowing into a mushroom cloud, Johnson begins to state, “These are the stakes, to make a world in which all of God’s creatures can live or go into dark. We must either …show more content…

It implies that Americans will be robbed of their peace and serenity if nuclear weapons aren’t under strict control. The concept of ethos brings credibility to the ad through the use of an authoritative knowledgeable figure. Additionally, the concept of pathos appeals to your emotions through peace and fear. Lastly, the use of juxtaposition brings forward the example of parallelism with war casting peace into darkness. The concepts of ethos, pathos, and juxtaposition equate a successful persuasion for the re-election of President Lyndon

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