What Are The Similarities Between The Speeches Of Reagan And John F. Kennedy

When life does not give you lemons, people like John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan would work to make lemonade without them. The two speeches, “Remarks at the Rudolph Wilde Platz,” and “Brandenburg Gate” had a multitude of similarities, considering their twenty-four year difference. Even though twenty-four years can differentiate a speech between two people, Reagan and Kennedy had similarities that would eventually help tear down the Berlin Wall for freedom for all. The two successful presidents had a common goal to end communism and tear it down. An awful inequality situation compelled Reagan and Kennedy to give motivational speeches to the West Berliners. These two speeches were revolutionary to not only Berlin, but the entire world. With both of the speeches being similar, the purposes were technically the same. Each speech gave the people hope that the wall would eventually be taken down to unite Berlin like it once was. Their obvious goal was to emphasize that

Kennedy was the first president to address the issue of the Berlin Wall. It represented disconnection and the opposite of what a free place should look like. Therefore, he was proud to call himself a Berliner because Berlin was a symbol of strength, determination and hope to him. The “mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin” (Para. 1). Kennedy made sure to point out the strength that Berlin had through this tragic and traumatizing time. Through his choice of words, Kennedy was able to act of the same power of the Berliners, using repetition on the phrase “Ich bin ein Berliner” (Para. 2 & 8). This added an immense amount of unity to his speech, constantly reminding the crowd that he was on their side. Overall, John F. Kennedy’s speech was one to remember because of the strong rhetoric