Dissecting Kennedy’s Inaugural Address
Former president John F Kennedy’s inauguration speech was one of the most memorable and influential speeches in the history of our nation. It is one speech that even children at early ages may know a fragment of. With phrases such as but not limited to, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," (Kennedy) it is to nobody’s surprise that the speech is so renowned. As any president’s inauguration speech, this speech’s main goal was to inspire and propel forward Americans and the American dream. It attempted to unite all of the country’s people to work together for a single goal to make America great. When the President inductee speaks of not separating people in the United States by their party but grouping them together as people of America’s freedom, it strikes at the people’s motives and opens their eyes that they should not be competing against their fellow Americans, but should be working alongside them.
When John F Kennedy made this speech on January 20, 1961, it was an era following World War II, and it was a time of unease and competition. The space race was an ongoing competition between the United States and Russia. America and the world were on their road to recovery from the Great Depression, and the people were striving to be better versions of themselves. Americans were becoming more divided over segregation and racism, and the United States had just elected its newest President. This speech was meant to inspire and unite the people suffering from tunnel visioning on themselves, and panicking over the quickly evolving world around them. Within his speech, I believe that President Kennedy did a great job realizing his audience and fine-tuning his speech around said audience.
The speaker, in this case, John F Kennedy, speaks as a fellow American, however also speaks as a man who knows more than your average joe. He speaks with his more comprehensive knowledge of the world around him, and with closely studied notes, finds solutions to the problems that threaten the world. However, he does not stop there, he continues to speak of the even more efficient ways to approach these solutions and threatens of the possibility of not working together. He states, “United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do." (Kennedy) This quote starts a fire within you, that burns with the passion to work together. It helps one realize that there is very little that any one man can accomplish on their own, however when many men come together they can change the world. Kennedy presents himself in a humble, but obviously more enlightened manner. Kennedy was a Harvard graduate and an author. Additionally, he was in the Navy and became a congressman before his election into the presidential seat.
Jefferson used ethos, pathos, and logos within his speech to improve the connection he built with the reader or listener. Immediately as he began his essay, he established his ethos by mentioning every in worth mentioning in the crowd, “Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens.”(Kennedy) This gives the reader a sense of acknowledgment and shows that JFK knew how to grab his crowd’s attention. However, he doesn’t stop there. As he has already grabbed his crowd he continues to hold them at the edge of their seat with a great use of pathos! “We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom,”(Kennedy) he exclaimed and I can only imagine how the crowd must have roared at the end of that statement. Without a doubt his way with words was immaculate, and these carefully put together sentences were the reason for his great success. Additionally, he employs logos within his essay as well. Within the body of his narrative, he explains, “dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.”(Kennedy) With this, he draws the attention of the crowd to address a serious topic that can frighten many people, but also bring out the seriousness and the courage of these people. Among many other examples of these strong rhetorical devices, JFK’s use of these was just so pristine that they had to be noted all on their own.
The tone within the essay shifts, from formal to reasoned and controlled. He paced himself within the speech to take on several issues in order. As he begins his essay he addresses the crowd and seems very formal. He shifts to passionate tone right after. When he celebrates his victory, he seems as if he were ready to take on the world purely with words. He was prepared to convince every person living in the United States that he was the man for the job. These shifts in tone show his control over your emotions when you are reading this essay because it can change how you perceive what is being said to you based on how it is written. Later when he starts to address issues global and domestic alike, he shifts to a reasoned and controlled tone. This is to make sure the reader knows that these points are important and to explain the gravity of the situation. When JFK begins to speak on the cold war, he becomes very serious and the atmosphere changes. It seems gentle but very serious because everyone at the point in time was scared of what might happen at just a moment’s notice. This allowed even the possibility of the cold war turning nuclear to control the people of the United States, if not the Soviet Union at the time also. However it was clear that JFK wanted to avoid this outcome at all costs, and we the readers can sense that in his solution and through his effort to calm everyone down. If he were to go into a more informal and upbeat tone we would’ve been more likely to expect him wanting to go into the war. These incredible shifts in tone once again show how great of a writer Kennedy was, and how powerful his essays and speeches were.
I found this essay to be extremely persuasive. With so a plethora of rhetoric devices, Kennedy shows off his talent as a writer and creates an atmosphere that he completely controls. Using this atmosphere change to his advantage, he shifts many times his tone and uses different rhetorical devices when challenging different topics and different issues which he would have to deal with in his presidency. These shifts made me comfortable and safe at one point, and instantly change to wanting to jump out of my seat and jump with eagerness at the next paragraph. Directly pulling from the text there are several sentences and quotes that stand out, and some are even still in use today and famous throughout the world. Without a doubt, I believe that JFK was one of the best-written Presidents in history, and this speech shows off just why he was so great. With a charismatic attitude and absolute control over his writing, Kennedy could easily win over the heart and mind of any American.