John F Kennedy Rhetorical Analysis Essay

J.F.K. Rhetorical Analysis As President of the United States, John F. Kennedy played the primary role in helping the nation emerge from a recession. As part of his plan, Kennedy demanded that prices and wages remain stable, so when the nation’s largest steel companies betrayed his efforts, it was up to him to convince these corporations to lower their prices and wages once again. In a unifying speech in 1962, John F. Kennedy argued for the lowering of the prices and wages using rhetorical strategies such as an impactful anaphora to build a sense of camaraderie, drawing attention to emotional situations to pull at the heartstrings of the audience, and presenting substantial statistics to reinforce his claims. All of these specific details are used in order to establish his pathos, ethos, and logos respectively, and also to convince the people of the nation that this subject is problematic and a priority worth acting upon. John F. Kennedy started his speech strongly by building a sense of unity, and therefore establishing his credibility. This can be seen by his use of the …show more content…
For example, Kennedy informed, “Employment costs per unit of steel output in 1961 were essentially the same as they were in 1958” (60-61). Additionally, Kennedy proclaimed, “The industry’s cash dividends have exceeded 600 million dollars in each of the last five years, and earnings in the first quarter of this year were estimated in the February 28th Wall Street Journal to be among the highest in history” (70-74). Kennedy presents these facts in order to logically display that the nation would benefit if the steel companies lowered their prices. In doing this, Kennedy gives factual evidence to the audience to help them understand why exactly this is an issue and why they should take a stance. With this information, Kennedy has come full circle and persuaded his audience not only emotionally, but also