The 1960 Presidential election was one of the closest elections in history. The two candidates who were striving for the presidency were Vice President Richard M. Nixon and your brother, Sen. John F. Kennedy. This was also a very grueling campaign from the primaries all the way to the November election. Throughout the election season there are many issues that are brought up, both international and domestic issues and issues with each of the candidates. In this memo I will talk about the 1960 election and show you the reasons why John F. Kennedy won and the issues which dominated the campaign.…
Johnson’s speech, “We Shall Overcome”, is efficacious as he uses a variety of persuasive techniques allowing him to appeal to all of his audience. Some of the more pronounced persuasive techniques he uses in his writing are evoking an emotional response, using emotionally loaded language, and using quotations from historical text. One way we know Mr. Johnson’s speech was successful is that just a few months later the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed reinforcing the 15th amendment guaranteeing all people the right to vote. Overall, Lyndon Johnson’s speech was one of the most effective speeches in American…
In the 1960s, the Vietnam War pressured the American society and culture into the anti-war movement. A new culture was founded to protest against the entrance of the war. Through the eyes of a drafted man, a passionate protester and a political author, the audience learns different responses to the movement. Their contrasting expressions of the spirit of the time provokes a similar message together. David Lance Goines, Ann Charters and Susan Sontag demonstrate their approach to support the anti-war movement through their personal views.…
Within the speech he suggested to the American people to “let us begin.” By alluding to Kennedy’s speech he is able to shift into his own political agenda by stating “let us continue.” Now using the appeal of ethos, he once again uses the technique of anaphora to tell the American people “not to hesitate, not to pause.” Using the credibility of a once loved President, allows for Kennedy’s supporters to also support Johnson. This contrasts to the end of the section where he tells the American people “to act wisely, to act vigorously, to act speedily. . .” In between these phrases, he mentions political issues that need to be passed through congress quickly. Johnson uses the past president's death as a way to make the American people believe that they need to pass these laws. By using this contrast at the end, Johnson truly uplifts and motivates the audience. He also alludes to the previous work he had done with the civil rights movement. Once again using credibility, instead of emotion, to persuade his audience. Before he was even vice-president, the African-American community had reached out to him for help. By alluding to his previous work, he is showing himself to be a credible political…
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was one the most beloved presidents of the United States. He was the youngest U.S. president and the first Roman Catholic president. There is much to be said about this man and his legacy. We hear his humility in his inaugural speech and feel the admiration of family and friends shared in Eleanor Clift’s article, “Inside Kennedy’s Inauguration, 50 Years On.” Two different perspectives, yet both reveal the qualities of a man who loved his family, his country and inspired all. The photograph of the inauguration is a visual representation of the new hope that this young president had brought and the historical moment the most influential president was sworn into office.…
Kennedy won election to the presidency in 1960, one of the closest elections in American history. Kennedy announced a bold domestic agenda of reducing poverty and advancing civil rights. He did, however boost economic growth by advancing a series of sweeping individual and business tax reductions in 1963. Mr. Kennedy served in the Navy during World War II, earning the Navy and Marine Corps Medals and the Purple Heart. Following the war, he was elected to the United States Congress for three terms and to the United States Senate twice.In Kennedy’s Inaugural address he states, “And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country”. This address impacted the citizens because it inspired them to new possibilities. Also, it raised their goals of themselves, and of their nation. People joined the Peace Corps, Green Berets, and hundreds of people went to Washington to be part of the “New Frontier”. In addition, students went to law school or into programs with social benefit. All across the country, Kennedy’s words changed lives. Kennedy played a major role in revolutionizing American politics. Television began to have a real impact on voters and long, drawn-out election campaigns became normal. Dr. Christopher Campbell, a director of the Southern Miss school of Mass Communication and Journalism states, “I guess most people consider Kennedy the first T.V. president, and I agree.” Kennedy got a great mass of his votes…
2 was a song by “Country Joe and the Fish”. The song describes the pointless drafting of young men into a war that is basically a guarantee that they will not come back alive. In the document, the guerilla group, “Viet Cong”, also known as, “The National Liberation Front”, is referenced. The VC were southern Communist guerillas. Along the “Ho Chi Minh Trail”, this radical group was supported and supplied. In 1957, the VC attacked Vietnamese government officials. The VCare known for their surprise attacks and guerilla warfare. The purpose of Doc. 2 is to appeal to American emotion and hope to strike up protests to end drafting of young men int the war. Doc. 2 corresponds to Doc. 3 in the sense that some of these young men being drafted, are forced to fight in a war to help grant rights and freedoms to those living across the globe when the very same young men being drafted are African-Americans who cannot even be allowed rights in Georgia and parts of New York. The author of Doc. 3 is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King was a famous Civil Rights leader who is also credited for organizing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, or SCLC for short, During the Civil Rights Movement, King was backed by former president Lyndon B. Johnson. During LBJ’s presidency, while dealing with issues presented over seas, he turned to King for support, but was denied backing. LBJ was surprised and angered a little by King’s refusal, seeing as though he supported King, publically, during the Civil Rights Movement. The purpose of Doc. 3 is to illustrate reasons why African-American involvement in Vietnam could be viewed as ludacris do to the fact that the could not even be given liberties in their own…
Author Tim O’Brien fictionalized himself in a short story called “On the Rainy River” which shows the battle that frequently occurred to a recipient of the draft notice as the war dragged on. In this story, there are many connotations to war and the American soldier persona. Tim battles with a difficult decision that was not uncommon during the late sixties and early seventies. In O’Brien’s short story, Canada was the land of the free, since military duty is optional, and home of the cowards, a description used by many Americans for those who fled from their duties.Often from their fear of such “cowardice”, young men went to boot camp and became soldiers in the Vietnam War. The person who received the notice commonly was not the person who…
Students burned draft cards and even protested Richard Nixon’s inauguration as president until they were forcibly dragged away or disbanded. These protests shaped the nation’s negative perception of the Vietnam War, forever a black mark on the American government. Once again, these students of the American education system were far from being “dumbed down and…
Sixteen year olds pay taxes, drive, and are allowed to drop out of school, so why can’t they vote also? Voting age in the United States is currently eighteen years old, although teenagers younger than that are still required to do many things that are controlled by how people vote on the ballots. I believe that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen years of age.…
It is easy to believe that attaining peace in this world where violence and wars are so apparent is getting much harder. Perhaps to the point in which it is verging on the impossible. ‘Eve of Destruction’ expresses a strong but heartfelt warning towards how our hypocrisy as a society is edging us closer to our own demise . The writer, P.F Slogan, addresses both the solider and society singing about being on the ‘eve of destruction’. He wrote, “You’re old enough to kill but not for voting”, “you don’t believe in war, then what’s that gun your totin.” During the 1960s young men were drafted at 18 when the voting age was 21. When said bluntly, it carries a strong message, making you think about why the government would send a child to give…
When a country can produce more troops than its enemy, as well as support from citizens the chances of victory weigh more than defeat. It is apparent that America’s government understood this concept when the Vietnam War took root. The Vietnam War consisted of a draft concluding all men from the ages of 18-25are required to fight in war. Fanatically deprived young men, who could not avoid the draft by paying for college, predominantly made up the capacity of troops. Conversely the rise of civil rights movement and the hippie movement gave a voice to young men who refused to fight in the Vietnam War and resisted the draft. Since, the majority of American citizens did not support the war, Vietnam resulted in…
The year is 1968, and the Vietnam War is already 14 years underway. There is not a volunteer army, so the Selective Service System sends out a draft notice to all eligible males between the ages of 18 and 26. There were many ways to get out of the draft like having a disability, having a health condition, being a conscientious objector, being a student or choosing to flee to Canada. What would the feelings be of a young man with a bright future who just received a notice? This is what the author Tim O’Brien went through in his autobiographical short story “On the Rainy River”. The story is about O’Brien describing his feelings and emotions after receiving a draft letter, and his need to escape it. In the short story “On the Rainy River” by…
The beginning part of the chapter reminded me a lot of my dad. My dad had just turned eighteen and was one of the last men to get drafted in Omaha. He was opposed to the war and refused to shoot a gun so he joined the navy. “’They would read off the number, and I remember this guy Steven—his number was one of the first, and it was like, oh my God. And he just sat there. He was actually picked while we were watching TV. And there was a lot of sobbing and crying and it was horrible’” (Collins 183). I had never thought about how the draft has affected my dad in that way. I never thought about everything all of these men had to give up. It makes me respect and admire my dad a lot.…
The major opposition the movement posed against the Vietnam draft was the amount of men it demanded, netting about “forty-thousand men each month”. To support this, taxes had also been raised up to a total of “twenty-five billion dollars.” A major outset for protesting in the war was when “one-hundred thousand” protested at the Lincoln Memorial, and “thirty-thousand thousand”, then went on to riot at the Pentagon. Similar to this, war veterans who were physically scarred or disabled were shown on live television throwing medals away, telling terrifying war stories to discourage volunteers, and generally showing the grotesque side of war, winning more protesters to the protesting movement each…