Rhetorical Analysis Of Fdr's First Inaugural Address

On March 4, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke before millions of Americans across the United States, as he was becoming the 32nd President. This inaugural speech was given at a time of crisis for America. President FDR laid out his plans on how he would overcome the Great Depression. Through the use of rhetorical devices, such as anaphora, and his appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos, he was able to convince the people of America to trust him with his plan that he would do everything in his power to make America a great country again. FDR emphasizes how he can help the country in the ways that they need help most through his use of anaphora. Throughout paragraphs nine and ten, he repeats the phrase, “it can be.” This phrase is repeated multiple …show more content…
Once again, he is reassuring the people that putting them to work is not an unsolvable problem and it will be there greatest task while he is President. He also relates his words back to the listeners feeling when giving this address. FDR uses different words choice that appeal back to the listener’s emotions in hopes that they will trust him as President. For example, “..nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance” (“First Inaugural Address). He uses loaded language in this sentence to emphasize what fear does and how it affects our plans. FDR is telling the people that by running to the banks and taking their money out was only causing more bad than good to the already troubled economy. FDR uses his appeal to logos so he can establish a sense of reasoning. In the phrase, “Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay, has fallen…” (“First Inaugural Address”), he is saying that the problems that the country is facing and he is also telling the people this to reassure them that he will fix this issue. FDR wants the people to know that the problems that they are facing will soon be