Jfk Inaugural Address Analysis

On January 20, 1961 John Fitzgerald Kennedy took the oath of office to become the 35th president of the United States. At the time Kennedy’s inaugural speech was given, America had been faced with a major threat from the Soviet Union, as the Cold War between these two world superpowers had heightened. JFK’s goal was to preserve peace but in the event of a global crisis, he wanted to ensure that the country was unified into a strong force not to be reckoned with. Many opposed JFK and felt for various reasons he would not make a worthy candidate. As a result, JFK recognized the importance of clearly conveying his message not only the citizens of America but to the world. Through his use of a nationalistic, hopeful and inspirational tone along with the use of the appeals and other various rhetorical strategies, JFK was able to successfully convey this message.
From the very opening of his speech, Kennedy’s ethos is established immediately, having just been sworn in as president of the United States. However, despite having his credibility already established among …show more content…
What Kennedy is saying is that in order to succeed as a nation and be able to live peacefully among other nations, Americans and citizens of other countries need to rise up to the challenges their countries are facing and address their problems. He believed in the power of the citizens and recognized that they are the ones who can determine our outcome and that they too, now hold the power in their hands to change their country and have the choice of whether or not they want to promote peace or violence. This was JFK’s message and his words have set the precedent for our country’s