Kennedy Vs. Roosevelt's 1961 Inaugural Address

Being the president of the United States of America does not mean just leading those within the border, but also all living in freedom as most see the president as the “leader of the free world.” With such a title, it is without a doubt that the president must regard freedom in the highest sense and hold it to the highest value. The weight of freedom, however, weighs differently and is expressed differently by everyone, including former presidents. Two such examples are the 32nd President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his 1941 State of the Union address and the 35th President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in his 1961 Inaugural Address. Both speeches share a roughly similar context as both occurred as a result of political and societal difficulties and both speeches share similar meanings of the word “freedom”, however, Roosevelt’s speech, often regarded as his “Four Freedoms” speech, was meant to convince Americans that involvement in World War II was necessary while Kennedy’s speech was meant to inspire Americans and restore their faith in the government. Roosevelt became president in the midst of the Great Depression, a period of economic and societal hardship following the end of World War I. In America, many were poor, jobless, and/or homeless, the banks were failing, agricultural production was next to nothing, and industrial production was slowed. He managed to boost the economy, but by the late 1930s America was faced with another …show more content…
They both were able to promote capitalism using the idea of freedom while at war, however, they did so with different purposes in mind. Even though it must be a difficult job to be the “leader of the free world” and not everyone performs sufficiently, these two men show how differently the presidential job can be carried out while still be efficient and progressing the country they swore to