Jfk Rhetorical Analysis

JFK Rhetorical Analysis

In a time of economic instability and in the midst of an arms race with Russia, a strong, courageous leader is what our nation needed. That leader's name was President John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy took office, many people thought that he was too young, too privileged, and not strong enough to take a stand on certain domestic and foreign affairs. In the beginning of his presidency, Kennedy had to take a stand on certain affairs to not only show his strength but to win over the American public. In this speech, President Kennedy criticizes the steel producers for inflating steel prices to an extra six dollars a ton and with an authoritative tone calls for the lowering of prices. By appealing to pathos and using the repetition of “it would”, Kennedy ultimately gives the steel producers an ultimatum to either lower prices or call for the use of government intervention.

Kennedy uses an appeal to pathos to connect to the american public. When Kennedy brings up the death of four servicemen in Vietnam, he gets the audience's’ attention almost indefinitely. By striking the main American values, Kennedy connects to the american people and sheds light on the bigger picture which is that money isn’t everything and we must do what's best for America as a whole. This particularly is a strong argument for Kennedy because he himself was a war vet and by saying this, he can connect to the millions of americans who are in one way or another connected to our men in arms. By appealing to pathos, Kennedy not only gets more support for himself but he also alienates the steel producers to coming across as un american for their inflation of prices.

By using the repetition of “it would” throughout the entire speech, Kennedy really drives home his point of the different types of effects that the inflated prices have on the american economy. He informs the public that by increasing