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Taylor Sengphanlaya
Professor Collins
ENGL 1302
3 July 2016

Roosevelt Broadcasted Appeals

On March 12, 1933 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addresses the nation through the
radio. During the radio broadcast, Roosevelt applies his use of diction to soothe the publics
trepidation, discusses how his new policies will help the banking crisis, and assert the reason that
banks should be considered dependable. Pathos, ethos and logos in Franklin Delano Roosevelts
First Fireside Chat speech indicates why the public should put their trust in banks or the nation
may remain in a depression.
Roosevelt applies pathos to connect, calm and encourage his listeners. Roosevelt advises,
that the assurance and determination of the people are necessary to help execute a financial
system that will assist the elimination of the economic strife (par. 21). He evokes the emotions
of courage and trust from the people by illustrating how the plan will work. The plan relies on
the trust of the government, the banks and the people. In paragraph fourteen, Roosevelt reveals,
The success of our whole national program depends, of course, on the cooperation of the
public (par. 14). He states that the public should unite, feel confident in their banks and in
themselves. The government has implement a system in place to assist the country out of this
economic crisis and it is vital for the people to have faith or it will destroy the banks across the
nation. He wants the people to not to be distrusting, because their feelings of distrust can lead to
panic and then history would repeat itself. In paragraph eight, Roosevelt tries to calm his
audience and persuade them in believing in the structure set in place. He does this to prevent the

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public from having to relive this disaster. He attempts to illicit courage, unity, and trust in his
audience to prevent the nation from feeling wary and going back to hastily withdraw their funds,
which may cause another depression. Roosevelt draws the emotions of courage and tranquility
for the nation and prevents the feelings of wariness, by explaining the only way this sound plan
would fail if the people does not put their faith in themselves. He wants the people to know the
emotions of fear and worry have plagued them, instead of confidence and assurance. Roosevelt
aspires to boost the nations courage in hopes of overcoming the depression.
To establish his authority, credibility and trustworthiness Roosevelt reveals how
knowledge he is about the situation. He connects with the audience by outlining his plans to
resolve the nations economic dilemma. In paragraph twenty two, Roosevelt states that the crisis
is not only the publics issue, but his as well. He establishes his reliability and character by
acknowledging that the problem affects everyone, even himself. He acknowledges that it is his
responsibility to fix the nation as well, rather than abandoning the people in their time of need.
Roosevelt describes a feeling of admiration after the sense of morale radiates from the nation. He
cannot describe how adequately thankful he feels towards the nation for the devotion he receives
about the decisions he makes to assist the population, even if the solution did not at first seem
apparent (par. 20). The people showing loyal support to the President even if they initially
seemed disoriented. This illustrates that he has establish his credibility with the nation and that
he portray as trustworthy to the citizens. Roosevelt reveals how insightful about the cause of the
situation and the methods employed to fix the issue. He describes some of the bankers
inexperienced or deceitful when handling citizens assets. The deceitful or inexperienced bankers
would invest in reckless loans or risky business. This incident does not occur with all of the
bankers, but that does not stop the feeling of uncertainty that spread and leaving the public in a

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state of distrust. Causing the people assume the acts of the few are the acts of the many.
Resulting in the governments obligation to rectify the situation and fix the issue as swiftly as
possible (par. 18). Explaining what cause the disaster displays how knowledgeable Roosevelt is
and validates him as reliable and honest person. Roosevelt hopes that establishing his credibility
will make the people of the United States trust him and allow him to lead them out of this
depression.
Roosevelt applies reason and common sense to rationalize how the nation resulted in a
depression and the solution to resolve the issue. He simplifies how the banking process works by
stating when citizens deposit their money in the bank only a fraction is available, while the rest
of the money is used in bank investments like industry or agriculture (Roosevelt par. 3). He
provides logical structures to demonstrate the banking process. Roosevelt defines that the reason
the banks crashed, because people are rushing to withdrawal all of their funds, but they do not
know that banks do not carry their entire funds at the bank. Resulting the banks to sell their
assets for prices below the actual value (par. 4). Roosevelt utilizes reasoning and common sense
to explain the cause of this crisis. Roosevelt reveals the new policy set in place will help restore
the banks and push in legitimate currency. He states people will, have their money where it
will be safely taken care of and where they can use it conveniently at any time (par. 13). He
implies the new policy will cleanse the corrupt money and make it new, so that people do not
have to worry storing money under their mattress, homes or anywhere else besides a bank.
Roosevelt applies logos to clarify the reason why the nation should have faith in the banks.
Roosevelt utilizes rhetoric to calm, guide, gain support and trust of the people to lead
them out of the banking crisis. His use of pathos evokes the feelings of courage, confidence and
unity. Establishing ethos to gain credibility, support and trust, which allows him to guide the

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nation away from of this disaster. Finally, applying logos to appeal to the citizens common sense
and reasoning, and clarifying the cause and the solution of the situation. Roosevelt successfully
delivered his message to the people. He feels confident that the people will listen and follow his
advice, causing them to unite together for the revival of America from the banking crisis.

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Works Cited
Roosevelt, Franklin. The Banking Crisis (First Fireside Chat) AmericanRhetoric.
AmericanRhetoric, n.d. Web. 21 Jun. 2016.