John F Kennedy Inaugural

Address
1961
 Speaker

• John F Kennedy

• Youngest and 1st Catholic President

• Had a large position he had to pull during

the Cold War
 Purpose
• Improve relations with Soviet Union

• Stop the development of nuclear war

• Stop the spread of communism

(secretively)

• Gain the respect and support of the nation

 Audience
• USSR (stop the development of nuclear
war)

• US at the Capitol (red scare)

• The world (stop the spread of

communism)
 Medium
• Shown over television

• Heard over the radio

• Millions of people heard the speech even

from other nations

• Due to government restrictions within the

Soviet Union those in USSR did not view it
 Rhetorical Appeals
• Ethos ( credibility of speaker)
– Page1

• JFK respectfully acknowledges all the

prominent and average citizens at his
inauguration. (paragraph 1)

• Kennedy speaks of the oath he took

as well as our forefather. (paragraph
2)
 • Promises the world that he will do
whatever it takes to help each nation
a high level of freedom. (paragraph 5
and 6)

• Pathos (emotional appeal)

– Page 1

• Our hands have the power of great

destruction and the ability to solve
problems. (paragraph 3)
• “Heir of that first nation”….”Let the
word go forth from this time a place”
(paragraph 4)

Page 2
• Soviet Union and US are wasting
money and time on making weapons
to destroy all life. (paragraph 5)

Page 3
• Now we as Americans have a call to
service and our nations final success
and failures lies within our
generations. (paragraph 1)
 • Protect our nation from war and battle
all common struggles. (paragraph 2)

• Not many other generations have the

opportunity to serve their nation in its
greatest time of need. (paragraph 4)
• Logos (reason)
– Page 1
• We will preserve freedom by having
all the free nations unite. (paragraph 7
and 8)
Page 2
• Not just going to provide freedom to
these new developing nations in order
to prevent the spread of communism.
(paragraph 1 and 2)

• Message to the Soviet Union saying

that we need to pursue peace.
(paragraph 4)
• JFK shows negotiating as civilized
progress towards our goals instead of
a weakness. (paragraph 7)

• JFK speaks of how we must not look

at our differences but instead learn to
solve the common problems that are
present in our societies.
• Nuclear regulatory committees
• Freedom throughout the world for
every single individual. (paragraph 8-
12)
 Rhetorical Devices
• Anaphora
• Antimetabole
• Hyperbole
• Kenning
• Rhetorical Questions
• Allusion
• Asyndeton
• Polysyndeton