JKF Inaugural Speech
Introduction
This was a speech delivered by John Fitzgerald Kennedy when he won the election in January 20th 1961.JKF was then the new president and thirty-fifth president of the United States. This was a short speech that lasted 14 minutes. It was his inaugural speech. It was the speech where JKF accepted the presidency and took the oath of office. This speech was delivered to Americans in Washington, D.C.
In this speech, Kennedy addressed the issues that faced the Americans. The period was when the cold war was going on. The speech asked the Americans to rhetorically ask themselves what they could do for their country and not the contrary. He said that the Americas should not ask what the country would do for them.
JKF made this call to the public servants of America. The new generations of America who had been born in the century. The war had affected these Americans; they had also been forced to be disciplined by the prevailing peace. This speech was of great importance as it encouraged the citizens to become patriotic.
JKF used this speech to encourage the Americans for them to work i harmony in the fight against the world greatest enemies. These enemies, according to Kennedy, were tyrannies, diseases, wars and poverty. He stated that humanity had the power to break this form of poverty that was affecting the world. He went forward to ask their enemies to join hands and encourage peace before evil forces of destruction would destroy them. This speech was not a celebration for his party, but rather it was the celebration of a fight for freedom that had been won. JFK encouraged the people not to despair even though they had faced a lot of struggles.
Logos
He uses the ethos in the speech to assist in persuading the audience that as the new president, he would do whatever it took to make the world better than he found it.JKF groups the world in different groups namely: new states who were now free, old allies who share the culture, people in the world are struggling, the united nations and the other people who are ought to create enmity with them. JKF takes time to explain how he would relate with each category. JKF addresses the issue of communism and says those who accept the communism principle will not prosper. He encourages their adversaries like Russia to join hands and make peace.
The president uses logic to address the citizens of the country. He says that the world is a different place as civilization was in the hands of the people to work together and eradicate this common enemy. He says that the revolution had given Americans a chance to take their country and live together.in his speech the new president doesn’t speak on things that are lies, but he says the things the people are facing or had faced. He comes forth to encourage treaties between enemies and asks them to join hands in the fight against common enemies of humanity.
Ethos
Him being a war veteran, JKF uses his knowledge and tells the people the experience has helped him know the country when its best and in its worst. He says that this knowledge will support his decision making and anticipate future challenges. He says that his election will prove that through his presidency, he would establish a credible side of politics. He creates an ethical appeal to the audience by saying that his win was not for the party but the whole country as they had got their freedom. He suggests that he had learned a lot and states that he didn’t run away or shiver in the face of responsibility, but instead, he welcomes the responsibility.
He appeals to the people to have hope in him and let him lead the country as he is up to the task. He states that this generation was lucky because a few generations had gotten the chance to fight for their freedom. JKF finishes the speech by portraying ethos through his selflessness he says that God would reward their works, he asks God for help and blessings as he led the people to a great future.
Pathos
He establishes pathos through appealing to the audience by portraying his patriotic nature, and his willingness to help the country. JKF gives promises and promises a great future. He doesn’t want to focus on America alone but the whole world as well. JKF established the pathos by appealing to the people to be patriotic. He stated that this was the only way they would win this cold war. He encourages people to support him in his quest to make the world a better place. He also goes on to appeal to the citizens who had lost their loved ones and inspires them to act. He proclaims that he had hope in that generation and he wouldn’t want to live in any other generation. JKF is encouraging people to work for the betterment of the world. He is able to turn people to be patriotic.
The energy, faith devotion the president has, makes the audience devote themselves so be patriotic and act to bring light to the country. He acknowledges that the task ahead is challenging for the people but motivates them by stating his faith in the generation. He further uses pathos by referring to the American core value of liberty and relates to how the age had shown readiness to ensure this value remained alive.
Conclusion
Despite using logos, ethos, pathos he also uses other rhetorical methods. The president used this appeal to ensure that the people became patriotic and acted for a better society. JKF touched on the whole world and stated how he would relate with each of the five categories he had named. He uses pathos, logos and ethos to encourage people to foster good relations and live in harmony.
This essay was written to identify various aspects of speech that JKF used to create different appeals to his audience. I found out that the president was keen to use logical appeals to ensure that he involved every person in the world. He even speaks about the communism ideology and warns the countries not to accept it as it was a way of failures.
Pathos has been used by JFK in his speech to ensure that all Americans were involved in the fight for freedom for the world. He has used ethical consideration to portray his patriotic nature and ensure that the audience understands the need to be patriotic. These three aspects of speech were handled well, and in the end, the audience was appealed to, and the people accepted the dream he had. This speech was the best written as many other presidents copied it to ensure their speeches were appealing too. This speech has enabled me to be a critical thinker and has known on the different ways to appeal to the audience when delivering a speech.