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JFK Inaugural Speech
It was a very cold day on January 20th, 1961, when John Fitzgerald Kennedy took the oath of office, was sworn in as the new president, and delivered a rousing speech to a shivering audience and to a television audience worldwide. The young president was forceful, quite eloquent and used phrases that have become iconic in the American experience. This paper reviews and critiques the speck.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy -- His Inaugural Speech
After being sworn in by Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Earl Warren, Kennedy got everyone's immediate attention when he removed the partisanship from the issue. Kennedy in effect tossed out a gesture of peace to the Republicans. This is not a victory of a party he said; it is a victory for democracy. It is an end and a beginning, he said, meaning an end to the GOP leadership and a beginning of Kenney's democratic legacy.
His use of inflection (combined with his accent) was powerful. When he spoke, he emphasized each phrase, paused for a couple seconds, letting the words sink in for the listeners. Then he began again, forcefully stating a unique idea. This cadence he used throughout his speech very effectively. His New England / Boston accent was decisively different and hence had a curious appeal to Midwesterners, Southerners, and those in the Western United States. Kennedy's speechwriter Ted Sorensen put together phrases that were in sharp juxtaposition. Sorensen used bold contrasts effectively.
Kennedy said that society now had the potential for abolishing "…all forms of...
Kennedy made the point that the American Revolution was still alive and well, which was a way to instill a theme of change and historical context at the same moment. Then he in effect demanded that the whole world listen as he promised to be tough on his Cold War competitors, which everyone knew was the Soviet Union.
Clearly Kennedy was using the concept of ethos throughout his speech. He wanted his audience -- which included of course the Soviet Union and people all over the world who found it fascinating that a younger man like Kennedy could rise to the presidency -- to believe that he had the credibility, the authority, the trustworthiness to lead America.
"Let the word go forth, from this time and place… to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the small undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed." Kennedy was forcefully throwing down the gauntlet at this point, sounding firm and confident, and he received the first applause of the speech after that declaration.
The U.S. will "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty," Kennedy emphasized. After…
Businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2004/nf20040312_0969_db056.htm Blaum, P. And Fong, V. Bush's media challenges recall those of JFK. Monday, April 5, 2004. Penn State Live. Accessed June 11, 2008; available at http://live.psu.edu/story/6272 Eland, I. Ivan Eland compares George W. Bush's performance to other post-Second World War presidents. July 16, 2006.. Calgary Herald. Accessed June 11, 2008; available at http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1766 John F. Kennedy. Address before the American Society of Newspaper Editors. President John F. Kennedy. Statler Hilton Hotel, Washington,
Washington and Obama's Inaugural Addresses When comparing George Washington's first inaugural address upon becoming President of the United States in 1789 with Barack Obama's inaugural address from 2009, a number of similarities and differences become apparent which help to inform the reader about the particular context of either speech, and to see how the country's expectations of the President and the President's expectations of his audience have changed over time. In
There are no props per se, although the presence of his youthful wife in the background might be one 'prop' as a reminder that the torch had been passed to a younger generation, from the older generation embodied by the Eisenhowers. Kennedy's athletic physique dominates the podium. But he does not use aggressive body language, like stretching across lectern which might make him seem as if he were overreaching
Kennedy and Brinkley President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is an important figure in American history and was instrumental in shaping the American identity in the second half of the twentieth century. His personality and optimism, as well as his heroism in the Second World War helped the country to formulate a hope that the 1960s could be a time of renewal and rebirth in the United States of America. In recent years,
21st century is J.F. Kennedy's statement, "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country." Given in his poignant inaugural address in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 1961, this quote has inspired countless Americans in the years since his speech. Certainly, the word that best illustrates this quote is the word "country." The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines the noun, country, as
Introduction The military experience that President Dwight D. Eisenhower took to the White House was largely without precedent. In sharp contrast to President Harry S. Truman’s years, some of the White House functions and structures were reorganized – with new positions being introduced in an attempt to promote the efficient running of government business. President John F. Kennedy, on the other hand, sought to ease the bureaucratic structure left by his