Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Cuban Missile Crisis

John F. Kennedy, a former president of the United States, delivered his “Cuban Missile Crisis” speech on October 22, 1962, to the United States citizens and captives in Cuba. Those people were terrified of a nuclear missile attack during the Cold War time period. Due to the primary use of logos in Kennedy’s “Cuban Missile Crisis” speech, he informs his audience about the type of missiles in Cuba and the steps to be taken to respond to the Soviet Union’s placement of missiles in Cuba. This would hopefully alleviate some of the fear of the citizens of the United States. He shows pathos by continuing to ease the citizens’ fear of a missile attack by showing compassion towards the people. Also, structure is demonstrated through the well organized and equal length paragraphs of three main topics. Kennedy presented his logical appeal by first informing the audience about the traits of the missiles; JFK indicated how much damage they were able to do. He then continued on for two paragraphs describing the weapons, including the information that they were “capable of carrying a nuclear warhead for a distance of more than 1,000 miles.” Kennedy added “Additional sites not yet completed appear to be designed for intermediate range ballistic missiles -- capable of traveling more than

Kennedy’s speech was influential because of the three main aspects were executed so successfully. He informed them about what the missiles were like, what they were capable of, and the steps America and several other countries would take in retaliation to the nuclear weapons in Cuba. He conveyed pathos through his words of compassion towards the Cuban captives and feeling for their pain. He asserted his feelings of confidence of the United States and his firmness of not backing down; the country would go to war if they must. Structure was punctualized by having three main topics, all paragraphs are the same length, with the exception of three small