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Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Moral Speech

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John F. Kennedy won the 1960 US presidency election by a small margin as the youngest and the only Roman Catholic president in history. In the peak of the cold war, Kennedy delivered the most influential inaugural address of all time, in which he inspires and unites people listening, watching or reading his speech around the world. I believe Kennedy successfully establishes his legacy of encouraging people to take positive actions for liberty through his inaugural address with the efficient use of ethos, logos and pathos. Kennedy gradually builds his ethos as a strong yet approachable leader in the speech. As the president of US, Kennedy has an automatic ethos. However, due to his young age and his Roman Catholic belief, it is still crucial for him to enhance his ethos in the beginning of his presidency. Kennedy first refers to the shared roots between the audience and himself, “We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution”. The audience and the speaker are all the successors of the great funders of United States, who fought for liberty and independence. Kennedy then points out other visible shared experiences: “born in this century” represents he is with the younger generation. “Tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace” indicates that he experienced …show more content…

He gradually builds ethos through a logically constructed structure and address the concern of every patriots and everyone who loves freedom. In this speech, Kennedy successfully established the legacy of unifying people around the world to fight for liberty. His inaugural speech no doubt reflects Kennedy administration’s future foreign policies. The positive actions for liberty that Kennedy encourages citizens to do also foreshadows tensions in Cuba and Vietnam later on. Regardless the ideology behind it, this speech is still an eloquent

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