Rhetorical Analysis Of Jfk Inaugural Address

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Right after a recession in the United States, President JFK held a news conference to tell his fellow citizens how important it was to sacrifice for America and simultaneously antagonize the steel companies for increasing their price of steel with "ruthless disregard" for the responsibilities towards America. JFK's speech emphasizes the struggles of the American government at the time through his use of repeating phrases, puts himself in a group with the American people through the use of the first person "we," and vilifies the steel companies for increasing their prices by using "them" to put himself and the American people against the "gigantic corporations." JFK begins his address by stating the importance of all of the current affairs of the United States. He does …show more content…
His goal to make the people trust him is also strengthened by his use of the first person, 'we,' where he puts himself in a group with the rest of the American people. By doing this, JFK strengthens his appeal to the audience and gives them a reason to trust his reasoning and continue to support him during this "serious hour." His use of 'we' also serves another purpose; it aims to put him in a group that is against the 'ruthless' steel corporations that are raising their prices during a time when everyone, even the corporations, should be sacrificing. To further his argument that what the corporations are doing needs to be corrected, he appeals to logos and lists the reasons why the cost of steel should be declining, not increasing. JFK lists that the "labor costs per ton of steel" and the "cost of the major raw materials" have been declining and that the profit rate is expected to "rise sharply" after they increase their prices. This shows that the corporations are not increasing their prices out of necessity and are doing it with a "ruthless disregard for their public