On the snow-filled day of January 20, 1961, over twenty thousand people squirmed in front of the nation's Capitol waiting for John F. Kennedy to provide words of wisdom, integrity, and assurance. Becoming the 35th of the United States, Kennedy knew how much this speech would mean to his career as president, therefore he made sure it was as powerful as all get out. And thus, his Inaugural Address was born.
With America escaping wars and conflicts at the time, many were seeking change and improvement throughout the country. Kennedy knew that morphing and improving conditions was his main goal, but he assured his audience that America will work as a team to change what is needed to support life and happiness again. By using Historical Allusions, "We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution.....The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans..." He connects his audience back to their ancestors in remembrance of what they had to do to get America in the shape it was in.
After his act of nostalgia on the audience, he went on with major details such as guaranteeing, by using parrallelism, that they will always fight for liberty, "...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." and using alliteration to express his desire to help the unfortunate people in other realms of the world, "...across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves..." And lastly,by using repetition and anaphora, addressed that he has renewed his pledge of support in the United Nations, "...we renew our pledge of support -- to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective -- to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak -- and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run."
Not too long after expressing the improvements he's planning to make, he stresses that America is turning over a new leaf, but he reminds the audience, "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." through anastrophe. Following this, he uses anaphora again to remind the country that both sides must unite as a whole, "Let both sides explore what problems unite us...Let both sides for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals...Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors...Let both sides unite to heed in all corners..."
And although Kennedy indicates that this generation can, indeed, make a difference, he uses historical allusion to assure the audience that it will not be done too quickly and that it is a timely process, "Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days...nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."
And lastly, he stated two of the most memorable phrases in American history by using anaphora, "...ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country...ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
Overall, Kennedy's speech was filled with many examples of rhetorical structure. It captivated his audience and kept them interested, making his Inaugural Address one of the most noteworthy documentations in American history.
