John F. Kennedy Essay -- President Presidency Governmental Essays

John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy was one of the greatest presidents of the twentieth century. He united almost the entire nation under a ballpark goal the Moon. His charisma could turn skeptics into believers, and strengthen the bond between himself and his supporters. He had so much charisma because he used many rhetorical devices in his liveryes, the same rhetorical devices that have been wooing crowds of people since the condemnation of Rome. One of his most memorable speeches he gave was at Rice University in 1962. In order to rally the support of the space program by the average United States citizen, Kennedy employs rhetorical devices, rhetorical appeals, and argument structure.Kennedy uses many rhetorical devices in his speech. A poignant example of this is when he employs both referential and connotative vocabulary to add emphasis. An example of him using denotative language can be seen in his sentence F-1 rocket engines each as powerful as all eight engines of the Saturn combined (Kennedy, 1962, p. 2). He knows his listening is made up of mostly engineers who would understand what the Saturn and F-1 boosters argon, so he does not waste their time explaining the technical aspects of the engines. The audience would probably enjoy this, because it limns that Kennedy thinks super of their intellect. Kennedy uses connotative language in his statement We have had our failures, scarce so have others, nevertheless if they do not admit them. And they may be less public. (Kennedy, 1962 p. 3). In this sentence, Kennedy connotes that the Russians are also having problems with their manned space program, even though they are reluctant to expose their failures to the public. Kennedy also uses connotative speech when he says Well space is... ... contrast in order to show the different intentions of the Soviets, and the US. He feels the Soviets want to dominate mankind under the pennon of Communism, but he wants to beat them to the Moon so that Democracy win s the bucket along for dominance. He also uses chronological arguments in the beginning of his speech in order to demonstrate the evolution of technology in the US. This demonstrates how fast we are creating new technologies, and how that will effect our race against the Soviets.Kennedy was among the great speakers throughout history. He was no Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address, nor was he Mark Antony giving the eulogy of Julius Caesar, but he did use the same tools of rhetoric developed and masterfully employ by these great men. ReferencesRetrieved from world wide web on 2/24/03, from http//www.rice.edu/fondren/woodson/speech.html