John F. Kennedy's Speech Analysis

In the late-1900’s, America was knee-deep in competition with the Soviet Union, in an ongoing saga entitled the Cold War. The Soviets sent the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into space on October 4, 1957, commencing the Space Race; then they continued by launching Yuri Gagarin, making him the first person to orbit Earth” (FactCite). About five years later, on September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Kennedy wanted to rally the audience to support NASA’s Apollo Program. This program’s sole purpose was to send a man to the moon in the next decade. If the president had kept this mission a secret, the American people would have been appalled and immediately opposed the progressive plans. However, Kennedy created a personal connection with the audience and created a future for them to envision,
Kennedy evokes nationalist feelings throughout his speech, as well. He begins by embracing the fact that “We have had our failures” (Kennedy) and “we are behind, and will be behind for some time in manned flight” (Kennedy). By hearing the idea that, despite popular opinion, this nation is not perfect, the audience can call up memories of personal failures. However, immediately after this is done, Kennedy mentions the idea of advancement and states that “we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead” (Kennedy). This brings out feelings of accomplishment and pride, hope and visions. Easily, the lines awaken reminiscent feelings of the American Dream. “The audience is made to think that since their forefathers overcame adversity, so could they” (Mancini). The opposition from the Soviets should, as Kennedy hoped, be not obstacle for Americans to fight against. Venturing an unknown frontier and finding opportunities to benefit humankind are ideas that created the United States, therefore the people would have no choice but to identify with the purpose of the