Rhetorical Analysis Of Fdr's First Inaugural Address

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was first elected into the Oval Office on the heels of the start of the Great Depression. At the time of his inauguration, American morale was set at an all-time low. In his First Inaugural Address, Roosevelt speaks with a nuanced tone and a compelling appeal to ethos in order to mollify and uplift the American people during this trying time. Throughout his speech, Roosevelt maintains a refined tone of humility and authority. He presents the people with a call to action—he calls for them to work together in order to ensure a better future. He demands, “that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline.” While Roosevelt shoulders his