Rhetorical Analysis Of Kennedy's Speech

In this speech in which president kennedy denounces WC Steel Corporations for the increased price for which they sell steel, Kennedy repeatedly appeals to ethos. We can see how Kennedy first uses ethos in the second paragraph of his speech. Kennedy begins by separating himself, a well known graduate from an ivy league school, from any steel companies which we would believe him to have social affiliations with. In doing so Kennedy builds a sense of trust in which now anything that he says during his speech becomes much more credible than if he was speaking to us as the U.S. president himself. Kennedy also associates himself with the “aggrieved camp of everyday Americans” by using an “us versus them” type logic in which he creates a sense of equality, not only by mood and sentiment but
One of Kennedy's greatest virtues however, was to deal with problems while looking right at it and smiling. We can note Kennedy's rhetorical caution when speaking of the steel companies and how he will address the problem. Kennedy comments that price and wage decisions ought to be made privately. If we contemplate on this quote by Kennedy we would see how Kennedy tries to be authoritative about the matter without having to be involved to much, because considering the time period a presidential figure would have been deemed unlikely to take such matters into his own hands. Knowing this Kennedy makes a reference to an idea of “higher responsibility” enabling him to treat the problem as he wishes. Kennedy does not directly address the steel companies in a war type manner, just like he doesn't attack them aggressively but stands with authority and cuts steel companies chances of even having a response to his