Rhetorical Analysis Of Lyndon B Johnson's Great Society Speech

Some speeches shape nations. Great feats of rhetoric like "I Have a Dream" and the Gettysburg Address seize their readers with intense language and release them with powerful motivation. President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 "Great Society" speech directed the American mindset for decades with his potent oration. Somehow, his speech to that University of Michigan crowd remains relevant today. How can a speech made by a barely-remembered president continue to affect American culture fifty years later? Johnson employs a structure of encouragement, warning, and action to construct a strong, moving argument.
Beginning positively, Johnson establishes a strong ethos. Johnson first humanizes himself and creates ethos with humor. One of his jokes, a jab at the Michigan education system, cites a supposed conversation with a citizen. This employs the common presidential tactic of the everyman opinion to develop a strong rapport. After his brief jokes, Johnson continues connecting with his audience by building up the American people, describing their, "imagination and [their] initiative" and declaring that America, "rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end
to poverty and racial injustice." With subtle strategy, Johnson earns his audience's attention and trust.
Continuing to logos, Johnson paints an image of America's potential future.
Whipping out some alarming statistics, Johnson demonstrates the pressing nature of the issues, "in our cities, in our countryside, and in our classrooms." He makes several predictions such as, "50 years from now… there will be 400 million Americans – four-fifths of them in urban areas… in the next 40 years we must rebuild the entire urban United States," and, "Today, 8 million adult Americans, more than the entire population of Michigan, have not finished 5 years of school. Nearly 20 million have not finished 8 years of school. Nearly 54 million – more than one-quarter of all America – have not even finished high school." Through these frightening facts and potential futures, Johnson builds his rhetoric a strong, factual
foundation.
Johnson ends his arguments with a call to action, developing his pathos and provoking his audience to change. He calls out his audience, remarking, "For better or for worse, your generation has been appointed by history to deal with those problems and to lead America toward a new age." Instilling a sense of responsibility in his audience, Johnson exhorts them to face America's challenges themselves rather than allow the government to resolve them. Wrapping up with some powerful language, Johnson declares, "Those who came to this land sought to build more than just a new country. They sought a new world. So I have come here today to your campus to say that you can make their vision our reality." Leaving a strong taste of patriotic energy, Johnson stepped off that stage with an audience ready to run three marathons to save America.
Thus, Johnson's structure effectively arouses its listeners with a strong ethos, logos, and pathos. His structure effectively connects him with his audience, convinces them of the gravity of the situation, and sends them away ready to transform a nation. Through an effective rhetoric structure, Johnson converted an average presidential speech to a message burned into the minds of Americans. Even today, America clamors for reform, constantly shoving out the old and bringing in the new. Liberal America protests any perceived inequality or unfairness constantly. Admittedly, many democratic Americans have taken Johnson's message to an unhealthy extreme, but America still desperately needs reform. While Johnson motivated the people, now someone needs to teach them moderation.