Rhetorical Analysis Of The Great Society Speech

Name
Teacher
English
6 May 2013
A Better Tomorrow Introduction
Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States (1963-69). A moderate Democrat and vigorous leader in the United States Senate. His speech on “The Great Society” was for a change and for the well of the U.S in which he quoted, “The purpose of protecting the life of our nation and preserving the liberty of our citizens is to pursue the happiness of our people. Our success in that pursuit is the test of our success as a nation”. He believed and said in his speech that the Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. The audience was the main reason for this speech, people of that time were in division of races and this speech mostly concentrated and demanded to end poverty and racial injustice, to which they were totally committed in that time. This Great Society, Johnson proclaims, is no finished work but a challenge constantly renewed, indicating us toward a destiny where
the meaning of our lives matches the marvelous products of our labor.
To develop such practical and elevating programs, Johnson pledges to “assemble the best thought and the broadest knowledge from all over the world to find those answers for America.” With their aid, he asks students to fight four battles: for civil rights, against poverty, for enduring international peace, and, finally, for the Great Society, which seeks a “richer life of mind and spirit.” On all these fronts he retains all the utopianism of Progressivism and liberalism and reaches even further Research
Johnson, the first of five children, was born in a three-room house in the hills of the south-central Texas to Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., a businessman and member of the Texas House of the Representatives, and Rebekah Baines Johnson, daughter of state legislator Joseph Baines and a graduate of Baylor College. Lyndon, while pursuing his studies there in 1928-29, he took a teaching job at a predominantly Mexican American school in Cotulla, Texas, where the extreme poverty of his students made a profound impression on him. “Sam Johnson had lost money in cotton speculation, and, despite his legislative career, the family often struggled to make a living” The family poverty struggle could be one of the reasons that made Lyndon focus more towards how to make the society a better place to live and how to treat people and also how important education is.
“Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot educate today’s youth, what will we do in 1970 when elementary school enrollment will be 5 million greater than 1960? And high school enrollment will rise by 5 million. And college enrollment will be more than 3 million”. Lyndon B. uses pathos to emotionally attract the audience towards his speech and the point he was trying to persuade through it.
Analysis
The main points which Lyndon B.
Johnson was trying to covey were that education is important in live in order to have a better society and he wanted to do something about the poverty which was one of the main issues at the time, he also quoted, “Poverty must not be a bar to learning, and learning must offer an escape from poverty”. His quote was quite inspirable and he wanted people to take advantage and learn more and more so they can use all that education in life time to get out of poverty. He wanted teachers to be well trained to prepare youth to enjoy their hours of leisure as well as their hours of labor. “We are going to assemble the best thought and the broadest knowledge from all over the world to find those answers for America”. This tells us how fair and worried he was for the country and the people and the best solution for poverty which was associated with knowledge which he was trying to get from all around the world in pieces and gathered all up for future elementary and high school
students.
He said, “The great society is not a safe harbor, a resting place, a final objective, a finished work. It is a challenge constantly renewed, beckoning us toward a destiny where the meaning of our lives matches the marvelous products of our labor”. Conclusion
This speech by Lyndon Baines Johnson is probably the most motivational and honorable list of wise words. His work was done nicely and now we do have many educated people not only in U.S. but all around the world. Poverty did not lose the war but it did not win either. Poverty now is not the biggest issue because we now have all the knowledge and easily provided within us. This speech if given now would have a bigger impact than it did at that time because people were not a much educated as they are now. These words could change millions of lives today and our society than could be said as “The Great Society”.

Works Cited
"Great Society." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2013. Web. 6 May 2013.
Johnson, Lyndon Baines “The Great Society” American Rhetoric. Ed. Michael Eidenmuller, 2001-13. Web.15 April 2013.
Johnson, Lyndon B.. "The Great Society." Junior Scholastic 107.18 (2005): 12. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 6 May 2013.