Speech Analysis of Richard Nixon's First Inaugural Address

Speech Analysis of Richard Nixon’s First Inaugural Address

1: The communication was a speech delivered at the White House for Nixon’s presidential inauguration.

2: January 20th, 1969.

3: Richard Nixon, President of the United States

4: The audience was the American people and other nations that had a relationship with the United States.

5: “The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker. This honor now beckons America--the chance to help lead the world at last out of the valley of turmoil, and onto that high ground of peace that man has dreamed of since the dawn of civilization.

If we succeed, generations to come will say of us now living that we mastered our moment, that we helped make the world safe for mankind.

This is our summons to greatness.

I believe the American people are ready to answer this call.”

Nixon’s inaugural speech highlighted ending the Vietnam war and closing the Cold War in order to make the world a more secure place. This speech opened Nixon’s presidency as well as opened his foreign policy and goals for his administration.

6: The importance of this speech is that it shows what Nixon’s ideals were for the nation, that he focused on lofty goals that were clearly influenced by Cold War era thinking and the Vietnam war. The speech also portrays Nixon’s skills as a politician and someone who was aware of the nation’s concerns and knew how to settle those concerns. It also followed the tradition of inaugural speeches of promising a lot of things and being inspiring and hopeful.

7: It was written to open Nixon’s presidency, and to set the tone for his tenure as well as the direction the United States would take in regards to foreign relations.

8: A lot of the United States’ concerns were involved in Vietnam and ending the unpopular war. And it was a popular belief that government was playing too big of a role in people’s lives, which he addresses when he points out that government has spent more money and run more programs than ever before. He says that to improve the country every individual needs to be involved instead of just government bureaucracies.

9: In the entire speech Nixon hints that ending the Vietnam war would bring peace to the world and that national morale would improve, but how could ending one war in one country improve foreign relations so substantially? Did he really think that ending the war in Vietnam would make the world noticeably more peaceful, or did he mean just the United States and Vietnam?