The Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy And Donald Trump

The inaugural address delivered at the start of a presidential term gives presidents the chance to make a first impression in their new position of authority while the audience, domestic and international, hangs on to every word, listening to the promises and plans of a new leader. The speech represents the new president’s inherent ideas and beliefs about the United States with respect to contemporary affairs. To better understand the ideas and circumstances of the election of two powerful leaders, John F. Kennedy and Donald Trump, their methods can be compared. In their inaugural addresses, although both Kennedy and Trump use religious language and establish emotional appeals, they portray themselves with respect to national politics in distinctive
For example, Trump presents his idea of unity among Americans by mentioning a relevant quote from the Bible (Trump). Similar to Kennedy, he aims to unify Americans with his speech, so he must find commonalities between this diverse group of people. Because of Christianity’s predominance in the United States, Trump uses religion as a method by which to appeal to many Americans and suggest a higher level of significance to his claims. Moreover, Trump parallels Kennedy in his use of appeals to emotion. He speaks of the many scientific challenges that face the United States (Trump). Consequently, he appeals to the audience’s sense of enthusiasm and curiosity regarding the future. His plan of action for Americans revolves around unity in order to push the boundaries of the US and, by mentioning some of the intriguing possibilities for the nation, the audience feels excitement and sees reasons to follow Trump’s call. Furthermore, in contrast to Kennedy, Trump presents himself as separate from traditional politics. Rather than emphasizing his credibility as a political figure, he paints an image of himself as an outsider to what he claims is a group of unproductive politicians, by referring repeatedly to “you” and “them” (Trump). Trump creates these two separate groups, one of average Americans and the other of politicians, while
Kennedy and Donald Trump, both use some similar strategies, suggesting a similar purpose of unifying Americans. Kennedy and Trump reference religion to connect to a large part of their audience and appeal to specific emotions to cause their audiences to follow their calls to action. However, Kennedy portrays himself as part of the elite world of politicians while Trump attempts to appear as an outsider to this very world, implying differing circumstances surrounding their elections. Thus, a comparison of Trump and Kennedy’s strategies reveals more about their strategies, beliefs, and election