Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's April 10th Speech

In 1962, America was involved in both a war and a money crisis. John F. Kennedy had been urging American companies to fix prices and wages to better fight inflation and further corrupt the economy. Despite his best effort to persuade the work industry to follow his requests, the nation’s largest steel industry had ignored him as they raised their prices. In Kennedy's April 10th speech he uses several rhetorical strategies to display his feelings for the blatant disregard to his request. Early in the speech Kennedy attempts to connect with his audience. He asks how, “when we are asking Reservists to leave their homes and families for months on end, and servicemen to risk their lives—and four were killed in the last two days in Vietnam.” Kennedy reminds them of their brothers, neighbors and friends fight across seas, effectively emotionally involving all present. The diction which he uses to draw his audience in, makes you feel like he too is experiencing loved ones who are away and fighting or to have even died when he acknowledges the four recently fallen soldiers. He gives a certain friendly, caring tone and yet urgent tone as he leads into the main idea of his speech.

He states that, “American people will find it hard, as [Kennedy does], to accept a situation in which...a handful of steel executives whose pursuit of private power and profit exceeds their sense of public responsibility..for the interests of...Americans” He attempts to enlighten the general public on his views and concerns for the economy regarding, the disregard of Kennedy's request to companies, including the steel industry, to leave prices and wages where they were. In this quote Kennedy also uses alliteration and powerful words as he talks about “executives” in their “pursuit of private power and