Rhetorical Analysis Of Kennedy's Address To The Nation

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While the Kennedy administration worked diligently to sort out the situation, the President deemed it necessary to inform the nation of the pending crisis. If one were to closely examine his speech “Address to the Nation,” one can determine in what ways Kennedy had used rhetoric in order to gain the approval of his people, while simultaneously reaching out to the Cubans. Primarily, he projected ethos, the appeal to character, which, in his case, projects authority and power. This is evident all throughout the speech, especially in the beginning, when he is establishing his position in respect to the USSR as a leader. Throughout the entire beginning, he reiterates that he has done his duty as the President by using phrases such as “This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup, as…show more content…
He then states that due to the aforementioned situation, “this Government feels obliged to report this new crisis to you in fullest detail.” This further exemplifies ethos in that it portrays how Kennedy aligns himself with his audience - the American people - by telling them that he sees the importance in keeping them informed. Thus, throughout the beginning, ethos is utilized repeatedly. As the speech further develops, it moves more towards logos - the use of factual evidence to support an argument. He does this by providing extensive details regarding the pending crisis. He states exactly what has happened, what was happening, and what he hopes would happen. Under this layer of logos, pathos can be found as well. For example, in the third paragraph of the speech, Kennedy goes into extensive detail in describing the missile sites in Cuba, the types of missiles the Soviets had held there at that current time, and what new missiles were being carted off to the site and being developed. He states, “The characteristics of these new missile sites indicate two distinct types of installations… Each of these missiles… is
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