Kennedy's Ethos Pathos Logos

588 Words2 Pages

During the early 1960’s, the United States was emerging from a recession. Many people were struggling, but some big businesses were taking advantage of the economic distress. On April 11th, 1962, President John F. Kennedy held a news conference to talk about such big businesses, namely, steel companies. President Kennedy criticized these companies for increasing the price of steel by 3.5 percent. By appealing compellingly to logos, effectively to pathos, and rivetingly to ethos, President John F. Kennedy argues that the price increase of steel during the hard times by large companies has been a blatant disregard for their public responsibilities during an emerging recession. By appealing to logos, President Kennedy argues that steel companies …show more content…

The President starts off reminding the audience of the grave conditions both domestic and overseas. He mentions the war, “We are asking 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.”, and this especially tugs at the heartstrings of Americans who have lost family. He also acknowledges that unions have done their best to lower wage demands. By acknowledging every American's effort, he again aligns himself with the audience to target a single enemy. The audience will feel hear and there will be rallying support for the end of oppression of these steel companies. Overall, By appealing compellingly to logos, effectively to pathos, and rivetingly to ethos, President John F. Kennedy argues that the price increase of steel during the hard times by large companies has been a blatant disregard for their public responsibilities during a recession. This isn’t the first time big business and the rich have taken advantage of the economic situation to gain personal profit and power. Even today, there is plenty of corruption in businesses which needs to be kept in

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