Why Is Ted Kennedy's Ethos Used In Jfk Speech

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In 1980 Ted Kennedy, John Kennedy’s brother, spoke at the Democratic National Convention. According to History.com, Kennedy had just recently left the race for the Democratic Primary against incumbent President Jimmy Carter. With Carter running for reelection, the Democratic Party had a chance to have strong stability in the White House. Democrats faced a strong Republican Governor Ronald Reagan, which made Kennedy’s speech very important for unifying Democrats and their shared values. According to HistoryPlace.com, this is the best speech given by Kennedy during his public service, and is seen as a defense of liberal ideals. I believe Mr. Kennedy unifies the Democrats in his speech by presenting how a strong group can rally over other ideologies …show more content…

In the Ted Kennedy Speech, he uses words to appeal to his audience’s ethos such as “friends”. His ethos is centered on the hardworking middle class. He may be speaking at a convention, but he reaches to a much larger audience. Secondary audiences are often who these strong speakers (Ted Kennedy and Dr. King) often reach. I believe the ethos Ted Kennedy is getting at is value based. These values are equality, fairness, and helping everyday people. Something that many people can relate to (the Democratic Party), and hopefully others can be reached as …show more content…

He used ethos to have an emotional appeal to his audience, as well as identifying what the audience finds important. He shows he may not share similar life experiences, but he is able to find common values and attitudes with the audience. Kennedy uses this to set up a unified Democratic party to defeat the Republicans. He is working to put the party on a path to greatness, although the Democrats would lose the election, Ted Kennedy’s ability to connect with the audience was the real winner. This speech matters because Mr. Kennedy had the platform to voice problems that were present in the political and National arena. I believe this was a tremendous speech that used effective rhetoric to connect on a National stage to attempt to defeat an opponent. Ted Kennedy shows that anything can be done through

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