The Leadership of Kennedy and the Patriotism of Americans - Essay Example

John Kennedy Presidential Inaugural Speech John Kennedy has been considered to be among the greatest leaders of the United States and led the nation during a period when it was asserting itself as one of the dominant powers in the world. He was a man who, despite his relatively young age, inspired the confidence of the American public to bring the nation to the peak of its glory; a glory which seemed to have waned due to its rivalry with the Soviet Union. The leadership of Kennedy resulted in the aversion of one crisis after another that threatened the security of the United States and helped in the stopping of situations which might have ended up being global catastrophes. Kennedy was a man who was guided by his conviction that America could be made into a better place for all of its citizens to live and it is mainly because of this belief that he ended up supporting a number of people from the Civil Rights movement such as Martin Luther King to ensure that the rights of minorities were respected. One would say that Kennedy’s fundamental ideas concerning how he could lead the United States are outlined in his inaugural speech, which despite being among the shortest in the history of the United States, had a lot of content which showed his convictions about the state of the nation at the time. In addition, it shows his belief that it was time for the United States to move on from the way it had been run since the Civil War and to create a better future for itself based on the basic principles of the Founding Fathers. The initial speech of President John Kennedy is judged one of the best that have ever conveyed in the history of America. Kennedy delivered it in a style which captured the situation that America was in at that moment since it was made was during a period where the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union was at its peak (Carpenter, 2012). At this period, the Soviet Union seemed to rival the United States in almost every aspect of life and it was believed in the western world by many that communism, which was the system of state in the Soviet Union, would eventually spread to the rest of the capitalist world. The early sixties, when the speech was made, was a time when communism was a system which was feared the most in the United States and there was plenty of despair concerning how the American way of life could be maintained. It is for this reason that Kennedy sought to make a speech which would address the various external problems that faced the American people. The speech, therefore, can be considered an encouragement to the American people that they would eventually triumph against their rivals. In his statement that the rights of man came, not from the state, but from God, Kennedy leveled a direct criticism at the Soviet Union, as well as giving a hint concerning his future government policy. While in most cases, the Soviet Union was viewed from a position of strength, having only a few years before sent its first satellite, the Sputnik, into space and having spread its influence not only into eastern Europe and Central Asia, but also towards Africa and Latin America, the latter which was viewed by many Americans as their sphere of influence. In his speech, therefore, Kennedy attempts to encourage the Americans to stand firm, following the steps of the Founding Fathers, in their conviction that they would eventually triumph against their rivals (Meagher, 1997). In addition, the speech seems to give a hint that Kennedy would break from the past policies of the American administration, and that he would be willing to confront the Soviet Union whenever necessary to ensure that American interests were protected. He used the image of a torch being passed on to a new generation, to show that there was going to be a break from the past in how government policies were going to be handled in his administration. Kennedy made this statement during a period when the Civil Rights Movement had began to gain ground in the United States as a result of the repressive policies which previous governments as well as the American society had taken against minorities such as the African Americans and the Hispanics (Caterine, 2008). The fact that Kennedy believed that the way things were done had to change was a sign that he believed that there was a change in generational leadership, with the younger generation being more willing to open up to the rights of the minorities in the society. This was done to ensure that the minorities were gradually integrated into the mainstream American society since to do otherwise would only bring about chaos in the society. Moreover, the period during which the speech was made was when many women in America were agitating for equal rights to men especially in the workplace as well as in public life. This agitation seems to have been noticed by Kennedy and this is the reason why he sought to give reassurance to the women and other minorities, the latter who had been massive supporters of the Democratic Party over the past three decades that their rights would be protected. The fact that he went out of his way to declare that the torch was passed to a new generation showed that his policies towards minorities would be more liberal than those of his predecessors. Furthermore, in this speech, Kennedy showed his support for those countries which were American allies by stating that the United States was willing to do anything to ensure that liberty survived in the world. This statement can also be said to be a warning to those states which supported or were backed by the Soviet Union because it seems to be a direct challenge to them (Holcomb, 2007). The differing ideologies between the United States and the Soviet Union that occurred during Kennedy’s administration was a great competition between these two states, and it was not just restricted between them, but was played out on the world stage, as well. Each of these states did their best to ensure that their ideologies were implemented in as many countries as possible in the world. However, there was no direct confrontation between these two world powers and instead, their confrontations tended to happen by proxy, where they each supported a side in the domestic affairs of countries within which they had an interest. They often provided the funding and weapons to rival groups in various countries, such as Vietnam and Korea, and these fought each other to see which ideology would come up supreme. It is to the credit of the leaders of these rival states, Kennedy and Khrushchev that they did not come to an open confrontation with each other. It was because of Kennedy’s belief that the United States had a role to play in defending the liberty of the world that the United States would get involved in some very serious confrontations with the Soviet Union, although these confrontations were mainly in proxy. The result of these confrontations was that the United States became even more deeply involved in the war in Vietnam, when it could have withdrawn (Dorsey, 1996). It was mainly because of the American involvement in Vietnam that many of its servicemen lost their lives and it is believed that it was through Kennedy’s later support for the military coup that took place in South Vietnam that led to the death of its president, Ngo Dinh Diem (Sanchez, 2003). Except for the confrontations between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cuban missile crisis, most of Kennedy’s foreign policy decisions proved to be disasters as seen in the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the unnecessary continuation of the war in Vietnam. The fact that Kennedy exuded so much confidence of the ability of the United States to protect the liberty of all the people in the world during his administration, this policy seems to have failed miserably. This failures were as a result of policies which had been not well thought out and resulted in the humiliation of the United States and the Kennedy administration, as seen after the Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba. Kennedy also repeatedly used the word ‘let’ to emphasize the points he was trying to make. The repetition also shows the authority behind his speech, as well as his confidence in his ability to bring a change to the situation in the world (Liu, 2012). The tone of voice used by the newly elected president was one which brought forth a sense of confidence in what he was talking about. This ensured that his audience paid attention to what he was saying, and this also ensured that his statements were taken seriously. The ability of Kennedy to captivate his audience with the authority in his voice is one of the reasons why he retained his popularity throughout his presidency as he strived to maneuver in the highly charged environment of Washington. This speech allowed him to gain the benefit of the doubt of the American population since they believed in his statement that it was their duty to help in making the world a better place. It is quite possible that it is from Kennedy’s statements in this speech as well as his subsequent policies that shaped American thinking concerning its role in the world and it is these interventionist policies which have guided national policy to the present day. By believing in Kennedy’s statement that the United States had the will and ability to project its power to other states all over the world, the Americans who listened to him came to believe in the almost divine role that they had to protect the freedoms of peoples all over the world. However, not once in his speech did he make any specific reference to any of the policies which his administration was going to adopt. He instead only stated issues in the most general of terms, and this can be interpreted as his giving himself space to maneuver by not giving too many promises. The last is contained in his statement that all that he had spoken of would not be accomplished within his first hundred days in office and that it would, instead, take many more years to achieve. This was to provide him with the means of ensuring that he made an assessment of the political arena not only at a domestic but also at the international level before making policy decisions. The fact that he did not make any significant promises during his inaugural speech ensured that he had free reign in his formulation of policies and that there would be less criticism of these policies in case they did not work out (Goldzwig, 2002). In addition, because he did not make any promises concerning government policy, he was able to study the political environment before taking any steps to determine which policies would work and which would not. This ensured that he only made those policy decisions which were popular and in line with the public mood, thus securing his term in office. However, it has been speculated that it was specifically because he did not make any tangible policy promises to the American public during his inaugural speech that led to his policy failure especially in matters of foreign affairs. Despite this, Kennedy made up for the deficiency in his speech through his appeal to the patriotism of his fellow Americans, using the term “We” to show that he was one of them and that he was also a patriot (Sanchez, 2003). Kennedy appealed to the patriotism of Americans when he stated that they were not to ask what their country could do for them, and instead were to ask themselves what they could do for their country (Canon, 2000). This was to ensure that more Americans got to volunteer to do everything they could for their government and country, and in the process, the security of the nation would be easily protected. The appeal that he made towards American patriotism was done at a time when the United States was confronted by its biggest rival in history; the Soviet Union. In order to counter the communist ideology that came from the Soviet Union, Kennedy has to use patriotism in order to gain the support of all the Americans during his term in office. If the Americans had not been patriotic during Kennedy’s leadership and after, it is quite possible that the communist ideology would have taken root and that the Soviet Union would have ended up being victorious. Kennedy’s patriotic appeal ensured that most Americans got to consider the fight for liberty as well as against communism to be their patriotic duty and this provided the motivation for them to join such organizations as the Peace Corps so that they could fulfill this duty (Holcomb, 2007). The American way of life became the rallying point behind those Americans who chose to get involved in other countries as it provided them with the confidence of ensuring that they brought American style democracy to other peoples in the world. The ability to project American patriotism and nationalism were among the biggest achievements of the Kennedy administration as it strived towards liberating other parts of the world from communism. The speech is full of optimism concerning the achievement of the vision which Kennedy had for the United States as well as for the world. He stated that, despite all the odds that were present at the time, America would triumph against them eventually. The speech was delivered it in a style which captured the situation that America was in at that moment, since it was made during a period where the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union was at its peak. In the speech, as seen above, Kennedy used the image of a torch being passed on to a new generation, to show that there was going to be a break from the past in how government policies were going to be handled in his administration. Moreover, in the speech, he showed his support for those countries which were American allies by stating that the United States was willing to do anything to ensure that liberty survived in the world. It was because of Kennedy’s belief that the United States had a role to play in defending the liberty of most of the nations in the world that this country ended up getting involved in some very serious confrontations with the Soviet Union, some of which might have ended up in nuclear war. Some of the terms, such as “lets” show the authority behind his speech, as well as his confidence in his ability to bring a change to the situation in the world. However, not once in his speech did he make any specific reference to any of the policies which his administration was going to adopt. He instead only stated issues in the most general of terms, so that he could have enough space to maneuver in the American political arena. References Canon, D. (2000). Becoming JFK: A profile in communication. Congress & the Presidency, 27(2), 214. Carpenter, R. H. (2012). On Allan Nevins, grand style in discourse, and John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address: The trajectory of stylistic confluence. Style, 46(1), 1-26,121,124. Caterine, D. V. (2008). Sound bites of civil religion: Politics, popular culture, and the presidential Medal of Freedom. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 20, 1-18. Dorsey, L. G. (1996). The myth of war and peace in presidential discourse: John Kennedy’s "new frontier" myth and the Peace Corps. The Southern Communication Journal, 62(1), 42-55. Goldzwig, S. R. (2002). Rostow, Kennedy, and the rhetoric of foreign aid. Argumentation and Advocacy, 39(1), 85-88. Holcomb, C. (2007). "Anyone can be president": Figures of speech, cultural forms, and performance. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 37(1), 71-96. Liu, F. (2012). Genre analysis of American presidential inaugural speech. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(11), 2407-2411. Meagher, M. E. (1997). "In an atmosphere of national peril": The development of John F. Kennedy’s world view. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 27(3), 467-479. Sanchez, R. (2003). American presidents and their attitudes, beliefs, and actions surrounding education and multiculturalism. Multicultural Education, 11(2), 35-41. Read More