Introduction
Famous speeches have been a vital component of America, and President Kennedy’s speech in 1962 was a powerful address. This essay considers crucial components of this speech, including its historical context, the nature of the audience, linguistic choices, and delivery of the speech. The effectiveness of the address in achieving its goals is considered in this essay in the fifth segment. President Kennedy’s speech was meant to inspire the American people to dream of space travel and take deliberate steps to achieve this goal. The speech ensured that the first man to land on the moon was American.
Historical Context
The speech occurred at the height of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union after the USSR had put a man in space. On September 12th, 1962, at Rice University in Houston, Texas, Kennedy made the address (NASA Video, 2013). Kennedy insisted that the US would not lose that battle and would be the first to put a man on the moon. He was rallying the nation to support his government’s plan to achieve this feat.
The speech favored the Apollo program, which sought to land the first man on the moon. President Kennedy’s speech was necessary because the US had emerged as a global superpower a few decades before and needed to cement its position. The two global powerhouses, the USSR and the US, were in the Cold War (Jouhki, 2019). There was a competition between the two entities to influence global politics, economies, and warfare. The two had considerably conquered the water bodies, the land, and the air, but had not adequately affected space.
Being first on the moon was crucial in impacting space and, therefore, asserting sufficient dominance on global matters. Whichever of the two powers achieved this feat first would have a significant edge in the ongoing Cold War (Jouhki, 2019). Kennedy thought that the journey to the moon was an urgent matter that should have been achieved during his tenure, and not one to be planned for and postponed for later. In the Cold War context, the nation’s position as a superpower and a major player in global matters was important in this speech. Kennedy used words such as ‘now’ that implied the urgency of this undertaking to his audience, underpinning his dedication to the venture.
Audience of the Speech
The audience mainly consisted of scientists, researchers, and professors. These are vital personnel in academia and would massively affect space travel. These people would inform America’s progress in designing the necessary rockets to the moon. They would also consist of the people who would make that maiden journey and potentially affect the country’s progress in space travel.
President Kennedy also sought to address the American people in general, encouraging them to support the country’s venture. The speech was a clarion call for the American populace to remember the position of the nation on global matters and the consequences of such an undertaking. The speech was meant to inspire the people of America to dream about more exploits for the nation (Weiss et al., 2021). He wanted the people to realize that the American dream had reached a vital point that would influence life in posterity. The president emphasized making the people realize that landing on the moon was a vital catalyst for more achievements in America.
The American people are generally ambitious and hardworking, and they have managed to raise their country’s position as a superpower through hard work and dreaming big. America is referred to as the nation of opportunities, the land of the free, and this inspires its citizens (Weiss et al., 2021). This has been the rallying call to nation-building and explains why the nation is an attractive destination for people from other parts of the world.
The American people care about promoting the ideals of democracy and human rights to other parts of the world. One vital component of affecting the rest of the world with American policies is assuming a position of strength. This power is achievable through consistent progress and groundbreaking discoveries, such as space travel. America can continue to spread its ideals through strength, and resources can be employed when given the ability to determine the path. The president sought to remind the American people about their position on global matters and their responsibility to the rest of the world.
There was substantial tension and fear at the time of the speech due to stiff competition from a formidable USSR competitor. The race was almost lost for the A,merithe cans as USSR had already put a man into space, and the next crucial step was getting to the moon first. The people needed inspiration, and the president’s speech was as inspiring as it was intriguing for the citizens of America. The speech challenged the people’s resolve while offering encouragement from past exploits.
Linguistic Choices of the Speech
Word choice is vital in appealing to emotions and building a bond with the audience. The word ‘we’ is used 46 times in the speech, accounting for around 2% of the speech’s word count (NASA Video, 2013). This pulls everybody into this emotional journey, ensuring that the venture is not solely presidential but national.
“Only if the United States occupies a position of preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war” (NASA Video, 2013). The sentence above illustrates the use of brilliant imagery, where the president incites positive feelings in the audience. He urges them to consider a strong position of control in their attempt to influence global peace and well-being. Losing leadership in the space venture meant that America would not have the authority to determine how such resources are used. War is a reasonable consequence of such a loss.
Kennedy used words such as ‘we’ and ‘our’ in the speech to make the endeavor collective. At the beginning of the speech, he says ‘my fellow citizens’, showing that he was part of the struggle to reach the moon first. He made his government’s endeavor a collective effort for the American people, promoting nationalism and patriotism. These words additionally reduced him to a typical American, ensuring the lay people saw him outside all the power and influence he yielded. The word choice made the American people feel important as a crucial component of the race to the moon, promoting support and cooperation.
The following questions were meant to act as reminders about the milestones achieved by America and prompt the imagination of the audience. He employed rhetorical questions, such as “Why climb the highest mountain?” and “Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic?” (NASA Video, 2013). This section stimulated them to consider the possibility of achieving greater exploits in the nation’s journey to becoming a global superpower.
The speech additionally incorporated repetition, “We choose to go to the moon, we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard” (NASA Video, 2013). The repetition provokes the crowd’s energy, throwing them into the conversation (Dammalapati et al., 2021). It challenges them to take the position of the president in the space race conversation and reminds them of their duty to their nation. Repetition additionally emphasizes what is essential and the urgency of the topic under discussion.
Delivery of the Speech
Ethos focuses on credibility and ethics; the speech summarizes 50 years of scientific progress for the audience in a firm tone. This is a person’s average lifespan, and such information is very relevant to the audience because they either lived through those experiences or have relatives who have lived them (Dammalapati et al., 2021). Additionally, the benefits of those achievements are still tangible and continue to affect the lives of the audience positively at the time of the speech.
“Last month, electric lights, telephones, automobiles, and airplanes became available. Only last week did we develop penicillin and television and nuclear power, and now if America’s new spacecraft succeeds in reaching Venus, we will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight” (NASA Video, 2013). He makes the dream of reaching the moon achievable through exaggeration, saying that the American people could have representation in the stars at midnight that day.
Logos emphasizes logical arguments and facts, and the speech provided a factual evaluation of the difficulties around space flight passionately. “But if I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field… fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch…” (NASA Video, 2013).
This section encompasses the challenges associated with the Saturn V rocket. Facts are kept to a minimum and expounded in a common language to accommodate all people from different levels of academia. The use of analogies in this section is remarkable and makes the speech friendly when he compares the rocket to a watch and the rocket’s height to the length of a football field. The language used in this section outlines the difficulties of the mission without discouraging the people from undertaking the trip. The choice of words and diction inspires confidence in the people and encourages them to undertake a challenging venture because the returns are enormous.
He uses a relatable example to enable people to shift focus from the project’s cost to a tone that implores reason. “That budget now stands at $5,400 million a year–a staggering sum, though somewhat less than we pay for cigarettes and cigars yearly” (NASA Video, 2013). He does not dwell on convincing the people that the project is cheap by downplaying the amount.
Instead, he masterfully gives a relevant example of how much the nation spends on something with little benefit. This urges the crowd to consider their thoughts on the expense, reminding them that if they can spend all that money on cigarettes, the nation will gain more if such a sum is spent on the Apollo project. The people already understand the hazards of tobacco smoking, and it is an everyday activity during this period, yet more money is spent on this pastime.
Kennedy maintains eye contact with the crowd to draw them into the conversation. He ensures he looks at the audience for half the time while reading the speech for the other half. Considering the enormous size of the crowd, this is a difficult feat, yet the president screens all the areas to ensure every section with people is given a sufficient look. He delivers an average of 120 words per minute, ensuring the speech sinks into the people’s minds. This gives the audience sufficient time to follow through the words of their president throughout (Berger et al., 2018).
The speech lasts about 20 minutes, which is adequate and synchronous with the human attention span. Words such as “doing it right and doing it first” are emphasized in the speech and portray power and control (NASA Video, 2013). These words inspire confidence in the leader amongst the listeners, showing that he understands what he is proposing to the American people.
President Kennedy authoritatively stressed the possible benefits of space travel for the American people, inspiring confidence. He alluded to the scientific boost such an advancement would have in the field amongst the American people. Research would flourish, and such an advancement would catalyze future success. The people of America would benefit from additional job opportunities created by such a journey, boosting the economy.
Effectiveness of the Speech
The topic became a public concern and an element of public debate. President Kennedy’s speech inspired a crowd of 40,000 Americans to support his cause of putting Americans on the moon before other nations did (NASA Video, 2013). The president achieved remarkable success in associating with the American people. He sold the dream and made the people own his vision of taking America to the moon during his tenure. He reminded the people about all their country’s progress in the last few decades and made them realize that more greatness was achievable.
The speech effectively stimulated emotions and reason in equal measure for the American people, ensuring the dream was achieved a few years later. The first man on the moon was not put on the moon during President Kennedy’s tenure, but he is associated with stimulating the debate that bore these fruits a few years later. His speech and subsequent inspiration were instrumental in advancing the scientific steps that made this dream possible.
Conclusion
President Kennedy’s speech was delivered at the precipice of greatness and at a vital time in American history. The audience mainly consisted of crucial academic people who would spearhead America’s journey to the moon. The address employed linguistic mastery through word choice, repetition, and rhetorical questions. He incorporated ethos and logos to influence the views of the audience.
The speech achieved immaculate success in convincing the American people to support the initiative and sparking public debate and conversation on space travel. President Kennedy’s Rice University discourse was instrumental to America’s journey to the moon a few years later.
References
Berger, J., Webster, M., Ridgeway, C., & Rosenholtz, S. J. (2018). Status cues, expectations, and behavior. In Status, Power and Legitimacy (pp. 155–174). Routledge. Web.
Dammalapati, S., Rajkumar, R., & Agarwal, S. (2021). Effects of Duration, Locality, and Surprisal in Speech Disfluency Prediction in English Spontaneous Speech. Proceedings of the Society for Computation in Linguistics, 91–101. Web.
Jouhki, J. (2019). The apparatgeist of the moon landing. Human Technology, 15(2), 136–141. Web.
NASA Video. (2013). President Kennedy’s Speech at Rice University [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. Web.
Weiss, D., Santos, M. R., & Testa, A. (2021). Operationalizing the “American Dream”: A Comparison of Approaches. International Criminology, 1(4). Web.