Analysis of President Kennedy's Inaugural Address: A Deep Dive

This assignment provides an analysis of President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address. It identifies the author, John F. Kennedy, and the context of the speech, delivered on January 20th, 1961, following his election. The primary intention of the speech was to address the Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union, advocate for peace, and condemn dictatorship. The intended audience included the Soviet Union leadership and the American citizens, emphasizing the need for unity against common enemies such as tyranny, poverty, disease, and war. The main themes explored are the Cold War and democracy, highlighting the importance of peaceful coexistence and human rights. The document references works by Atkinson and Peterson to support its analysis.

Surname 1
Name of the Student
Name of Professor
Name of the Unit
Student’s Number
Submission Date
SLOs President John F Kennedy
Who is the author? What were his intensions of giving speech?
January 20th 1961 was a historic day for the citizen of United States of America. It was
the inauguration of 35th president; John F Kennedy, the first catholic and the first youngest
president (Atkinson 12-15). It was his acceptance speech following his win in November 1960,
the message was loud and clear emphasizing on the strength and optimism for the Americans. He
wanted to make it clear that youths can lead and steer the national agenda and make a difference.
In his speech, he intended to tone down cold war tensions by making it clear to Soviet Union
chairman Nikita Khrushchev that it was best to negotiate peacefully. He also wanted to condemn
dictatorship rule portrayed by the Soviet Union.
Who is the intended audience?
Main audience President John F Kennedy targeted was the Soviet Union. Due to long
decades of struggle for dominance, for who could produce the most powerful nuclear weapons,
John F Kennedy wanted to reach out to Soviet Union leadership for peace and freedom for the
sake of their citizens. He also wanted to reach out to American citizens reiterating that it was a

Surname 2
new dawn therefore, they should remain united in order to defeat human enemies: tyranny,
poverty, disease and war.
Themes that can relate to this speech
The main theme highlighted in President John F Kennedy’s speech was cold war. He
highlighted how soviet communism and dictatorship was a threat to Americans way of life and
emphasize on the need to forge a peaceful coexistent between America and Russia (Peterson
168). Democracy was also one of the main agenda President John F Kennedy addressed in his
speech, he highlighted the need to respect human rights. He condemned dictatorship rule that
previous governments had used against Americans. Americans had to stand up for their rights
and liberate their nation from the tyrants who have deprived them of their freedom.

Surname 3
Works Cited
Atkinson, John P. "President Kennedy's Adrenals and My Brother's Death." The American
Journal of Medicine (2020): n. pag.12-15. Print.
Peterson, James W. "The Cold War root of post-Cold War tension: duality of détente in the
1970s and neo-Cold War in the 1980s." Russian-American Relations in the Post-Cold
War World (2017): n. pag.168. Print.