John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected to the presidency in 1960 and made his inaugural speech on January 20th, 1961. He walked up to the podium with the respect of not only his party but members of the other party as well. Throughout his speech is built upon this ethos, while tying in pathos and logos as well. The main goals of his speech were to address his plan for his presidency and to address the feelings of Americans toward the end of the war and the Soviet Union. Kennedy not only built on his situational ethos but he used pathos and logos to emphasize and increase it throughout his address. 

John F. Kennedy started his presidency and his speech with respect and power. He received this respect and power through his success as a World War II veteran, representative of the House, and as a Senator. Through these successes he not only gained the respect of his party, the Democrats, but also people in his opposing party, the Republicans. He begins his speech by listing highly respected office members and former presidents and vice presidents, "Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, Reverend Clergy, fellow citizens:" (Kennedy, 1961). Though this quote pulls in his use of pathos to increase his ethos by shows that he understands and respects the men that came before him and that he will do his best to live up to the success of his predecessors. 

With World War II in the recent past, he has to express his plans for America in his speech but also his plan to deal with the rest of the world. To address to world, John F. Kennedy separated the world into 5 different categories, which were "old allies whose culture and spiritual origins we share" (Kennedy, 1961), "new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free" (Kennedy, 1961), "peoples in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery" (Kennedy, 1961), "world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations" (Kennedy, 1961) and "nations who would make themselves as out adversary" (Kennedy, 1961). Not only does he list and organize the world into categories, he also explains how he plans to deal and bring peace between the United States and that category. These plans included helping those in "bonds of mass misery" (Kennedy, 1961), pledge loyalty and support to "the United Nations" and "old allies" (Kennedy, 1961), and to help keep the "new states" free form new tyrannies (Kennedy, 1961). When categorizing the world, he used logos to organize the categories and order them in a way that reaffirmed and increased his ethos, but also still in the after math of World War II and in the midst of the Cold War Kennedy was stepping to a role with immense power, especially after America was the only one to have used an atomic bomb. There was still a fight about whether or not America or Soviet Union was the most powerful nation in the world, which put Kennedy in a position of extensive power which indeed intensified his ethos. This reaffirms that even though he is in a position of colossal power, he is still trustworthy and caring because he not only lays out a plan for dealing with these people, but he also shows that he cares about the relationships America has with the world and that he wants to create peace in the world.

After Kennedy discusses how he is going to deal with the world he focuses on America and his plan for the United States and his presidency. He makes a list of things that he hopes to complete during his reign as president. He knows that these are ambitious plans, and explains that "All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin." (Kennedy, 1961). He wants people to understand that they will not see an immediate change or even see a huge change while he is president, but nothing can change if he doesn't start the change. Even though he explains his plans and how he plans to start the change, he tells America that the change cannot happen without the help of each individual, "In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course." (Kennedy, 1961). He discusses that each generation since America was established is called to loyalty (Kennedy, 1961), in order to bring freedom and liberty. Through his planning of his presidency, he not only brings in logos with the organization, but he also brings in pathos when talking about loyalty, freedom, liberty and patriotism. By bringing in pathos he backs up his ethos by acknowledging that he himself is an American just like the rest of The United States. By acknowledging that he is American enforces that he is relatable and makes mistakes just like anyone else. 

Kennedy's use of ethos was successful in his speech, and the use of pathos and logos to back up his ethos was successful. His organization and flow of the speech was strategic because he started by mentioning his presidential predecessors, which hinted at his situational ethos that he was stepping in with. He then goes into his plan for dealing with the world which instilled confidence and trust in him because it shows that he cares about the relationships that The United States has with the rest of the world. He finishes his speech by talking about his plan for America and that his plan cannot come together without the help of each individual and the loyalty of all Americans. He brings in pathos mostly at the end of his speech, when he starts to discuss the freedom and liberty of America, which emphasizes his role as an American and his relatable personality. His most famous quote that did not necessarily build his ethos immediately, but showed his power and belief in America and those living there is one of his last lines in his historically short inaugural speech, "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." (Kennedy, 1961). This line motivates Americans to do more to help change and make America great.

