John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected to the presidency in 1960 and made his inaugural speech on January 20th, 1961 ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"). 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. Throughout his speech, Kennedy builds upon this ethos of respectability, created by his situational ethos gained through his past as not only a World War II veteran, but also a Senator and a representative of the House ("Miller Center"), by incorporating logos and pathos through appealing to the audience's patriotic emotion and laying out/listing a plan of action for his time as president. Kennedy not only built on his situational ethos but he uses pathos and logos to emphasize and increase it throughout his address.

With John F. Kennedy's respect and power, he starts his presidency already having situational ethos, which he built on with pathos at the beginning of his speech. He gains this respect and power through his success as a World War II veteran, representative of the House, and as a Senator ("Miller Center"). Through these successes, he not only gains 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:" ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"). By listing these important American figures, who have the respect of the country, it in turn increases his standing and respectability through the association of these admired politicians. Through this quote, Kennedy demonstrates his use of pathos to increase his ethos by showing 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. By showing the respect of others, he is not only bringing out the pride he has for himself and America, but also allows everyone listening to feel proud.

Having established his ethos for president through history and association, John F. Kennedy demonstrates the characteristics that a president should have by using logos through lists and logic to build on his invented ethos. 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 separates the world into 5 different categories, which were "old allies whose culture and spiritual origins we share" ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"), "new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free" ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"), "peoples in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery" ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"), "world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations" ("John F. Kennedy Quotations") and "nations who would make themselves as out adversary" ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"). 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. This shows that he has the skills that a president needs to have, such as planning, organization, and passion, to do his job to the best of his ability. These presidential skills that he shows through his planning will build up his invented ethos by showing America that he has the skills and knowledge to be able to lead the country and to better America. These plans include helping those in "bonds of mass misery" ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"), pledge loyalty and support to "the United Nations" and "old allies" ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"), and to help keep the "new states" free from new tyrannies ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"). When categorizing the world, he uses logos to organize the categories and order them in a way that reaffirmed and increased his ethos by. In the after math of World War II and in the midst of the Cold War, however, Kennedy had to step into a role with immense power, especially after America was the only one to have used an atomic bomb and show his ability to manage and lead. 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. 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.

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. This includes building America back up after the war and having the ambition to start projects that will continue even after his presidency ends. 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." ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"). He wants people to understand that they will not see an immediate change or even see a huge change while he is president, but that nothing can change if he doesn't start the change. This big change that Kennedy is talking about is desirable because America just fought in the war. Americans want change to make America better and fix the problems that it has. 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." ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"). He discusses that each generation since America was established is called to loyalty ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"), in order to bring freedom and liberty. This loyalty branches from family loyalty and the fact that many families had men fight in the war. This type of family loyalty and the loyalty to America alongside JFK's ambitious plan for America will appeal to Americans and build the national community and make it stronger. 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 not only discussing his plan for freedom and liberty, but also by acknowledging that he himself is an American just like the rest of The United States and emphasizes his role as an America and his relatable personality. By acknowledging that he is American, he enforces that he is relatable and makes mistakes just like anyone else. 

Kennedy's use of ethos is successful in his speech, and the use of pathos and logos to back up his ethos is successful. His organization and flow of the speech was strategic because he starts by mentioning his presidential predecessors, which hints at his situational ethos that he is stepping in with. He then goes into his plan for dealing with the world which instills 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. His most famous quote that did not necessarily build his ethos immediately, but shows his power and belief in America and its citizens is one of the 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." ("John F. Kennedy Quotations"). This line motivates Americans to do more to help change and make America great.

