An Analysis of FDR’s First Inaugural Address The thirty-second president of the United States—Franklin Delano Roosevelt—was inaugurated on March 4, 1933. At the time, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression—one of the greatest crises in American history. Roosevelt’s confidence in the face of adversity helped him to beat Herbert Hoover by 7 million votes (“FDR biography,” n.d.). He carried this confidence into his inaugural speech and into his presidency, creating various New Deal policies and programs and reviving the people’s confidence in the economy. FDR used his inaugural speech to set the tone for his presidency—America was exchanging a more hesitant president for a strong and sure leader whose confidence would reassure …show more content…
The parallel structure acts to emphasize the ideas Roosevelt presents during the speech. When Roosevelt discusses the state of the nation, he includes the quote, “Values have shrunk to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen.” By using the same basic sentence structure throughout, Roosevelt clearly lists some of the problems the United States is facing during the Great Depression. The simple structure repeated works to emphasize and help the people to focus on his message. By showing the people that he knows and understands their problems, Roosevelt uses the repetition of a straightforward sentence structure to draw attention to the message, not a politician’s fancy prose. This is reassuring to the everyday citizens most affected by this crisis—straightforward words from a straightforward president. He continues to identify with the people and emphasize his message as he says “Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, and on unselfish performance…” With morale at an all-time low and questions about the future abounding, Roosevelt knows the people are unsure and need encouragement—he reassures the people that he understands their position. The parallel structure in this sentence—the repetition of the word “on” followed by a noun—emphasizes what the nation needs. …show more content…
He compares the wilting of dying leaves to the decline of the development of American industries during the Great Depression. This decline was both impacted by the general drop in the economy and impacted the state of the economy. With the deterioration of manufacturing, the economy suffered—much like a plant’s leaves will suffer without water. Roosevelt uses this analogy to show the people that he saw and understood what was happening in the country, which is a large step in solving the problem. Roosevelt compares the stockbrokers that contributed to the market crash and depression to rulers in the quote “…rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure and have abdicated.” This quote paints the brokers in a negative light. The brokers controlled the market—like a king would control territory—and caused a disaster through their ignorance and greed and have since given up their control, or abdicated the throne. This comparison places the blame on stockbrokers—not the American people—and reassures the people that Roosevelt supports them, rather than the people who caused this disaster. He
When in times of weakness and confusion, one must find the strength to overcome the challenge of placing their trust in someone, despite their hardships or uncertainty of what is to come. At his inauguration in early 1933, after narrowly beating out Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, FDR, stepped into the presidency with America deep into the depression. After seeing what Americans are going through, FDR immediately realized that he must use this speech as not only an introduction to his presidency, but also reassurance to millions of Americans that they can trust him. In order to accomplish this monumental task of universal trust and acceptance from the country as a whole, he not only had to show Americans that he understood what they were going through, but also had to propose his strategy to get America back on
In Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address, he gave many people hope about lifting America up when he stated, “The only thing we should fear is fear itself” (Roosevelt, Franklin D. “Inaugural Address” Washington, D.C. 4 March 1933). With Roosevelt’s
Throughout his speech, Franklin Delano Roosevelt utilizes powerful rhetorical devices to draw his audience in. The quote that united the audience with both Roosevelt and each other, however, contained a combination of pathos, anaphora, and most importantly he uses personal pronouns to pull the crowd together as one. As he begins to draw his speech to a close, Roosevelt states, “our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger” (par. 16). With his use of both personal pronouns and the description of “grave danger”, Roosevelt pushes for an emotional response from his audience. This pathos appeal is important in two aspects; the context of the war and the importance of unison.
The author 's primary point is that, the Americans were in bad economic times and needed revival. He names the day of the speech as a day of national consecration, and is certain that, his fellow Americans expect that on his induction into the Presidency he will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation the nation was facing. He emphasizes on the need to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. The Americans had no need to turn a blind eye on the conditions the country was facing. He begins by asserting his firm belief that the only thing that the Americans had to fear is fear itself.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, a champion in his own ways, was a great person who shaped America throughout the depression into what we now call home. Roosevelt changed America by declaring war on the depression because of the following:he is offering more jobs to the people who have none, he wants to help America, and he let them know that happiness doesn't lie in the possession of money. Roosevelt was a leader America had needed at the time and for years to come, but he couldn’t fix it all by himself; he needed the help of America’s homeowners and wealth distributors just as much as he needed the haggler’s. Roosevelt noted the job decrease in america and led a campaign to fix it.
During the time of the Great Depression, economic and social conditions were dropping drastically. The election of 1932 between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt was an easy pick for a vast majority of the American population. Hoover was being seen as a “see-nothing, do-nothing president.” Meanwhile, Roosevelt is assailing Hoover on his campaign trail.
Hoover President Herbert Hoover didn’t believe that it was the federal government’s role to provide direct relief. Instead he suggested voluntarism, asking corporations to improve working conditions and wages. Lowering income taxes was another idea promoted by Hoover. If people would spend less on taxes, they would invest in stock market and purchase products. Hoover refused against any form of a welfare program.
The form of strong presentation and background information is referred to as the rhetorical device, logos. Mrs, Roosevelt displays these characteristics through the whole majority of her moving speech to the public. The quote, “ We know that we have to work together and we have to progress,” presented in paragraph 2, shows a strong amount of assurance in the overall goal to be followed; because of the way she presented this quote, it induced the guaranteed value of her
Roosevelt stated “This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women, and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God”. This shows Roosevelt believed what he preached. This persuaded and caught many of his audience’s
Roosevelt states, “These columns are many in number and though, for a moment, the progress of one column may disturb the progress on the pillar next to it. The work on all of them must proceed without let or hindrance”. Roosevelt uses this in order to give
Al Smith urged Franklin Roosevelt to run for governor of New York, in 1928. Roosevelt was narrowly elected, and the victory gave him confidence that his political star was rising. As governor, he believed in progressive government and instituted a number of new social programs. By 1930, Republicans were being blamed for the Great Depression and Franklin Roosevelt sensed opportunity. He began his run for the presidency, calling for government intervention in the economy to provide relief, recovery and reform.
In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the president of the United State after President Herbert Hoover. The Great Depression was also at its height because President Hoover believed that the crash was just the temporary recession that people must pass through, and he refused to drag the federal government in stabilizing prices, controlling business and fixing the currency. Many experts, including Hoover, thought that there was no need for federal government intervention. ("Herbert Hoover on) As a result, when the time came for Roosevelt’s Presidency, the public had already been suffering for a long time.
On April 14, 1906, President Roosevelt delivered one of the most monumentally important speeches we have on record today. Using an impressive combination of the three appeals, he captures the crowd 's
Within this broadcast, the president used rhetorical techniques such as reminding his audience that he will help the country overcome this difficult time, and by using metaphors and repetition to convey his uplifting message to his audience. At the very start of his broadcast, Roosevelt begins with a strong tone. Throughout his entire broadcast, Roosevelt is speaking of the improvements that will be made to help the “average citizen.” By saying these words Roosevelt remains true to democracy in the country. He does not specifically refer to himself but he refers
“His election seemed to ensure prosperity. Yet within months the stock market crashed, and the Nation spiraled downward into depression.”