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John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1961A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Historical Continuity
Kennedy reminds Americans of their roots and calls on them to continue the struggle for freedom and democracy, emphasizing the importance of the nation’s founding ideals and the need to continue to constantly defend them. This theme, which highlights American tradition and key historical events and figures, predominates throughout the first section of the speech (Paragraphs 1-4). He references the founding of the US and the Declaration of Independence, “which our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago” (Paragraph 2). He links America’s present to its past because of his belief that its founding principles remained relevant and necessary: “The same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God” (Paragraph 2). The importance of those rights receives repeated emphasis: “We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution” (Paragraph 4).
At the same time, Kennedy leverages the nation’s past to orient US citizens in its present. He expresses this continuity in the symbol of a torch passed from one hand to another, as in a relay race or the ceremonial passing of the Olympic fire, and references his constituents as proudly upholding the country’s founding ideals and “unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed” (Paragraph 4). Kennedy’s ability to inspire successive generations of Americans to continue to fight for a better future, rooted in the principles and values of their past, may account for the enduring power of his speech. Indeed, the speech itself has become one of those historical continuities that later American leaders have referenced to link their programs with Kennedy’s ideals. Its influence went far beyond rhetoric and appealed to the heart of a nation, instilling in citizens a fierce spirit of grassroots patriotism.
Globalism
After establishing historical continuity in the first part of his speech, Kennedy seeks universality and international continuity in the second and longest section (Paragraphs 5-20). Countering Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s speech on January 6, 1961, which sought—in Kennedy’s view—to impose communism on the developing world as the only solution to its problems, and partly in response to the rise of Fidel Castro’s communist regime in Cuba, Kennedy emphasizes the shared, democratic interests and goals of nations, striving to create a sense of common purpose that transcends national boundaries in global cooperation and partnership. He promises developing states that America will not exploit them or project itself overseas in the same spirit of hubris, or overweening pride, that caused colonial states to resist their oppressors but will instead support other nations in “strongly supporting their own freedom” (Paragraph 8). He aims to reset American policy in Latin America, where the US has been a dominating power, with an “alliance of progress” (Paragraph 10). Above all, he defines a need for international effort to reduce the dangers of nuclear war, agreeing in principle to arms control: “Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms—and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations” (Paragraph 17). He warns against using force irresponsibly and urges consideration of possible consequences. In many ways, globalism is the overarching theme of the speech. The most-used noun in the speech, which Kennedy repeats eight times, is “world.”
The Blessings and Burdens of Freedom
Kennedy highlights the value and the cost of liberty throughout the speech and then makes it the focus of his final section (Paragraphs 21-28). In establishing historical continuity, he emphasizes the price paid for freedom by the founders who fought for it (Paragraphs 2-4). In establishing global continuity, he emphasizes the need to protect and defend freedom around the globe, an effort he thinks defines the US and its place in the world. In turn, he makes history and globalism his frames for freedom. In one key passage, he uses the words “history,” “world,” and “freedom,” interweaving all three thematically: “In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it” (Paragraph 25).
In that same crucial passage, Kennedy conveys the idea that freedom is a duty, not just a right. He argues that liberty requires an active defense—and that every American has a responsibility to take part in defending it. His call to defend freedom is not limited to the US but extends to the global community:
To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required—not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right (Paragraph 9).
Freedom is an important subtextual theme in Kennedy’s diction (word choice). The two most prevalent verbs in his speech are “let,” which occurs 16 times, and “can,” which occurs six times. These are words of license, permission, agency, and rights. In this way, too, Kennedy’s speech serves as a touchstone for the 1960s. A widely heard criticism of the decade during the 1970s and 1980s was that America became too “permissive” in the 1960s.
