The twentieth century has been called by many one of the most tumultuous in world history, overseeing the deaths of millions in wars, genocide, world wide political threats and the development of weapons of mass destruction. Some of the greatest leaders and speeches have been given in this time, trying to ease the minds of their people, and rally support to combat these fearsome forces. One of the many leaders, in the history of the United States that was able to present a powerful and combative image against such threats was Dwight D. Eisenhower. Coming to the Presidency only a few years after the Second World War, Eisenhower was faced with the problems of International Communism, and trying to unite the free world in defense of the newly suppressed world. During all of this, America saw some of its most prosperous years, growing dramatically and thriving in the post war economy. In trying to appeal to a nation slowly drawing in on its own prosperity and assess the threats of Communism, Eisenhower’s second inaugural speech addressed the necessity of America’s response. Throughout Eisenhower’s speech, a strong antithetical approach is taking to contrasting the many wonders of America with the many tyrannies of Communism. In this, as well as various other techniques designed to align the American public as a collective force, he is able to effectively present an image of necessary action and the horror of inaction.
In analyzing Eisenhower’s speech, it is first most important to look at the audience he was addressing. Economically, America was prosperous, something Eisenhower emphasizes dramatically to begin his speech. However, there were a variety of other worries that plagued society. The civil rights movement had been brewing for a while and was beginning to strike in full earnest. Such worries were not to be fully addressed by the executive office for a few more years, but the weight of its presence was an added stress to many Americans. The primary concern though, was the threat of Communism.(US Department of State, 6) From the onset of the Cold War, most dramatically declared by Churchill in his 1946 “Iron Curtain” speech, American’s were berated with messages of evil in the east. The Soviet threat was slowly becoming larger and larger. (Fried, 62) The American perspective was bolstered by messages from people such as George Kennan’s 1946 article in Foreign Affairs stating Moscow is “committed fanatically to the belief that with the U.S. there can be no permanent modus vivendi, that it is desirable and necessary that the internal harmony of our society be disrupted.” He went on to say that the only way to counter this policy was to contain the threat.(US Department of State, 7) The United States soon adopted this point of view and began to hype the threat of Communism to the public. Truman substantially condemned the threat of Soviet Russia, and the subsequent reaction of the public was the fear and hysteria that marked McCarthyism.(Fried, 17) This was the atmosphere that Eisenhower took office in.
Eisenhower didn’t attempt to establish a much different approach to foreign policy than his predecessor. He announced in his first inaugural speech, “Forces of good and evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history. Freedom is pitted against slavery, lightness against dark.” (Eisenhower’s 1st, 1) Truman’s policy of containment was supported by the new administration and Eisenhower hoped to take it even further, instigating plans for “massive retaliation” in the case of nuclear war and further declaring the stance America took on the Soviet Union and other communist countries.(Ambrose, 21, 145) His second inaugural speech in 1957 presented the reiteration of many of the themes that had been permeating presidential addresses for the past decade.
This act of reiteration was more than a mere onslaught of warning that the American public had heard many times before. It was a well crafted, multi-layered speech, explaining little, and declaring much. He begins formally, addressing the many important people attending the event, and then goes on to invoke a prayer like setting for the rest of the speech. A mighty air is given to the words afterwards, lifted by the manner in which Eisenhower introduces his speech. From there, he proceeds to layout the many grand points of America. His almost verse-like pronouncements are used to establish the grandness of the American ideal and what the country he is addressing stands for. The use of anaphora is vital to the development in this early portion of the speech of the importance of America. In these four separate statements of “May we” he announces virtues that America should have and then immediately in each line announces in which manner it should not be done.
“May we pursue the right -without self-righteousness.
May we know unity-without conformity.
May we grow in strength-without pride in self.
May we, in our dealings with all peoples of the earth, speak truth and serve
justice.” (1)
In the manner of “May we pursue the right – without self-righteousness,” he is able to announce the many things America is and the many ways America doesn’t achieve these virtues. The next line after these four virtues states that America will, in the eyes “of all men of good will” stay strong in the “honorable purposes” that America represents throughout the perilous times that they are facing. During this portion of the speech, Eisenhower is lifting, not just America, but the American ideal onto a pedestal, from which he will be able to denounce anything lesser throughout the rest of his speech. Thus, his next line is a statement of extreme antithesis, declaring America as the land of plenty, but the rest of the world as a land full of peril rarely known.
Eisenhower has thus developed a strong statement of American might, even going on to use rich imagery in describing the “rolling mills and blast furnaces, dynamos, dams, and assembly lines”, characterizing the “song of industry” as the “chorus of America the bountiful.” (1) America is presented as a powerhouse with the presentation of great, powerful industrial images. His statements illicit thoughts of power and might, a clean mechanical might. Industry is thus a grand choir and America is the church that binds it. In this manner, America’s beauty is able to be paralleled to its power as the two images are presented in unison. The parallelism that permeates the lines of most of the beginning of the speech is broken by the descriptions and warnings he presents about the peril the rest of the world faces. Therefore, the next few lines are descriptions of the radical forces of the world. He describes great power and the ability to “bring great good or great evil” to the world. He then continues on to describe the pain with which “one third of the world” is struggling to satisfy the “material wants of all mankind.” Such broad, richly descriptive, words establish the presence of an ominous force, something evil and overpowering, descending and preparing to devour the world. After establishing what these evil forces have done and are doing in as vague a way as possible while still instilling the dire nature of the threat, he announces the threat, International Communism. Thus, almost a third of the way into the speech, Eisenhower announces what his actual focus is. By delaying his pronouncement, building a suspension for climax, he’s able to establish a strong antithesis, not just in a line, but in his speech as a whole
This becomes a case for the entire speech, in which he is able to establish various techniques that transcend the entire speech, encapsulating and magnifying the message. Throughout the course of the speech, Eisenhower reiterates the plural, beginning many lines with “We” and repeating the power of “us”. His use of collective speech draws everyone listening into his words and forces them to think as a whole. Thus, he is able to truly establish his role as their leader. Building upon the pluralist presentation of the speech, Eisenhower repeatedly parallels “we” with “them”, and “the rest”. This separation permeates the entire speech, establishing, through an overall antithetical speech, an outlook that he wants his audience to have. He establishes three clear divisive forces in the world; America, International Communism, and all the helpless people trapped by the grip of the latter. In clearly drawing the line between America and International Communism, he is able to establish the evil that it represents. He must then draw the line between the force of International Communism and the victims of it. America is thus drawn as the image of a hero, swooping in to save those that are under Communism’s shadow. He states, “We must use our skills and knowledge and, at times, our substance, to help others rise from misery, however far the scene of suffering may be from our shores,” a clear call to action, not to defeat, but to help others.
He is able to do this on multiple levels. His antithetical approach to America vs Communism is a theme that one sees throughout the entire message. However, it doesn’t begin and end in a single set of lines. He begins his speech with a detailed explanation of America’s greatness. He then counters that greatness with a detailed condemning of Communism as the power of oppression and evil. Another powerful example of this unified approach to his speech is the use of a singular powerful statement to drive an argument home. He begins doing so, setting the tone for the rest of the speech with the four “May we” statements that begin his speech. These rely on each other to build an emphasis and enter the world of America’s greatness. They also establish the tone for the rest of the speech though. In seven other major points throughout the speech, Eisenhower utilizes the same technique to punctuate his message, each time utilizing the collective voice mentioned above. Each time, the lines before the one liner are vague, only roughly pointing to the various points he is trying to make. These one-liners are presented after such elaboration though to punctuate his purpose and proclaim what he was eluding to the entire time. These points are seen with the line that proclaims, “We live in a land of plenty, but rarely has this earth known such peril as today.” (1). This is the first time in the speech he mentions anything negative. He establishes with his earlier words the power and prosperity of America, and then finally announces that he speaks of darker things. The next pronouncement comes with his announcement that “The divisive force is International Communism and the power that it controls.” (1) This line is the point where he finally announces what he is alluding to as the source of such peril. A strong pronouncement, built up to, it strongly delivers his purpose. Such is the case throughout the rest of the speech, where he alludes to a point for a few lines, building rich images, establishing a sense of power such as the “unconquerable will of heroes” striking “with the swift, sharp thrust of thunder.” This line is meant to instill the resistance by those against communism to its tyranny. It doesn’t necessarily give any more facts than the rest of the speech though, nor does it announce American perspective on anything. Not until the line, “We know clearly what we seek, and why” and then a few lines later, “We are called to meet the price of this peace,” does he actually make it clear that he means for America to stand in resistance to this force. It’s strongly alluded to, but to actually announce such a position of resistance requires a much more carefully crafted message, presented in a sharp, single line that will capture the hearts of its audience.
The next portion of the speech continues to develop the notion of an interminable evil that must be matched, then detailing the way in which America is the key force to counter such an evil. In reviewing the status of the American perspective of communism at this time, the strength of the words that Eisenhower presents is more easily seen. He goes on to explain that peace “cannot be born of fear alone,” (2) directly striking at the current state of the American public. The rampant McCarthyist fear in society needs to be overcome by his words and call to action to rally the American people in unification behind the cause.
In much the same manner as the cadence, message, and presentation, Eisenhower’s speech is crafted from a grander view, utilizing techniques that encapsulate the entire speech rather than a few lines. He develops themes that permeate the entire message as well as the various parallelisms already mentioned and paragraph alliterations. One such example is the use of the prayer invocation at the beginning of the poem, something that initially seems very incidental. He states that America seeks the “blessings of Almighty God,” (1) and that their hopes “fashion the deepest prayers of our whole people.” It’s a simple religious reference, one made by many religious men when speaking to groups of people. However, it is always effective in establishing a higher presence for the speaker. It raises the status of the speaker to a point of holy devotion and the audience get an initial impression that links religion with the speaker at hand. In this case, Eisenhower does just that, but he also does something else. At the end of his speech, he states, “the prayer of our people carries far beyond our own frontiers.” (4) In doing so, the entire speech is placed in the context of prayer. In a very subtle way, Eisenhower has likened the words of his speech to those of a prayer, and has thus made them more powerful. Eisenhower’s ability to draw the speech into itself is one that only enhances the effectiveness of his words, developing a more powerful image for the audience to associate with.
In the course of the speech, Eisenhower skirts delicately around most factual statements, not mentioning any real events, or nations threatening the world. It’s pure rhetoric, and his entire argument is based in that. As such, the few references he makes to actual events and places are so sparse and vague that he is able to give the appearance of informing the public, while actually not informing them of anything other than the platform from which America stands on a very broad topic. Inversely, a very detailed report was submitted just 16 days earlier regarding Eisenhower’s position on the status of Communist encroachment in the Middle East. (Eisenhower Doct., 1) The document, known as the Eisenhower Doctrine detailed Eisenhower’s position very well, and throughout this speech, vague references are made, establishing what he believes should be done, while leaving out the various details of the Eisenhower Doctrine. These details dealt with the manner in which the Middle East should be dealt with. Such things as the manner in which the Soviets covet the Middle East and what the United States should do to counter it are laid out in detail for the congress. The prime focus of this message is the fact that communism should not be allowed to expand. In this particular case it regarded the expansion that was being attempted to the Middle East. The events that occurred the year before this speech, and that are addressed by the Doctrine occurred in Egypt, the Suez Canal incident.(US Department of State, 7) Eisenhower uses this to try and garner support from the congress to use military force if necessary against Soviet aggression. As such, he has made it necessary to need American support as well as a stronger disdain for the Communist threat.
The truth of the Eisenhower administration’s intentions is never truly revealed in this speech. Instead, he is able to develop his speech in such a manner that it appears to present his true intentions while not actually doing so. The most important technique he utilizes in doing so is the use of collective speech. In doing this, he has his audience netted in with him. Those not completely familiar with the events and people he speaks of will have no choice but to allow themselves to be drawn into his words. The true intentions of this speech are to establish the grandiose power and beauty of the American people, not just America as that would alienate parts of his audience, and to pit that image against the dark, tyrannical image he crafts of the Communist threat. In doing so, he attempts to garner popular support for his intentions to stand against this threat. Having recently stood against the events that occurred at the Suez canal and prevailing and having the constant threat of the Soviet Union lurking over him, he must have the support to deal with these threats.
The necessity of America’s extreme-anti communist stance later came into question. At the time though, the Eisenhower administration believed that it was fully necessary to have the American people behind him in a push to deal with the communist threat around the world. This speech was an important time for Eisenhower to present his ideal view on the situation and the position that the American people should take. He takes full advantage of the pride America held in its prosperity, and exploited the insecurity that rode with the 1950s red scare and McCarthyist views. In doing so, Eisenhower was able to present an effectively rhetorical speech that addressed very few facts, hitting on the emotions and fears of the audience incessantly rather than informing it. It was so effective because of the manner in which he presented his points, building the almost holy-like status of America up and then countering with the evil that International Communism represented.
