Rhetorical Analysis of Kennedy’s Remarks Against Steel Manufacturers

Christofer Smith • October 09, 2025 • 716 Words

Introduction

In his 1962 remarks against steel manufacturers who raised prices, President Kennedy employed deliberate use of tone-setting diction, examples, and fact-based explanation to convey his stance against these companies and their "irresponsible defiance of the public interest” (Kennedy 4).

Tone

In the opening line of this speech, Kennedy immediately begins to develop an offensive tone against steel companies, labeling their actions as “wholly unjustifiable and irresponsible” (Kennedy 4). This results in the reader finding Kennedy’s thesis — that the rising of steel prices was uncalled for and anti-consumer — without delay. This loaded diction remains prominent through the following paragraphs, where Kennedy posits that this move by steel manufacturers occurred during a “serious hour… with grave crises” (Kennedy 6) that confronted and posed risk to the then-struggling nation. While intended to continue portraying Kennedy’s certainly biased side, the tone is diverted away from antagonizing the steel companies in this paragraph. Rather, Kennedy addresses the state of this audience, not his enemy — an audience of enlisted personnel, of workers, of every citizen — that is making sacrifices of time and wages. In doing this Kennedy establishes a dichotomy between the sacrificing body of citizens that Kennedy is uniting and the un-negotiating corporations who are responsible for applying even greater pressure upon these sacrificers, turning an issue over policy to one over morality. This tone shift also denotes his care in both portraying and appealing to unity without overstepping in his condemnation of steel executives.

Examples

As discussed above, Kennedy highlights some of the various peoples affected by the elevated price of steel to establish a sense of commonality among the audience of American citizens through diction. In his third paragraph, Kennedy continues to utilize a strategy of examples not only to elaborate on why the audience should care, but even to demonstrate why he cares (beyond his position as a national leader) through examples. Kennedy does this by developing the scope of what the increase of prices could mean for the industry holistically, reasoning that “if this rise… is imitated… it would increase the cost of… most other items” (Kennedy 22). Kennedy allows listeners a view into his perspective — that failing to rescind these price hikes would set a devastating precedent — in order to paint a pressing picture which directly targets his audience. He soon reiterates that this audience includes “every American businessman and farmer” (Kennedy 27) who keeps the economy and food production flowing and “every American family” (Kennedy 25) who lives in the nation. These examples further expand on Kennedy’s goal to convey to the American people their position on the matter before he includes his own position — that “it would seriously handicap [his administration’s] efforts” (Kennedy 28) to prevent inflation for the pensions of “our older citizens” (Kennedy 29). This final scenario highlights a specific demographic that the audience may empathize with, especially during a time not too distant from the Great Depression in which older citizens were unable to find work and were destitute, but also includes Kennedy’s efforts in the matter — further cementing his position as an active participant, not a passive bystander.

Concluding Remarks

Following these paragraphs and a discussion of further complications from the increase in steel prices, Kennedy shifts his strategy. Gone now are the possible scenarios or “what-ifs” and “it-woulds,” but rather, Kennedy introduces a line of reasoning built on statistics to drive his stance against leading steel corporations. He asserts that “ the facts of the matter [show] that there is no justification for an increase in steel prices (Kennedy 46), before delving into the statistics behind steel outputs, stating that it would “actually be expected [for steel prices] to decline” (Kennedy 56). Through the inclusion of cited statistics, Kennedy confirms the validity of his own argument — that it is not only in theory that such an action by steel executives was unjustified. Kennedy caps off his logically-based section of his remarks by reiterating his facts “in short” (Kennedy 75) to simply demonstrate the corporations’ “ruthless disregard of their own public responsibilities" (Kennedy 81). This summary serves the reader in that it provides one last declaration against the steel price increase, reminding the reader of Kennedy’s continued thesis. Moreover, it illustrates Kennedy’s overarching aim to include his audience — regardless of their understanding of the steel industry — to understand the effect that it has on them.

Works Cited

Kennedy, John F. The President’s News Conference. News Conference, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-194. News Conference 30. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.

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