Essay on First Inaugural Address, 1933. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

For this essay, I am going to write an appreciation of one of the most relevant and inspirational speeches that influenced the course of the history, created during the worst crisis America had faced.

This presidential discourse was a brief speech given for fifteen minutes, the 4 th of March, 1933. The meeting place was the the Capitol in Washington, .C., in front of a massive audience of 1!",""" people. #t is a persuasive speech because he tries to convince his audience of the validit$ of his arguments as a leader. The te%t is, moreover, written to e%press the need to ta&e action to improve and succeed, there is, therefore, a motivational component. 'ran&lin elano (oosevelt, the 3)nd president of *nited +tates of ,merica who rescued it

from economic collapse and then led it to victor$ in the greatest war of all time, read the document the #naugural da$. The message was a ver$ courageous and inspiring appeal to the ,merican people for their cooperation and confidence. ,s regards the identit$ of the person who wrote the te%t, the first draft introduction was probabl$ written b$ the ,merican reporter -ouis .owe who was best &nown as the man behind Roosevelt1. Then, (oosevelt, together with (a$mond Mole$ / at that time, a close advisor to the 0resident / wor&ed over his inaugural address1 the$ rewrote the draft and, on the morning of )2th of 'ebruar$, it was complete, save for some references. The emocrat (oosevelt succeeded (epublican .. .oover after defeating him in the 193)

presidential election. #n the close of the .oover term 319)9419335, the ban&ing s$stem had arrived at a critical impasse and ,merica faced the ver$ depth of the greatest depression. .e would probabl$ have won even if the countr$ had not been gripped b$ economic despair as the 193) emocratic presidential campaign) was nearl$ flawless. 6ven if the presidential election was on 2 th 7ovember, #nauguration was not until 4 th March1 ' (3, who was preoccupied with the 8reat epression an its conse9uences for the *+ and the world, too& advantage of this an%ious time to prepare himself for the presidenc$.

1 +tiles, -ela. The man behind (oosevelt: The stor$ of -ouis Mc.enr$ .owe. 19!4 ) https:;;figures.boundless.com;)!3<;full;presidentialcount$193).gif 3 ,bbreviation of 'ran&lin elano (oosevelt

'ran&lin (oosevelt was inspired b$ the career of his cousin, the former *+ 0resident Theodore (oosevelt when he entered politics. (oosevelt=s illness / he had useless legs 4 also gave him, parado%icall$, enough political opportunit$. >$ &eeping him in bed and convalescing for $ears, it made him the sole emocrat with a national reputation. ,lthough, the economic collapse, large4scale unemplo$ment and povert$ caused b$ the 193"s 8reat epression, people of the *nited +tates had high hopes that 0resident (oosevelt would be able to solve all their woes and his speech showed that he understood the spiritual need of the people, the need for hope, not despair, and he provided it. .e spea&s honestl$ about the current situation and it is supported semanticall$ with words li&e ?candor@ or ?fran&l$ and boldl$@ The new administrator=s philosoph$ and the outline of his polic$4 is pronounced in this inaugural address. (oosevelt=s speech enhances his sense of solidarit$ and familiarit$ with the ,merican people and e%press his communicative purpose: to change radicall$ ,merican people attitudes and beliefs about the false leadership of mone$. .e tells his audience what he wants and what his political opinion is about this matter. .e tries to persuade them to accept his firm and clear viewpoints. The 1933 inaugural address begin with the salutation my fellow Americans in which all the ,merican people are addressed e9uall$ and wholl$. .e is not clearl$ pleased with what was happening in *+, and seem to see& support to the people to loo& be$ond their own needs. ,rticulating phrases as I am certain or I am convinced he e%press his confident attitude and his firml$ believing that he is right. #mmediatel$, he intones his potent sentence the only thing we have to fear is fear itself , thus, he declares the$ should not be afraid of simpl$ be afraid, otherwise, the$ will not be able to con9uer man$ of the obstacles that the nation are facing. The new president e%press he is in full &nowledge of the problems, our common difficulties. The former rulers of *+, are also referenced, the money changers , for what the$ have done to the countr$1 (oosevelt blamed them: !hey have no vision.

4 The "ew #eal was a series of domestic programs enacted in the *nited +tates between 1933 and 1932. ! ,ccording to Mole$, the sentence was inspired in 'rancis >acon who said essentiall$ the same thing in e ,rgumentis +cientiarum, earl$ in the seventeenth centur$: ?7il terrible nisi ipse timor.@

.e stress the primac$ of domestic over international concerns<, first things first, and he intends to fulfil the e%pectations of audience for promise b$ ma&ing pledges with a parallel structure, revealing that each of them have the same level of importance: It can be helped.... #n addition, he wants to appeal to the emotions of responsibilit$ of the listeners: without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective Metaphors are used b$ ' ( to emphasiAe, appealing to the imagination $e have to restore the temple of our civili%ation. Metaphorical noun temple creates a vivid picture in the audience=s mind that ,merica is a sacred place which have been destro$ed because of the economic speculation. ,nother metaphorical collocations are also used to ma&e the speech more emotional an attractive as: we re&uire two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order@ or in every dar' hour. 'urthermore, meton$m$ is also used b$ (oosevelt when he sa$s our own national house in order, the term national house is used instead of the notion of countr$, or when he sa$s ?(and in hand with this@, relating particular parts of the bod$ to particular actions. -i&ewise, it can be found personification in terms li&e ?in the thrill of creative effort@ or ?disciplined attac' (oosevelt emphasiAes the e9uivalence between nation, government and leader1 that is designed to create an impression of national unit$ and shared sense of the common purpose that is necessar$ to overcome a national crisis. Conse9uentl$, there is a shift from "ation to we and I. >$ using we he avoids an arrogant tone and emplo$ing you he attempts to guide the behaviour of his audience. #t can be found man$ instances of alliteration with the repetition of similar sounds, in close succession. 'or e%ample, unreasoning, un)ustified, uneconomical, and une&ual, narrowly nationalistic or personal profit. ,lso, it is found repetition of structures to help the audience to maintain the ideas the neighbour who respects4 appealing to their sense of communit$ 4, anaphora as in ?it can be helped@ and another repetition of words in the same paragraph as leadership, measures, common or restore.

< ' ( &ept a war$ e$e on events unfolding in 6urope and ,sia during the mid4193"s, especiall$ the increasingl$ bellicose behaviour of Bapan, 8erman$, and #tal$.

,nalogies between wartime and times of crisis are often drawn to inspire their audience. #n addition to this, ' ( points out events of the past: he goes bac& to the founding fathers b$ remaining the audience that the timeless ,merican values persist. The final paragraph, invo&ing 8odCs guidanceD, was written b$ (oosevelt after his arrival in Washington. Throughout the te%t, there are man$ divine references as ?mone$ changers@ 2, ?plague of locusts@ or ?sacred truths@. The effect of the speech was electrif$ing. The drear$ $ears of .oover=s e%cuses passed into oblivion. 7o one doubted that the new era had begun. (oosevelt=s inaugural address was a personal and political triumph: Eust some da$s after his discourse the results of (oosevelt=s magic with the Congress and the people were immediatel$ apparent. +ome 4!",""" ,mericans wrote to their new president in his first wee& in office, sent their congratulations, their good wishes, suggestions and special re9uests. This te%t is historicall$ significant and provides an e%cellent demonstration of (ooseveltCs use of rhetorical appeals, word choice, and literar$ devices to rela$ his message to the ,merican people. Throughout the whole discourse, (oosevelt has restlessl$ spo&en of the need for action which leads to the conclusion that he was clearl$ aware of his responsibilit$ for the economic well4being of million of people. ,ccording to the ne%t 9uote, *!he moment the successful candidate has been elected he becomes a man set apart +,- he wal's in an atmosphere of deference and awe ., it becomes ver$ difficult to held a balanced president4public relationship, however, he achieved to reflect his views b$ adEusting the speech=s familiarit$ 3not too familiar or too distant51 his inaugural address showed intimac$ and solidarit$ with his public. The idea of anal$sing a presidential speech, delivered during times of crisis, seems to me compellingl$ attractive to better understand our current situation of crisis. The relationship between the 19)9 stoc& mar&et crash and the current period is obviousl$ not the same but loo&s ali&e1", comparisons between ' ( and Fbama are inevitable.

D ?# tr$ to thin& that # am a Christian@ 4 ' (, 4th of 7ovember, 1944

2 >iblical allusion which refers to the people who lent mone$ 3earl$ ban&ers5 9 McConnell, 8rant. The Modern 0residenc$. 19<D 1" With reference to the Mar& .ulbert=s article 3bibliograph$5

,lthough (oosevelt=s measures were reasonabl$ effective, the most determinant solution came with the +econd World War. espite this, #=m not going to spea& about their administrations because it might be too hard to me. # would li&e to create a reflection about the dialectic=s conse9uences of both discourses: (oosevelt=s words breathed new hope into societ$ but, wh$ Fbama=s current speeches do not have the same effect over his audienceG Fbama hitherto has been a ver$ inspirational president but his popularit$ has dramaticall$ decreased11. 6ven though some of his speeches are arranged such as (oosevelt=s, even though he has alread$ tried to invo&e (oosevelt in his convention speeches, his promises do not convince in the same wa$. M$ own view is that what president (oosevelt said defined his leadership in the e$es of public but societ$ has undoubtedl$ changed, media influence has increased and social media help us to have a more accurate view. Words which came from the bod$ politic are in competition with public opinions. We are more and better informed, and political speeches do not affect how their audiences thin& as if we were at (oosevelt=s times. 7evertheless, # thin& that (oosevelt=s inaugural address could be e%trapolated from those da$s to our present situation. .is charismatic discourse could be easil$ imitated because of his persuasive rhetoric.

11 +ource: (asmussen (eports. ail$ 0residential Trac&ing 0oll, March )"14.

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