“We mean to lead it” During the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union had successfully launched the first artificial satellite from Earth, Sputnik. The successful launch of the Soviet satellite raised fear among the American People over the perceived technological difference between the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States followed suit in the Space Race largely in part to quell the notion that American innovation and ingenuity had fallen behind that of the Soviet Union and show to the world that America is better at accomplishing what was thought to be the impossible.
On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered an address to some 35,000 people that had gathered at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. President Kennedy’s usage of diction, device, and structure in his “Address at Rice University on the Nation’s Space Effort” commonly referred to as the “We choose to go to the Moon” speech helps convey President Kennedy’s attempt at persuading the American people to support the nations space effort and ultimately land a man on the moon and bring him back safely.
Through President Kennedy’s word choice in his “Address at Rice University,” he was able to appeal to the emotions and concerns of the American People who had been entangled with an increasing fear of the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Kennedy acknowledges this fear among the American public in his address through, “There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet… We shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace Moon (Kennedy).
Kennedy further acknowledges the prowess of American innovation and ingenuity – through American Exceptionalism, “Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power... this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them (Kennedy). ” Kennedy was successful in appealing to the emotions and concerns of the American People and muster the public’s support to land a man on the moon through his choice of words included in the address.
Through the use of rhetorical questions, President Kennedy explained the main point of his address – to land a man on the moon. He poses a set of rhetorical questions that builds up his reasoning as to the why “we choose to go to the moon” before the public, “But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? Kennedy)” In doing so he establishes a connection with the audience at Rice University and also acknowledges that his audience lives in an age of exploration one that discovers new frontiers. Through the overall construction and structure of his address, President Kennedy successfully built up to the main point of persuading the American People to support the nation’s space effort in landing a man on the moon and bring him (them) back safely. President Kennedy starts his address by addressing distinguished guests in attendance and the general public.
In his introduction he builds a close relationship with his audience at Rice University by stating that, ” we meet at a college noted for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, in a State noted for strength, and we stand in need of all three (Kennedy). ” He goes on to build up to the main points of the address. He notes that they live in an era of knowledge, scientific breakthroughs, and discovery he also acknowledges that the country was founded upon the idea of going forward and not staying behind.
President Kennedy talks about the coming age of space and how the country will not only be a part of the exploration of the universe but makes a commitment that the country will lead the age of space through, “we mean to be a part of it–we mean to lead it (Kennedy). ” In doing so he assures that if America takes the lead of space exploration they can decide whether this new frontier will be a “sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. ” He introduces the main point of the address through what could be considered some of the most notable words in world history, “We choose to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. ” He goes on to talk about how the country will meet that goal through examples of the country’s space effort – building Cape Canaveral in Florida, launching forty of the forty-five satellites orbiting the earth, testing of Saturn C-1 booster rocket. He notes that while the American space effort is new it has already created “tens of thousands of new jobs” and a number of new companies (Kennedy).
President Kennedy outlines the financial spending of the space effort and what the investment of resources means to the city of Houston. He builds credibility near the end of his address through explaining the processes that will go into the actual flight towards the moon and the eventual re-entry of the lunar vehicle into the earth. President Kennedy closes his address by affirming that the United States will land a man on the moon by the end of the decade – the sixties.
While President John F. Kennedy never saw his vision of landing a man on the moon come true – it is now known that he was successful in persuading the American People to support the nation’s space effort during the Space Race while in the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. President John F. Kennedy’s vision was realized through the successful landing and eventual walk on the moon by the three crew members of Apollo 11, most notably Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on January 20, 1969, at 15:18 ET (Dunbar).
