Composition

John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address is structured around two main issues: reinforcing America’s loyalty to its allies and to other nations around the world and inviting the Soviet Union to negotiate and work together with the US.

In the first part of the speech, Kennedy issues a series of pledges for different allies and nations around the world. He promises “those old allies” (l. 34) – France and Great Britain – a continuous loyalty, and he vows to protect new nations from “a far more iron tyrann...