Dwight David Eisenhower Speech on January 17th, 1961: Analysis

1. The standpoint of Eisenhower is that of American progress. In his speech, he severally mentions and alludes to the American military might showing that his standpoint is consistent with a career military man. For instance, he mentions that American people take pride in their might both economically and militarily. He further boasts of the progress made by the armament industry in the then century as well as how America should not hesitate to ‘destroy’ its aggressors (Eisenhower, 1961, p. 2). 
2. The kind of speech that Eisenhower delivers is that of a farewell. On the same, he outlines major achievements that he has managed to achieve while in office. He further outlines his expectations from his successor as well as his fellow countrymen. He congratulates those who worked with him despite how difficult it might have been a couple of years ago when he was fresh in public service. 
3. The goals of the speaker was to officially inform the public that he was finally vacating office. His speech was both concrete and abstract, for instance, when he mentions that America’s adventure in free government is anchored on peace, pushing for progress in human achievement and to foster cohesiveness among nations (Eisenhower, 1961, p.1). He did not outline the underlying factors and reasons for doing the same. On abstract language, he mentioned that as the American society forges ahead, everybody must do all that is possible to avoid the urge to live just for the present (Eisenhower, 1961, p.3). He further explained optimum resource use. On this he looked ahead and imaginatively created a solution to a probable problem. His delivery was great. He was composed and his tonal variation was good, for instance, he raised and deepened his voice when he talked of military achievements. 
4. The speech was well thought and to a very small extent involved fallacies. For instance, he mentioned that America was the greatest country at the time, on this, he just used normal reasoning since no study had been done to confirm the same. Such a fallacy was intentional. His language is straight while his speech has ethos, he believes America has the culture of greatness and prosperity. He also has logos since his speech was well thought out and logic for that matter. The speech only evokes emotions when he says bids goodbye to public service. It must have been sad for those who loved him and his work. 
5. The questions he is answering are questions of value and policy. He tries to show the value America derived from him and his policies, for instance, to develop a military so strong. 
6. He appears well rehearsed despite of a few stammering along his lines. The few gestures he uses are facial expressions which affirm what he says. 
7. As a speech coach, I would ensure that the president has his eyes fixed on the audience (camera) and that he uses his hands as tools that provide gestures that would make his speech more appealing. I would also require him to use some humor both in his speech and in his pronunciations and gestures as mentioned by Griffin (2015). 

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