Legitimating liberal credentials for the presidency: John F. Kennedy and The strategy of peace

Abstract

This study examines the rhetorical strategies in John F. Kennedy's campaign book The Strategy of Peace. We isolate three rhetorical strategies: (a) evocation of an air of crisis and drift in foreign policy; (b) conveying a sense that the American people are defined by their “mission” and (c) making extensive, didactic use of historical analysis. We examine how these strategies focused toward establishing an image of effective leadership that would be particularly attractive to liberals within the Democratic party, and thus quiet their concerns about Kennedy's presidential aspirations.