Many of the ideas that Kennedy and other presidents draw on come from biblical texts. Even though these truths are thousands of years old, they do not lose relevance and reflect essential human values. Kennedy talked about the Soviet Union in his speech, because at that time, the United States was in a state of cold war with them (Brands et al., 2018). However, his main message was that the two largest countries on the planet needed to work together and focus on solving common problems.
The citizens of the world, for Kennedy, are people who are open to interaction with every other person in the name of the prosperity of humankind as a whole. All these people must always be conscious, sacrificial, and free. If each person possesses these qualities, then their cooperation will lead to the prosperity of society as a whole. Such people will perceive people of any nation not as rivals but as allies. Thus, the importance of Kennedy’s speech is that he outlined the need for all people to work together to solve the common problems of humanity. In his speech, Kennedy talks to the whole of humanity, not paying too much attention to domestic issues (Brands et al., 2018). Indeed, now this appeal sounds more relevant than ever as the number of global problems keeps increasing. Kennedy said “ask not” because he probably believed that everyone should give the world the best disinterestedly. Only in this way would they receive prosperity and happiness in return.
Unlike Kennedy, Obama, in his inaugural speech, emphasizes specific narrow facts related to the current state of the state. He mentions, for example, the quality of education and the price of medicine. Also, unlike Kennedy, Obama focuses on the independence of America, on its readiness to fight any opponents. However, in addition to this, his speech sounds much more optimistic: it is filled with hope and the desire for pure universal human happiness.
References
Brands, H. W., Breen, T. H., Williams, R. J., & Gross, A. J. (2018). American stories: A history of the United States, volume 2 (4th ed.). Pearson Education.