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John F. Kennedy and Berlin Nicholas Labinski Marquette University Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Master's Theses (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects Evolution of a President: John F. Kennedy and Berlin Nicholas Labinski Marquette University Recommended Citation Labinski, Nicholas, "Evolution of a President: John F. Kennedy and Berlin" (2011). Master's Theses (2009 -). Paper 104. http://epublications.marquette.edu/theses_open/104 EVOLUTION OF A PRESIDENT: JOHN F. KENNEDYAND BERLIN by Nicholas Labinski A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Milwaukee, Wisconsin August 2011 ABSTRACT EVOLUTION OF A PRESIDENT: JOHN F. KENNEDYAND BERLIN Nicholas Labinski Marquette University, 2011 This paper examines John F. Kennedy’s rhetoric concerning the Berlin Crisis (1961-1963). Three major speeches are analyzed: Kennedy’s Radio and Television Report to the American People on the Berlin Crisis , the Address at Rudolph Wilde Platz and the Address at the Free University. The study interrogates the rhetorical strategies implemented by Kennedy in confronting Khrushchev over the explosive situation in Berlin. The paper attempts to answer the following research questions: What is the historical context that helped frame the rhetorical situation Kennedy faced? What rhetorical strategies and tactics did Kennedy employ in these speeches? How might Kennedy's speeches extend our understanding of presidential public address? What is the impact of Kennedy's speeches on U.S. German relations and the development of U.S. and German Policy? What implications might these speeches have for the study and execution of presidential power and international diplomacy? Using a historical-rhetorical methodology that incorporates the historical circumstances surrounding the crisis into the analysis, this examination of Kennedy’s rhetoric reveals his evolution concerning Berlin and his Cold War strategy. It is argued that Kennedy began with a military strategy, flexible response, which was established in his Radio and Television Report in July 1961 and over the next two years this strategy evolved into a strategy of peace embodied in a policy of détente. Kennedy moved away from Eisenhower’s Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) strategy and the implied either-or choice of holocaust or humiliation toward a more flexible policy that gave the president many more options. By including a historical account of U.S.-German relations from World War II to Kennedy’s ascension in 1961 to his untimely death in 1963, this study also connects Kennedy’s rhetoric to important developments in U.S.-German relations and highlight’s the president’s crucial role in shaping this process. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Nicholas Labinski In no particular order, I would like to thank my mother, my father and my sister. I would like to Dr. Goldzwig, Dr. Ugland and Dr. Feldner for their support and guidance. I would like to thank God for providing me with the strength, wisdom and guidance on this project. And, a special thanks to Marquette University and the seven wonderful years of being a student and educator here. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………...……...i CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION Background and Previous Studies….……………………………….…..1 Rationale and Purpose…………………………………………………...6 Rhetorical Theory………………………………………………………..8 Rhetorical Criticism……………………………………………………...9 Rhetoric & History……………………………………………………..11 Rhetorical History………………………………………………………12 II. HISTORICAL CONTEXT 1945-50: Postwar Settlement: A Cold Peace?..………………….........15 1951-58: Western Growth, Eastern Unrest………………...................55 1958-61: Rising Tensions: An Ultimatum at the Heart of Europe......64 John F. Kennedy: A Presidential Worldview ..…………...………......66 The Berlin Issue…………………………...............................................72 The Vienna Conference, 1961 ……………………………....................81 Lead Up to the July 25, 1961 Address..………..……............................91 III. RHETORICAL ANALYSIS Kennedy’s Radio and TV Address to the American People…..……..98 Historical Constraints: Potsdam, Yalta and Basis for Western Presence in Berlin…….......…………………………………………….99 The Middle Ground: Flexible Response……………………………..104 Personal Influences………………………………………………...….109 iii Reaction: Words and the Berlin Wall…………………......................117 Why July 25, 1961 Matters…………………………………………...128 The Fallout: The Berlin Wall ………………………………...............128 September 1961-October 1962: ‘We Did Not Send Him to See the Opera in East Berlin’...……………………………………………......139 Cuban Missile Crisis: ‘I Think the Other Guy Blinked’ …………...148 European Split: Gaullists vs. Atlanticists …………….…………......159 Kennedy’s European Trip …………….…………...............................162 Kennedy in Germany …………….………….......................................165 Analysis of Kennedy’s Remarks at Rudolph Wilde Platz, Berlin The Berlin Effect: A City Embraces a President ……………...........171 Kennedy on the Attack: Accusations of Failure …………….………178 Reunification: The Many Sides of Kennedy…....................................181 Kennedy Goes Roman: Civis Romanus Sum.…………….…………184 Identificational Appeals: Rudolph Wilde Platz …………….………186 Why Rudolph Wilde Platz Matters…………………………………..191 Free University: Rudolph Wilde Platz’s Counterbalance ………….193 The Challenge Extended: Truth, Justice and Liberty…....................194 Accusations and History: Kennedy’s Other Strategy……………….199 Détente: The Path Forward …………….…………............................204 Community Building: A Dual Audience…………………...………...205 The Rise of Brandt and the Dawn of Ostpolitik……..........................210 Why Free University Matters………………………………………...214 iv IV. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Epilogue: Kennedy’s Legacy in Germany to Ostpolitik in the 1970s……………………………………………………………………216 Implications and Conclusions………...................................................228 Bibliography …………….………….....................................................238 1 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION The idea of presidential rhetoric as a scholarly pursuit has evolved over the years, and is now seen as an interdisciplinary field with many different contributors and as a force in the academic world (Medhurst, 2008). Presidential rhetorical articles have increased in two key journals, Presidential Studies Quarterly and Rhetoric & Public Affairs . Since 2005, Presidential Studies Quarterly has published 19 articles or reviews of books on presidential rhetoric. Rhetoric & Public Affairs has published approximately 40 articles concerning presidential rhetoric. The variety of articles being published in both journals demonstrates an increasing interest among scholars in presidential rhetoric. While these studies are filling in the scholarly knowledge Windt (1986) recognized there are still many topics and presidents that have not been examined by rhetorical scholars. Background and Previous Studies Existing scholarship on Kennedy addresses various aspects of his foreign policy addresses, but no existing rhetorical scholarship has focused on his three major speeches on U.S.-German relations and their role in U.S. policy toward Germany. Berlin was central to Kennedy’s foreign policy, and while scholars have focused on either his Report to the American People on the Berlin Crisis or his address at Rudolph Wilde Platz, no rhetorical scholar has analyzed both speeches together. In addition, there has been no scholarly rhetorical study of Kennedy’s address at the Free University of Berlin, which provided Willy Brandt with the impetus to implement his Ostpolitik policy with East Berlin. The lion’s share of literature on Kennedy and the Berlin Crisis comes in the form of historical research. Although much of this research is richly detailed and provides the context for the Berlin Crisis, it does not apply the techniques of rhetorical analysis. 2 Further, historians most often refer to the important lines and phrases from Kennedy’s speeches and note the historical consequences of Kennedy’s actions on the Cold War landscape. Even Kennedy’s speech writer, Theodore Sorensen (1965), provides an exclusive look inside the Kennedy administration, but his analysis of Kennedy is more historical than rhetorical. Theodore Windt Jr.’s (2003) study on Kennedy’s speech writing process used all three German speeches as examples of the multifaceted atmosphere in which Kennedy’s speeches were drafted, but Windt fails to critique any German address in depth. Rather, Windt examines the collaboration between Sorensen and Kennedy, and the evolution of Kennedy’s rhetorical style over his political career. Other rhetorical studies include Goldzwig and Dionisopoulos (1995b), Goldzwig and Bostdorff (1994), and Meagher (1997) focus on Kennedy’s personal characteristics or the pragmatic idealism present in his foreign policy speeches. These studies draw upon Kennedy’s background and presidential campaign to show the formation and transformation of Kennedy’s thought. These studies are essential to understanding Kennedy’s actions and rhetoric in Berlin. Where Goldzwig and Dionisopoulos (1995a) examine Kennedy’s Report to the Nation on Berlin, they give no substantial attention to the other two speeches in the context of the German question. In fact, Goldzwig and Dionisopoulos’ (1995b.) previous study demonstrated the full dimensions of Kennedy’s attempts at strategic balancing of idealism and pragmatism. My study will undertake this task by focusing on the German speeches. Kennedy’s Berlin
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