Ethos

When you bring ethos to the rhetorical table, you're basically doing two things: letting everyone know that you know what you're talking about and showing the audience that you guys share a common moral playing field.

Basically, FDR is to ethos what Fred Astaire was to tap dancing. This guy is good.

He starts off with this ethos-laden nugget:

I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. (1)

This sentence is saying two things:

1. I'm the POTUS, y'all.
2. We all know that candor is the name of the game right now.

This is classic ethos. He's offering his CV to the audience—or at least a card that says "Mr. Prez" in block letters—and he's assuring people that he's speaking on their level. Everyone knows it's time to speak frankly…because America is having a rough time of it.

FDR also paints the struggle against unseen economic forces as a moral one. He rips into the financial fat cats getting rich at the expense of others, but he also has some critiques of the American public.

They also had a hand in the crisis, Roosevelt cries, by supporting a culture that values money and power above everything else. Maybe the depression could also serve as a reason to return to the traditional values that made America great. By painting himself as the man with the plan, FDR gains instant credibility…and a bit of moral superiority.