This essay examines paradoxical tensions in “The Strategy of Peace,” John F. Kennedy's (JFK) 1963  commencement address at American University. Building on recent explorations of gendered stylistics, the analysis initially shows how JFK's speech portrayed a number of characteristics typical of a feminine style. It then demonstrates that the address simultaneously featured characteristics typical of a masculine style. The subsequent androgynous style, the essay concludes, limited the potential success of what was likely JFK's most ambitious attempt at constructing détente with the Soviets in the course of the Cold War.