Analyzing Nixon's 'In Event of Moon Disaster' Speech

The world would have been very different if we had not landed on the moon and made it back safely those couple days in July of 1969. Many people were nervous and skeptical that the mission of Apollo 11 wouldn’t work, some even coming to the worst case scenario. As a president, President Nixon had to be prepared for any outcome of this great event in history. Regardless of the mission’s success, a speech was prepared for the outcome of Apollo 11 failing. The speech, In Event of Moon Disaster, written for President Nixon, effectively uses pathos and logos to appeal to a distraught nation in fragile time and uses descriptive language to regain the embodiment of hope again in the country. Because it was written before the event took place, however,

it is detached and is missing an emotional level.
The main purpose of this speech was to address to the nation the fatality of Armstrong and Aldrin and the failure of the Apollo 11 mission. It was also written to maintain hope and reassurance in the country. The audience was the country and the people who believed in Armstrong, Aldrin, and the Apollo mission. The speech does effectively interact with the audience by speaking directly to them and trying to make them feel unified. While reading the speech, it gives off an inspiring and reassuring tone. It was, however, missing an emotional connection to it. Because it was written for an outcome that had not yet happened, it was not as emotionally driven and felt detached.
The speech also appeals to Pathos and Ethos in various ways.

By using descriptive language and connecting, it explains the triumphs of man and the recovery the country will have to take. Words such as sacrifice, understanding, and exploration help enforce that this event would not stop the process of evolution in science. The speech uses spiritual phenomenons to help the mournful accept what has happened. For example, it compares Armstrong and Aldrin to heros in the constellations, and that their sacrifice would bind the brotherhood of man. The Speech also appeals to Ethos because it is trying to reinforce the belief in America and the belief in Mankind as a whole. It states, “they know that there is hope in mankind in their sacrifice” (Source B), further describing that Mankind’s search for the unknown will not falter because of this setback.
Overall, In Event of Moon Disaster was effective in the sense it would have helped many Americans and people around the world recover the failure of Apollo 11. The speech uses pathos and ethos to help reassure the people of the world that this small setback would not stop the evolving scientific advances of Mankind. Because it was written for an event that had not happened yet, it wasn’t as emotionally driven. If there had been a connection there, the speech would have been more

effective.