Review Of Ronald Reagan's Speech 'A Time For Choosing'

Ronald Reagan’s speech “A Time for Choosing” marks the beginning of his accomplishment in politics. This speech is one of the first given by Reagan that earns him the recognition of being a great speaker. In 1964, Barry Goldwater was the Republican candidate opposing Lyndon B. Johnson in the presidential election. As part of Goldwater’s campaign, Ronald Reagan gave a speech on television. Regan’s speech, “A Time for Choosing,” was written and spoken to the Americans in order to persuade the Americans to vote for Barry Goldwater. Reagan is one of the greatest public speakers, and he always knew what the people wanted to hear and how they wanted to hear it.
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 to John Reagan and Nellie Wilson Reagan in Tampico, Illinois. Reagan graduated from Dixon High School and later attended Eureka College in Illinois on an athletic scholarship. He majored in sociology and economics. In 1937, Reagan started working with the Warner Brothers movie studio.

After working in the studio for a couple of years, he married Jane Wyman, an actress. Together Reagan and his wife had a daughter named Maureen and an adopted son named Michael. Eight years later the couple divorced. In 1952, Reagan married Nancy Davis, an actress, and together they had two children, Patricia and Ronald. Ronald Reagan’s occupations included film actor, television actor, California Governor, and U.S. President. At the age of ninety-three, Reagan died at his home and was buried in California on the grounds of his presidential library.
At the time, Reagan was the nation’s longest lived president at that time (Ronald Reagan Bio 1-3).
Reagan’s development of astonishing communication skills and his conversion from liberal to conservative are reflected in his speech, “A Time for Choosing.” As a campaign advocate for Barry Goldwater, Reagan’s speech, “A Time for Choosing,” is intended for a specific audience. At the start of his speech, Reagan makes the statement “I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I recently have seen fit to follow another course” (Reagan 1). This testimony shows that Reagan is targeting the democrats. An example of Reagan targeting the democrats is by identifying the Democratic Party as the less significant of the two parties and inferring that he has learned from his faults of being a democrat. His testimonial statement criticizes the democrats. When Reagan states that he has changed his political viewpoint, there were many people who were curious about the undesirable positions of the leaders of the Democratic Party at the time.
Within the speech, Reagan seeks to make sure Barry Goldwater is recognized by all that he has done in the past.

One part of Reagan’s speech that has great significance is when he repeats the phrase, “this is a man who…” followed by a remarkable service that Goldwater did for the American people. In the words of Reagan:
This is a man who, in his own business before he entered politics, instituted a profit-sharing plan before unions had ever thought of it. He put in health and medical insurance for all of his employees. He took 50 percent of the profits before taxes and set up a retirement program, a pension plan for all his employees. (Reagan 6-7)
This quote is effective because it creates characteristics of Goldwater that help the people recognize what a helpful man that Goldwater is. When Reagan speaks of Goldwater’s qualities, Goldwater becomes more likeable and trustworthy in the eyes of the citizens. Reagan implies that Goldwater gave of himself for the help of someone

else.
When ending his speech, Reagan repeats the phrase “You and I,” when speaking to his audience. Reagan says, “You and I have the courage to say to our enemies,” and “You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased” (Reagan 8). By saying “you and I,” Reagan is including himself as part of the audience and is talking to them as friends who have a decision to make. Reagan uses the informal language to identify with the audience and to have a better connection with them.
In conclusion, Ronald Reagan makes a respectable argument with his speech. Although Barry Goldwater lost the presidential election, Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” helped Goldwater’s campaign tremendously. Reagan is considered a hero to many people. According to Arnold Schwarzenegger, he states, “Reagan was a hero to me. President Reagan symbolized to me what America represented—hope, opportunity, freedom” (Schwarzenegger 1). President Ronald Reagan impacted numerous lives and was a blessing to the United States.