Ronald Reagan’s “Space Shuttle Challenger” Since the presidency of George Washington, the people of The United States have turned to the commander in chief in times of distress to receive assurance and hope. Kurt Ritter comments on President Reagan’s address to the nation given on January 28, 1986 saying, “Perhaps no president could have fulfilled the country’s need to mourn and, then, to begin to heal as skillfully as Ronald Reagan (Ritter, 3).” On that morning the space shuttle “Challenger” violently exploded while the nation watched live televised coverage of the shuttle’s launch. President Reagan was scheduled to give his State of the Union Address on that date, but instead he reached out the country in this time of mourning. He spoke from his oval office to heartbroken teachers, children, NASA Space Engineers, and the entire country. President Reagan’s reaction to the tragedy of the challenger guided the United States out of despair and into a new light of hope behind seven fallen heroes. In this essay I will show that Reagan gave our country a new light of hope through his emphasis on Pathos but also incorporating Ethos and Logos in this memorable presentation. There is no doubt that the when the President of the United States speaks everyone listens to what he has to say. This credibility makes the Ethos of Reagan’s Speech almost unsurpassable. As mentioned Reagan was scheduled to give a State of the Union Address to our country on the evening of January 28, 1986. Instead, he postponed it, because “the story of the day was tragedy. Here he wanted to give an upbeat speech about America moving ahead. It just didn’t fit. It seemed in congruous (Weinraub).” He showed the country that his priority is the emotions of his people by, for the first time in history, postponing on the State of the Union speech in order to discuss the current event. This strengthened the creditability of his argument immensely. He likened the astronauts to pioneers and stated in his speech that “They had a special grace, that special spirit that says, ‘Give me a challenge and I’ll meet it with joy.” With this he appeals to the spiritual side of his audience using the word grace to describe the fallen. Again, “The president concluded by attaching the nation’s sorrow to God’s grace (Ritter, 4).” He said “As they prepared for there journey and waved ... ... middle of paper ... ...ng that “nothing ends here”. Reagan’s speech on the night of January 28, 1986 dramatically “took the first step toward uniting the country in its grief (Ritter, 4)”. Ronald Reagan reached out to the schoolchildren of America and all other citizens of the United States to counsel them in time of tragedy. He gave hope to the nation through emotional and spiritual reference. He was effective in conveying his message but the way his thoughts were organized was in part ineffective. His speech is very unorganized, and he could have ordered his thoughts better. More importantly than disorganization though, Ronald Reagan reached out to a nation that needed him as there president. He gave the people of the United States hope and Reassurance, a task that the President has been expected to do since the beginning of our country. Citations Apple, R.W. Jr. “President As Healer.” The New York Times 28 Jan. 1986:A2. Ritter, Kurt, and David Heary. Ronald Reagan: The Great Communicator. Connecticut: Greenwood, 1992. Sloan, Thomas O. ed. Technical Communication New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Weinraub, Bernard “Reagan Postpones State of Union Speech.” The New York Times 29 Jan. 1986:A9.
Even when President Reagan, didn’t make wise decisions, he took full blame for them, which made the American population trust him and gain more popularity. With his many major accomplishments in helping the American people, and putting them first, he really helped in his favor. Reagan has built up the US military to what it is now because he believed that we needed to “restore America's ability to defend itself and fulfill its responsibilities as a trustee of freedom and peace in the world” (Wild Thing, January 21, 2006). President Reagan is a man that has a heart and soul with America, and will fight for our freedoms and rights for as long as his life.
...ent would have presented an ineffective speech. This was not an easy task for me, because I am not a Reagan admirer; however I shed my listener bias to finally appreciate the Great Communicator in his element.
"American President: Ronald Wilson Reagan: Impact and Legacy." Miller Center. University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Strober, Deborah Hart, and Gerald S. Strober. Reagan the Man and His Presidency. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. Print.
In his “Challenger Explosion” speech, Pres. Ronald Reagan comforts the nation in the aftermath of NASA’s Challenger Space Shuttle exploded shortly after takeoff killing all seven astronauts. In this speech, he used rhetorical devices, such as alliteration, allusion, anaphora, and euphemism to relay his feelings of sadness and grief.
In a person’s lifetime, many things can happen including death. In 1986 seven individuals, Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnic, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe, lost their lives doing what they loved most. The tragedy of the shuttle challenger brought much pain to the nation that day. Along with the pain comes grieving. The nation grieved the loss of these seven wonderful individuals and hoped to find peace and comfort for the days to come. As Ronald Reagan prepared to give the state of the union address, things changed for worse, he unexpectedly had to give a speech on a horrific event. Reagan was devastated at the loss of the seven men and women that were on that space shuttle challenger.
...speech to the world where he was quoted as saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” The speech was given at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin (“Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall: President Ronald Reagan”). This speech signified the beginning of the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. President Reagan’s foreign policy tactics are another reason why he was a great president.
24. The aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid Reagan uses imagery throughout his speech that compliments his ethos, pathos, and logos. Every line that Reagan utters has purpose and is not put to waste, every line is used to convince the Germans to gravitate towards his cause of being more like the United States by embracing Western Democracy. Reagan is hopeful during his speech and wishes to see Berlin be triumphant and succeed once again as a nation, this is seen throughout the central theme of his speech as he urges the Germans to take his advice and tear down the wall and let go of communist principles. Overall, Reagan’s argument during the “Address from the Brandenburg Gate” was incredibly effective.
In the beginning of his speech, he uses a unique style to communicate his speech. He immediately starts off with a clear and precise tone, however his assortment of words indicates a consciousness of concern. Reagan’s tone in this speech is serious and influential. He wants the audience to understand his viewpoints and how he fee...
We are going to first look at President Reagan's vision, the plan that he used to fulfill his vision, and the leadership involved in moving his vision forward. Next, we are going to look at his ethics and what influenced them. Additionally, we will look at the impacts that his vision and his ethics had on bringing down the Berlin wall. Finally, we are going to look at how he impacted the world that we live in today, his impacts upon me, and my leadership skills. We know that President Reagan was a visionary leader, and ethical, we will now examine his vision.
...his words. “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey”, peaceful imagery and a remembrance of their souls are spoken once more and in conclusion Reagan states “and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God” (Reagan). He ends with words taken from a poem by John Gillespie Magee Jr. and poetic touch of emotion that continues to resonate today. His faith shines through and reaches the nation’s heart. Bush uses the wrong diction and his poor choice of faith-filled words will create a forgotten speech. Instead of using general faith filled words or sayings, Bush reverts to a bible verse which is not received as well as Reagan’s words because the bible is too specific and could infringe upon someone else’s beliefs. A more general medium, like Reagan presented would have been received better.
Reagan’s speech had rhetorical devices, such as, allusion, rhetorical question, and plain folks appeal. He made an indirect reference to an event in the 1950’s, which politician Khrushchev predicted “we will bury you” (par. 8). This allusion tells the audience that Reagan has a good knowledge of the topic he is speaking about. Reagan gives a rhetorical question, when he was talking about how changes have occurred in the Soviet Union and he asked if “these are the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state?” (par. 11). The use of a rhetorical question gets the audience involved and it gives emphasis to his claim. Finally, Reagan uses plain folks appeal just like Kennedy by using the German language by saying “Es gibt nur ein Berlin” (par. 4). This use of the German language is helpful to his speech, because by him saying “there is only one Berlin” in the audience's language, it shows that he is really caring of the whole
1. Anderson, Annelise, Martin Anderson, and Ronald Reagan. RONALD REAGAN'S PATH TO VICTORY: SELECTED WRITINGS BOOK. New Yrk: Free Pr, 2004
Ronald Reagan was one of the most influential presidents in American history; yet he is one of the least talked about in present day history books. President Reagan was not an Ivy League rich-kid or raised in a politically motivated family. He was a midwestern boy who played football and worked his way through college. President Reagan had visions for the future of this country. Reagan realized he wanted to lead the country during his time working in California, in the Screen Actor's Guild. He was bothered by the spread of communism in Hollywood. He took over the Presidency in 1980 after four years of the most awful leadership this country has ever had. Just as he swore in his campaign, he lowered taxes, got control of oil prices and suppressed the paper tiger of the East. For the next eight years were some of the best times this country had ever seen. The 1980s is now a time of economic conditions leaders still try to attain today. The standard of living in the United States improved, along with the feeling of national pride. After four repugnant years under Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan took this country to the standard that it was capable of.
Ronald Reagan believed that the United States must never lose their principles or grounding which come from being part of the faithful. He viewed evangelicals who participated in the government as being saviors of the Unite States. He saw them as preventing the moral decline of the United States. He saw the overall battle as being between good and evil, with the United States being a beacon of all that is good, so long as it remained true to its’ christian principles. Reagan urged his audience to not accept the idea that both sides of a struggle are equally at fault. That the battle of good versus evil is ever ongoing and that the arms race was not just a simple misunderstanding, but rather a battle against evil. Reagan believed that because their motives were spiritual and not materiel, that they would triumph because there are no limitations on the freedom of man.