President Reagan's Pathos When tragedy strikes an entire nation of people it is difficult to address the honest truth. In the “Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger Address to the Nation, January 28, 1986” President W. Reagan expresses his feelings along with the truth about the Challenger accident in a comforting and empowering manner. The Challenger explosion shocked the entire nation and President Reagan had to take on the challenge of addressing it.Within this address President Reagan uses his unspoken credibility to show his empathy for those involved in the Challenger Disaster. Throughout the address he uses pathos to connect with those grieving the loss of such brave pioneers. President Reagan uses this opportunity to give hope to the nation that the expansion of space exploration has not come to a halt. …show more content…
He begins with plain and simply saying “Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss (President W. Reagan).” This direct quote shows President Reagan using relations to connect with his audience. This form of pathos creates a feeling of comfort throughout the audience. Furthermore He continues in his speech with appreciation for those who were involved in the tragedy directly and President Reagan named them each individually, which conveys the high regard he had for the astronauts. His high respect for the astronauts carries over to the hope Reagan has for the space program. As Reagan continues his speech his plans for the space program are looking ahead to the future rather that holding on to the