Rhetorical Analysis Of Speech By President Reagan

Seventy three seconds into its flight, the Challenger space shuttle exploded, killing all seven passengers on board. This including Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first civilian in space. This was to be the Challenger’s tenth mission and, regrettably, it turned out to be its final one as well. Following an investigation called by President Reagan, it was determined that the crash was ultimately caused by two rubber O-Rings designed to separate the rocket boosters that failed due to cold temperatures on the morning of the launch (“Challenger Disaster”). In his address to the nation on January 28, 1986, President Reagan uses allusion, pathos, and tone to comfort the audience after the catastrophic events.
In his speech, Reagan manipulates

The situation that unfolded was one of devastation. Reagan shares with his audience his mourning and hurt in hopes that the country will allow themselves to do the same. He begins his speech by stating, “Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy,” (Reagan). He makes it personal. He invites everyone affected to join him and his family in his process of mourning as an extensive support system. The explosion was nothing less than utterly depressing and so he reminds the public that mourning is allowed. By mentioning his family and his pain he is comforting not only the common mass, but also the individual families hurting at this time. Furthermore, he addresses the specific families of those deceased and tells them, “we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss and we’re thinking about you so very much” (Reagan). In this simple statement, Reagan reaches out to the affected families to demonstrate his understanding of their pain and acknowledges his distance from the personal touch of this agony. He is fully aware of the drastic change in the lives of the families and he outright says it. But he also feels the loss and the pain objectively. In making his own misery known, he is making acceptance possible for the families and for the public as a

He begins by addressing Americans as a whole. He comforts them by letting them know that they are allowed to mourn, albeit the fact that they’re not personally affected. In stating, “This is truly a national loss” (Reagan), he makes certain of the fact that every American, whether affected or not, is allowed to feel pain over this tragedy and cope with the support of all others in this nation. His tone is somber, joining the nation in their journey to acceptance. Continually, he then moves on to directly speak to the families of the victims. Comfort is provided in saying “Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, ‘Give me a challenge and I’ll meet it with joy’” (Reagan). He praises their loved ones to banish any negative thoughts of cowardice and pain. He brings comfort in the form of acknowledging that their loved ones were impactful, intelligent, and courageous heroes while submitting to a tone of grief yet also pride. He asserts that their death was not in vain. They sought out a challenge and it was brought upon them and although it lead to tragedy they were amazing people to even attempt the mission. Reagan then moves on to console the future of his glorious country: the schoolchildren of America. As young children, a