Ronald Reagan Challenger Disaster Rhetorical Analysis

On January 28th, 1986, Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States at the time, in his speech, entitled “Challenger Disaster,” addressed the Challenger Disaster. He supported this claim by first mourning over the tragedy, then he promoted NASA, also he tried to make sense of this calamity, and finally he informed the audience that the seven astronauts will never be forgotten and as a country we will be forever thankful for their service. Through Reagan’s use of tone, rhetorical analysis, and rhetorical tools he effectively persuaded America to mourn and appreciate the lives of the seven astronauts loss and to convince American people to continue their support for NASA and move forward as a country. Reagan unified America with his supportive

Reagan used pronouns to include the audience throughout his speech. One example of Reagan’s speech being inclusive of the entire nation was when he said, “ We’ve grown used to the wonders in this century” (4). He is saying that as a whole country we are used to finding new wonders everyday. Reagan was very confident in NASA and wanted to continue to receive support, so he said, “We’ll continue our quest into space” (6). He believed that America could keep the space program going strong despite the recent tragic events. This speech was intended to inform America of the Challenge disaster. Reagan used specific pronouns to address the audience. He focused a lot on the individuals that lost someone due to this dismal occurrence. One thing that he said specifically to those close to the astronauts was, “Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace” (3). He said this to honor the astronauts and explicate how wondrous the seven astronauts were. Another point that he stated that included the entire country was, “They served all of us” (3). These statements address the country as a whole and target those that were in desperate need of support for the loss of their loved ones. Ronald Reagan’s pronoun use to include and address the audience had a great effect on making those that tuned into the speech feel included. Ronald Reagan’s speech was effective in its purpose of honoring and mourning those that were involved in the disaster and promoting NASA. He succeeded in this purpose by effectively using a supportive and optimistic tone, the use of ethos and pathos, and his use of pronouns to address and include the audience. If it wasn’t for his efforts, the country may not have dealt with the tragedy as well and NASA may not have received the continued support that it