Ronald Reagan Ethos Pathos Logos

Vargas 1 Ronald Reagan: America’s Leading Man Ronald Reagan, only movie actor to become president, was recognized for his conservative republicanism, fervent anticommunism, policies contributing to demise of the Soviet Union, appealing personal style, skilled as an orator which earned him the title “Great Communicator” (Britannica). However, Reagan did not get this recognition easily, he worked vigorously to obtain it. Reagan attained his start in politics in a televised 1964 address, in it he makes a sweeping critique of liberalism, big government, and federal payments (Encyclopedia). In this speech, known as “A Time for Choosing” Reagan used logos, pathos, and mood to invoke people’s feelings about making the right choice when choosing

He would give his opinions, however, he stated the facts and talked numbers with the people to back it up. He did this to give credibility to the solutions he advised for the issues they were facing. Reagan mentioned various events, for example, the issue with the government being involved in the farm economy. He stated percentages of the money the government had put aside for farming, yet the money was not enough. He also talked about the control the government had over the farmers, their farm organizations and how they were not fit to control them because farmers knew what was best for themselves. Another example he expressed is welfare, Reagan mentioned the amount of money welfare spent to give to the families that were in need, he would let the people know how much money each family should have received if they were to have done the math. Yet he then stated how much money they were given and the numbers were off, they received less money than they were supposed to get. He asked the audience where could all the money from this program be going if it was not going to the families in poverty. He continues to say there is no point in the government continuing to invest money in those types of programs if the money is not being used correctly. With these examples and several others, Regan was able to provide a more convincing argument. He also gained the people’s trust

This speech is truly important in Mr. Reagan’s political career because this speech is what set him on the path to become a great communicator and a man of his word. Although this speech was not given to promote himself, in later years when he himself was running for president, he used the same arguments because Reagan stood by what he believed in. Even though Reagan’s speech in 1964 was successful, Barry Goldwater did not win that election. Because of that, many of the solutions for important issues Mr. Reagan and Barry had in mind were not able to be put in actions. Nonetheless, Reagan was able to bring those issues and solutions up when he ran for president. In sum, what Reagan did before his famous speech of 1964 and the speech itself were very important to Ronald’s political career because these events are what he is best known