A Rhetorical Analysis Of Ronald Reagan's The Challenger Disaster

Ronald Reagan is famous for giving speeches that leave others in shock. His eloquence and ability to show great empathy is greatly shown through a speech known as “The Challenger Disaster.” His use of ethos, logos, and pathos made many Americans appreciate the hard work and dedication that went into making a rocket and mourn the loss of seven heroes. President Reagan presents himself as a sincere and trustworthy person by choosing independent and comforting words. This causes the audience to trust and believe him. Some of the first words of the President’s speech were, “… I’d planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but… led me to change those plans.” This shows that he was willing to sacrifice his own time, to create

He also said, “I want to add that I wish I could talk to every [one]… who works for NASA.” Not only did he say this with high respect for those building and creating machines that could stay in a stable state in outer space, he meant what he said. At that time he stood for America in saying that. That is what a President stands as; a spokesperson for the people. With the President of the United States backing their technology up, and saying that errors happen, NASA workers were able to make many advancements in safety and communication as well as learn new information about what is outside of our world. President Reagan also evokes a sense of unified emotion in his audience by encouraging the growth of ideas and spirit. He does this in order to continue the love to the families of those lost and to support the growth of technology. While Reagan was speaking to the engineers of the rocket he said, “Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of you anguish. We share it.” The reasoning behind this phrase is Reagan’s want for technology to continue to

We as Americans will always respect them, and never forget them. Lastly, President Reagan portrays the astronauts as heroes and explorers by portraying them as adventure seekers in the name of discovery. This causes the audience to believe that although they died, they would still live through advances in the space program. “And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, we aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly.” By saying that, Reagan led many Americans to believe that this was indeed a very hard and scary job. That it took the best of the best to go on this mission, and they did their best to control the situation. Another clipping from Reagan’s speech was “They wished to serve, and they did.” Now as a family member, imagine what it would be like to hear that your brother was a hero. That what he did was noble and he did not die for a careless reason. Many young children watching the explosion at school probably went home frightened, until their mom later that night, watched her President speak with great words of