RONALD REAGANS CHALLENGER DISASTER SPEECH: A RHETORICAL 1

ANALYSIS
On January 28, 1986, was the most devastating and mortifying disaster
Americas space program had ever faced the Challenger crew of seven astronauts
was killed in an explosion on launch day after a record-cold night caused complications
with the shuttle. The news of this explosion spread like wildfire, as it was the first time a
tragedy like this happened while in flight and was broadcasted live to a huge portion of
the nation. This incident led many citizens to believe that space travel was an
impossible feat that needed be dropped a dream that could never safely be fulfilled.
Rajini Vaidyanathan (2011) from BBC News writes that the event shattered the hope
and faith that many Americans placed in NASA. It was the duty of the president at the
time, Ronald Reagan, to mend the relationship between Americas space program and
its citizens, and this had to be done very carefully at such a sensitive and tragic time.

Ronald Reagan gave his address on the Challenger disaster the day of the
accident. In his speech, Reagan utilizes several rhetorical appeals to communicate his
message to the audience. Pathos, the speechs most prominent rhetorical appeal, is an
appeal to the audiences emotions. This rhetorical appeal is present when President
Reagan declares,
we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. 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. (Garber, 2004, para. 4)
Reagans words this part of his speech to appeal to the sadness and loss of Americans.
As he honors the crew, their work, and their sacrifice, the respect he shows helps the
audience sort through their feelings and see his point of view. Reagan does this to allow
the audience to see the innovation and discovery that the United States space program
still has to offer the world, despite the tragedy.

Another rhetorical appeal that Reagan uses to convey the importance of NASA
and regain the publics trust is logos. Logos is used when a writer seeks to appeal to the
logic of their audience. In his speech, Reagan labels the members of the Challenger
crew as pioneers. He gets the point across that even though this was an accident and
was not meant to happen, everyone on the crew was aware of the potential dangers
(Garber, 2004, para. 5). Logos is used in this speech to help the listeners understand
where Reagan and NASA are coming from and that space exploration has and always
will be dangerous but that danger doesnt meant we humans should never take risks.
Reagan wants to help open up the audience to the fact that exploration, space
exploration in particular, can take sacrifice, and the people on Challenger were aware of
that.

Overall, Reagan is able to sway the audience using logos and pathos in his
Challenger Disaster Speech. He doesnt need to lie to the audience, he simply appeals
to their emotions and logic and helps them see that NASA is a necessary program for
RONALD REAGANS CHALLENGER DISASTER SPEECH: A RHETORICAL 2
ANALYSIS
the United States. At the time, space exploration was still relatively new. The public
needed an extra push provided by rhetorical appeals to understand that we were
expanding the boundaries as humans and that we would have tragedies like the
Challenger Disaster. Reagans speech helped Americans understand that we had a
massive loss, and that we would grieve for decades after the death of the Challenger
crew, but also that our nation would learn and grow from our mistakes.
RONALD REAGANS CHALLENGER DISASTER SPEECH: A RHETORICAL 3
ANALYSIS

References

Rajini Vaidyanathan. (2011). Challenger: The shuttle disaster that shook the world.
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-12306318

Steve Garber. (2004). Explosion of the space shuttle Challenger address to the nation,
January 28, 1986. Retrieved from https://history.nasa.gov/reagan12886.html