Rhetorical Analysis of President Ronald Reagan's Space Shuttle Challenger Tragedy Address

The Rhetoric of Ronald Reagan’s Space Shuttle "Challenger" Tragedy Address

On January 28th, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart soon after launch. Media coverage of the launch was extensive because of the presence of Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first teacher in space, and millions of citizens witnessed the explosion and breakup of the space shuttle.

This tragedy called for President Ronald Reagan to address the issue. Through the rhetorical arrangement and style of his speech, Ronald Reagan offered condolences to everyone who was affected by the event, and advocated for future space exploration, in an effort to bring the audience from shock and grief to hope and purpose for the future.

Speech Arrangement

The arrangement of the Challenger Address allowed the President to gently (as the situation called for) address the tragedy and to advocate for future space exploration.

President Ronald Reagan began his speech by acknowledging and empathizing with the pain and grief that people are feeling:

"Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss."

In this statement, he addresses his wife to deliver a more personal, relatable speech. He expands his viewpoint to all Americans, and by delivering the speech in this way, he casts himself as both a leader and a person that can empathize and relate to his constituents.

Reagan then offers sincere condolences to those who were affected by the tragedy:

“For the families of the seven, 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. 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." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.”

From here, the speech’s arrangement follows along an orderly path to explain to the public how such occurrences, while painful, were normal and usual during dangerous exploration:

“I know it’s hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen”

Reagan reassures the audience and brings us to his main argument, advocating for the continuation of space exploration:

“We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.”

Style, Devices and Delivery

Reagan delivers the speech while sitting in the Oval Office, wearing a nice suit, and with a calm, collected, and solemn demeanor. These aspects all served to lend Reagon credibility, or ethos, as both a national leader and as an empathetic person.

Throughout the speech, Reagan’s voice is regulated and solemn, appropriate for the situation, conveying sincerity and empathy for those affected by the tragedy. He allows himself to express raw emotion, but in an appropriate, respectful way which serves to emphasize his leadership position.

Reagan is very restrained throughout this speech, keeping his hands folded neatly and quietly on the desk. The recording of the speech shows that as the televised speech continues, the camera zooms in closer and closer to Reagan, conveying a sense of familiarity and personalization to the audience.

Reagan’s speech was absolutely rhetoric, in that he was able, through his speech, to turn the people’s perception of the incident from tragedy to seeing hope and positivity, as evidenced in the last part of Reagan’s speech:

“The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."