President Reagan's Ethos Pathos Logos

On January 28th, 1986, Ronald Reagan used his stature as president to show sympathy for the country in the light of tragedy, in his speech entitled “Speech on the Challenger Disaster.” His main point expounds on the importance of the Challenger Disaster in the history of space exploration. He supports this claim by first explaining the effect the disaster had on the public, then offering his sympathy for the families of the astronauts as well as the entire nation, and finally declaring that the country must continue to explore space so the deaths of the astronauts were not in vain. Through Reagan’s use of rhetorical appeals, tone, and rhetorical tools he effectively persuades the American people to maintain confidence in NASA and in space exploration,

The campaign ad "Prouder, Stronger, Better" is attempting to convince the people of America to vote for Ronald Reagan to serve his second term as the President of the United States. The commercial begins with a speaker telling the audience, “It is morning in America...” (Tuesday Team, 1984). The speaker then states that people will go to work, move into homes, and get married on that day. The citizens of the United States are also supposedly available to look at the future confidently due to inflation being less than half of what it was four years ago and interest rates being about half the record highs of 1980. The video concludes with the speaker stating that Ronald Reagan’s first presidency has made America, "Prouder, and stronger, and better," (Tuesday Team, 1984). The speaker uses techniques of logos, ethos, and pathos throughout the commercial to persuade the audience to vote for Reagan in order to continue his presidency in 1984.

Reagan then reassured that the space program would continue to operate and “what happened today does nothing to diminish it”. This message sought to protect the ongoing space programs and was dedicated to the last sub-audience of his speech: the NASA people. He acknowledged their hard work and expressed sympathy for their loss of friends and coworkers.

Americans had high expectations of the space programs which intended to provide the United States a great sense of achievement. The significance of the space program lies in essence in which symbolized American glory in science and technology. (Lambright)

Which is the best way to capture someone’s mind into a commercial. Is it rhyming or making a jingle? Is it making a big funny joke in front of the audience? Is it getting a person who is rather famous to come and help with the media side? All this applies in politics as they all try and gain a competitive advantage. However, they also use a different way to appeal to the voter. Politicians use pathos as a way to attract voters to their campaign, as it appeals to their emotional side which more people understand.

On June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan trekked to the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin to speak to the people of West Germany to express his views regarding to communism it’s inadequacy as a governmental system. President Reagan’s primary goal was to rally the people of West Germany to oppose the Berlin Wall and make steps toward a much needed democracy. Having the position of President of the United States, Reagan had substantial influence on his peers. Reagan was able to use influence with some persuasion and rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos to the German people to provide cogent reasoning.

In the articles “Alone in the Crowd” and “As technology Gets Better, Will Society Get Worse?,” Michael Price and Tim Wu, respectively acknowledge the effects of technological advances. While both Price and Wu use effective rhetorical strategies in their articles, one presents their argument in a more persuasive manner. Wu effectively convinces his audience that as a society we continue to advance technologically, but for the wrong reasons. Price references an interview with Sherry Turkle, to convey his opinion that the social media frenzy consumes our society. Price and Wu both present their point of view, but Wu has more factual information to justify his argument. The appeal to emotion is stronger in Price’s article; however, in this situation Wu’s logos appeal is more rhetorically effective. Beyond Ethos, Pathos, and

　　President Ronald Reagan inherited the space policy of his predecessor, Jimmy Carter and was not satisfied with its current objectives and lack of direction (Logsdon, 1995). He put together a transition team to draft a new chapter for NASA which was left in an “untenable position” by Carter’s lack of direction for the agency. The NASA transition team leader, George Low, remarked that NASA can be “the best in American accomplishment and inspiration for all citizens” (Logsdon, 1995). The team provided input to Reagan that would drive space policy during his eight year tenure.

During the 2016 Vice-Presidential election, candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence use persuasive language and strategies for their arguments. Notably, both speeches measure about the same in terms of implementing pathos through the repetitive use of their hardships and their families. Pathos is a strategy used to stir up the audience’s emotions. Based on the strategic manipulation of pathos, middle-aged voters may tend to sway towards one candidate more than the other.

Americans had high expectations of the space programs which intended to provide the United States a great sense of achievement. The significance of the space program lies in essence in which symbolized American glory in science and technology. (Lambright)

While watching the beginning of this film where Stephen Harper stated at the 2009 G20 Convention in Pittsburg, PA that Canada had no colonial history, I reflected on the apology he made in 2008. I was surprised he made this statement in the film as his government was also the first government to acknowledge the horrendous consequences that the Indian residential school system had on the Indigenous community. Through his apology, he recognized how this inexcusable aggressive assimilation policy developed by the Canadian government stripped the Indigenous community of their culture, heritage, and their language. He also added that residential schools have contributed to social problems faced by many Indigenous communities today. With this apology,

In the late 1980’s, there was an increase in space organizations like Air Force Space Command which sparked a major interest in space weaponry. Following what Reagan wanted done with space, these organizations began a push for a present in space with the same force as their capabilities in the 1950’s and 1960’s. As Reagan had expressed blatantly in early 1983, he wanted a space presence, and that it will be a part of the United States’ arsenal. His leaving of office sparked a large push for space technology. This push for space technology is directly influenced by a leader, just as Truman proposed his ideas about space weapons and the potentialities of it. Reagan’s interest for a presence in space as a means of power over other countries, created

Throughout America’s history, pioneers have ventured into the unknown. After the United States expanded to the Pacific Ocean, people invented machinery to travel into unknown areas. The inventions of Robert H. Goddard and others led to man’s discovery of space, (Launius 18-9). Roger D. Launius, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Chief Historian, recounts, “The combination of technological and scientific advance, the thrill of exploration, political competition with the Soviet Union, and changes in popular opinion about space flight came together in a very specific way in the 1950s to affect public policy in favor of an aggressive space program” (22). The United States had already spent $11.8 billion for space technology, but “the NSC determined that the cost of continuing the programs from 1957 to 1963 would be an additional $36 billion” so that the ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missile] capability would become a reality” (Launius 22). Every year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration spends billions of dollars for its programs, which is money well spent.

The purpose for President John F. Kennedy’s putting a man into space and developing a national space organization was “national prestige” (Compton). Russian had already taken leaps ahead of us in the exploration of space by the successful launch of the Sputnik satellite and the success of Yuri Gagarin being the first human to journey into outer space (Doran). Kennedy also fulfilled the role of a true leader by giving the county direction in the form of a difficult and worthy goal. Subsequently, the space race had begun and the entire county had become spectators.

“This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life” (Jobs). Steve Jobs gave this speech at Stanford College in 2005 in front of the graduating class. Steve jobs was a college dropout that eventually turned out to be one of the most successful people in the U.S.A. Steve jobs was able to use ethos, pathos, and logos to keep the crowd interested while still maintaining an important message within his speech.