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Ronald Reagan Farewell Speech Essay

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Elizabeth David Advanced Technical Communications: Paper Assignment #1 February 27, 2012 On January 11, 1989 President Ronald Reagan gave his Farewell Address to the Nation from the Oval Office in The White House. The speech was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. He had served our country for 8 years and now it was time for George Bush to take office. He used his 34th and final speech as president to not only bid the nation farewell but also to give thanks to the American people. He shares with America his experience as the U.S President and ensures that he could not have made the changes he made without the nation’s help. The speech is deliberative. His goal is to be sure to persuade the people that America is a …show more content…

Most of the appeal in this speech is to pathos. Very early on in his speech Reagan states, “And so many times I wanted to stop and reach out from behind the glass, and connect. Well maybe I can do a little of that tonight”. This is the beginning of his regard to pathos. With this statement he is trying to make a connection with the people which he did a phenomenal job of doing so. He uses the term “we” throughout the speech because he wants to be sure that the people know and understand that he has served this country for them. Reagan is also sure to make the people apart of his serving time. “I’ve been asked if I have any regrets. Well I do. The deficit is one”, this is another example of Reagan stepping out of his President shoes and admitting that there were mistakes that were made during his term. His intentions are to simply make the American people proud to be Americans. In regard to ethos, he talks about how the American tradition is the first in the history of the mankind where we “truly reversed the course of government.” The purpose of government is not to tell people what to do and “tell the people what their privileges are.” Rather, it is the people who tell the government what to do, including “where it should go, and by what route, and how fast.” This is because we are free. The recognition of this principle was, Reagan said, “the underlying basis for everything I’ve tried to do these past eight years.” Of all the

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