The Power Of The Challenger Disaster Speech

January 28, 1986, marks the day of the Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion. A day that will go down in history as a horrible tragedy for both NASA and America. Seven lives were lost that day, including the life of a high school teacher from New Hampshire. Former President Ronald Reagan was tasked with explaining this tragic event to the US people. Because of this, Reagan postponed the State of the Union Address and spoke about the Challenger Explosion instead. In his address to the nation about the explosion of the space shuttle, Challenger, President Ronald Reagan effectively commemorates the loss of the Challenger crew while also celebrating the crew’s achievements and encouraging further space travel by establishing pathos through his show of empathy, employing strong positive connotation, and alluding to the great explorer, Sir Francis Drake.

Sandy Dahl once said “If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.” George Bush and Ronald Reagan both addressed a terrible tragedy in a public speech. During the aftermath of two horible tragedies George Bush delivers the 9/11 address and Ronald Reagan delivers the challenger address in order to calm the American people. The ways these events were handled have clear similarities, as well as obvious differences in the two president's use of repetition, pathos, and how the talk to the American people.

Tuesday morning, September 11 of 2001, referred to as a day to remember, the twin towers were attacked by terrorists in a hijacked plane. Thousands of lives were lost and it was a day that brought great sorrow to America. George W. Bush, the president at that time, addressed his speech to America as a nation, giving them hope that the events that took place earlier that day would not shake them but that they would come back stronger. In this essay I will evaluate Bush’s formal 9/11 Address to the Nation and discuss the speaker’s appeals to pathos, logos and ethos to convey his message that America can stand tall as one.

One of the most catastrophic events America has faced were the September eleventh terrorist attacks. Our nation faced one of the most damaging attacks in our history and it was up to our president, George W. Bush, to address the entire nation and assure everyone that America still remains a strong and functioning country. Our President George Bush was called upon to address the nation, a nation that was currently suffering from loss, fear, and despair. His goal was to persuade Americans to take comfort in the effort being put forth in resolving the aftermath of the attacks and the fear they caused. Recognizing his audience as being innocent victims of an unknown evil, President Bush ultimately had to present a speech that mastered various techniques

On September 11, 2001, George W. Bush delivered his 9/11 Address to the Nation at 8:30 PM to all Americans. This speech, broadcasted throughout the nation from within the Oval Office just hours after the terrorist hijacking and the crash on the Twin Towers, reassured American citizens during a time of devastation and need of proper leadership. (Eidenmuller). Through rhetoric intended to convey strength and the actions America had already taken to combat this tragedy, Bush instilled hope in the American people and provided them with a sense of unification.

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,

One of the most detrimental and traumatic events of United States history involves the terrorist attacks on the day of September 11th, in 2001. September 11th is a day countless Americans will never forget. Because our nation encountered such a horrific attack, it was up to our president during the time, President George W. Bush, to address the country. Many Americans suffered loss and fear; therefore, former President George Bush’s goal was to heal and comfort the nation by persuading them to see the light within the darkness. Bush’s speech was a success because he showed America’s togetherness and solidarity by creating an emotional connection to the audience; moreover, by responding appropriately to the attacks, he presented himself with a leadership and role no one else could take.

When people think of a time where all of America was under attack they think of 9/11. 9/11 was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in American history. After this deadly attack, President George W. Bush went on national television to talk to the shaken American population. In his speech, he addressed how this issue was to be dealt and his condolences for the lives lost. President Bush used multiple effective ways including ethos, pathos, and logos to comfort and inform his people in his 9/11 speech.

On September 11th, 2001, tragedy struck America with the attacks on the Twin Towers and on the Pentagon. Not only did tens of thousands of New Yorkers see these atrocities firsthand but, millions of viewers watched in horror on the news; witnessing their nation under attack. Hundreds of terrified civilians ran from the carnage, however there were some who ran toward the collapsing buildings to save innocent lives. President George W. Bush stood with the fire fighters, the police and other first responders holding the flag of his nation and gave his address to the mourning citizens of the United States. He mainly used the strategies of ethos and pathos to try to comfort the American people and also have them rise and fight against the terror.

President Reagan is sympathetic and passionate when condoling and grieving with people of the United States. The tone of president Reagan is somber and optimistic, and his purpose is to promote NASA and commemorate the astronauts in order to calm the audience

All at the same time, hurling an insult to the Soviet Union. He adds: “We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss” at the beginning of the speech to already appeal to the mourning citizens as some who is hurting just as they are for his pathos appeal. By stating that the space program will continue, he is not only stating to the audience that he will not allow the incident to put a damper on the curiosity of the unknown, but also letting the Soviet Union know that no matter what trials they are put through, the program will continue and stay strong along with the rest of the country. Then, at the beginning of the speech, by using words like “loss” and “pain” he shows that he too is mourning. By saying “we know we share this pain” he further uses the pathos appeal by helping the audience to connect to him through his choice of words. Reagan uses pathos heavily in his speech, after-all, it was directly after such a horrible tragedy. Although he didn’t have much time to prepare, he knows that the country did need consoling, but also needed to look to the future, hence his slightly optimistic view for the future of the space

As discussed earlier, approximately 17 percent of Americans witnessed the explosion of the space shuttle on live broadcast and the rest soon learned about the tragic event through newspaper, radio or television. The whole country was in shock, grief and fear. That’s why Reagan chose to address to all of American people at the beginning of this speech “we share this pain with all of the people of our country” and “this is truly a national loss.”

While seated in the Oval Office of the White house, January 28, 1986 President Ronald Reagan delivers his speech The Challenger Disaster; hours after the space shuttle The Challenger explodes while in take off. Thousands witnessed this horrifying event live in person and on television. This mission was very unique allowing the first civilian to ever be allowed in space during a mission. She was aboard The Challenger as an observer in the NASA Teacher in Space Program. Ironically, nineteen years before this disaster, three astronauts were tragically lost in an accident on the ground. President Reagan remembers those astronauts that were lost not only the day of the disaster, but also those who were lost nineteen years before. He conducts

On September 11, 2001, America was attacked by terrorists. Before this traumatic event, one could not even imagine someone doing such a thing. When this event occurred everyone had been unaware and continuing their daily activities only to be stopped by this life changing news. The president at the time was George W. Bush. Doing day to day activities like the rest of us, he was reading to a second grade class that bright Tuesday morning. Upon hearing about the news, he was utterly shocked along with the rest of America. At approximately 8:40 p.m., which is around 12 hours after the event, he gave a speech to address this horrendous event. President Bush had successfully created a sense of unity and security throughout the country with his speech by using ethos, pathos, logos, tone and imagery.

President Reagan read his speech in public with so much care for the people and their families. Some examples that shows that he cares is that in the first paragraph he says “We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country”. This part of speech says a lot because he is referring to that the deaths of the astronauts has not been hard on the families but also on the country. President Reagan wants the audience and the crowd watching to feel the pain and also the astronauts were brave enough to go up in mission without caring about the consequences.