Analysis Of Margaret Thatcher's Eulogy To Ronald Reagan

Then former prime minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher, recited a eulogy in 2004 in remembrance of former President of the United States Ronald Reagan on how both world leaders were so close. Thatcher’s purpose to speak about President Ronald Reagan was to show how great of a leader Reagan was during the political upheaval during the Cold War. She adopts a heartwarming tone in order to show the citizens of the United States the level of leadership and heroism he incorporated when trying to prevent two countries from the destroying the Earth and humanity itself.

The rhetorical elements, logos and pathos, included in Ronald Reagan’s speech, “ Tear Down This Wall” assist Reagan and his words to convince Gorbachev, along with the people of Berlin, that the wall between eastern and western Berlin must be dismantled. Logos is an appeal to logic, or a way of persuading an audience by reason. Reagan provides details of how other countries have reached a state of freedom, at the same time have maintained a strong financial background. In “Tear Down This Wall” logos is used to show that countries who are not separated by a wall are thriving economically. For example, Reagan explained, “in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history.”

In an eulogy to former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Great Britain, addresses a speech in honor of Reagan. Throughout the eulogy, Thatcher informs Americans all of the amazing work Reagan did during his presidency and how he is a great person. Using examples of the work Reagan did, Thatcher states acknowledges those ideas in order to keep his legacy alive. Thatcher opens and closes her eulogy by directly addresses it to the American citizens in a warm and proud tone.

The first rhetorical skill that Reagan uses is ethos. In the very first sentence he implies his status and authority by stating, “I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans.” By showing us his power as President of the United States (the

On the 27th of October in 1964, Ronald Reagan gave a speech called “A Time for Choosing” on behalf of Barry Goldwater. His speech was so popular that it is also known as “The Speech”. Afterwards, Ronald Reagan ,also known as The Great Communicator, was thought of by many people as a great political speaker. This speech was given to endorse the Goldwater campaign, even though Goldwater lost the election. The Speech launched Reagan’s political career into action and he later went on to be the Californian governor and President of the United States. Reagan used passion, logic, and his great reputation to build up his and Goldwater’s careers.

Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Great Britain, portrays her sorrow in the death of Ronald Reagan, and emphasizes the former president’s accomplishments. Thatcher utilizes cause and effect to show how Reagan prospered under immense pressure of the public. Thatcher projects her admiration for Reagan by using glittering diction. Lastly, she adds shift change to show the changing tone in her eulogy.

Roland Reagan came into the office during his first term hoping to use his administration to fight communism and end the Cold War. He finds out it was not easy as he thought. So, in his second term he turned to a different strategy getting to know someone like Gorbachev. The conservatives thought he was making a mistake. Roland Reagan’s success finally proved to the conservatives that his friendship with Gorbachev was not a dupe. Gorbachev was not deceitful, but a reformer who wanted to reform, change for Russia and end the Cold War. I agree that no president had subdued Russia, but the economic suppressed them when it collapsed. I enjoyed reading your post. We both answered the same question, knowing a different viewpoint was insightful.

The first Rhetorical Device Ronald Reagan used in his Inaugural speech was the use of Pathos. Throughout his speech, Ronald Reagan uses the ‘ingredients of persuasion’ to focus on the emotions of everyone listening, “Now I have used the words ‘they’ and ‘their’ in speaking of these heroes. I could say ‘you’ and ‘your’ because I’m addressing the heroes of whom I speak -- you, the citizens of this blessed land”.

Being personal is a good way to unify people. In this speech President Regan uses a rhetorical canon; which is style, effectively. President Reagan personalizes his speech by talking directly to the families of the fallen heroes. Personalizing the speech was a good choice because it is a more effective way of talking about the situation rather than just talking about the incident an informing what happened. Also his choice of using the words “us” and “we” triggers unity among the nation. In my opinion this helps comfort the families by informing them that we all stand with them One example of this is when Reagan says “But we feel the loss” in the fourth paragraph. Also Reagan strays away from the negative aspect of the disaster. The focus of staying positive provides a sense of purpose. Regan explains how the “seven” was full of courage and that they died doing what they

Reagan even goes to compare the Challenger Seven to the explorer Sir Francis Drake. Reagan states that on the day three hundred ninety years ago, Sir Francis Drake died aboard a ship doing what he was best at. Reagan also even goes to say how a historian once said, “He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it” and that the Challenger Seven were just like Sir Francis Drake and how their dedication to what they were best at was complete now. All of this is an attempt by Reagan to once again rationalize the deaths of the seven so that they are not mourned as much as they are honored for their sacrifice. He also is saying all of this so that it is seen that the Challenger Seven died doing that they were best at, not with something they were not willing to do even with the risk of death present. All of these statements by Reagan were working coherently to bring the nation together, to mourn the loss, but also to honor the seven who were brave enough to do what no other human was willing to

On January 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan gave his “First Inaugural Address” with the United States listening; some people were able to experience firsthand Ronald Reagan’s passion and views for our country, in Front of the Capitol Building, while others tuned in to listen on the momentous occasion. Ronald Reagan sets the stage for his presidency using logos through logical sentences that are meant to bring the audience a better perspective on his point of view. Diction was a key factor in showing Ronald Reagan’s strong sense of nationalism; he chose powerful, hopeful words and phrases that were intended to unify the people. He shows syntax through anaphora, repetition, and parallelism. By using these rhetorical devices, he states key phrases more than once to create an urgency and therefore grab listener’s attention.

Reagan begins his speech with a religious joke, though seemingly just an ice breaker, this is how Reagan beings his pathos and ethos appeal. The joke is based on the idea that there are few politicians that go to heaven, though not literally implied, Reagan makes the connection of himself with the politician that went to heaven. This subtle joke appeals to pathos and ethos, people think that he’s moral and belongs in heaven and also gives him the credibility of someone who has done good and belongs in heaven. This is also an endorsement of Christianity specifically, the largest and most prominent

The speech conducted by former President Ronald Reagan titled “Evil Empire” was to address the National Association of Evangelicals. The speeches main topic is to focus on the evil that is among us. Former President Reagan conducted this speech at the time Congress was debating on a resolution for nuclear freeze.

In Reagan’s eulogy Thatcher uses pathos to unite herself with the audience, through the mutual feelings of grief and sorrow over losing a friend. In the opening lines of the eulogy Thatcher creates pathos by using diction. In lines one and two Thatcher said that a “Great President… Great American… Great man….” has died. Her choice of using the word great instead of good or any other adjective, effects the audience by showing what kind of man Reagan was. Since death is a universally known topic, it is safe to say that everybody has experienced the pain of losing a great person to death. Because Thatcher shares her experience of losing Reagan, who she considers a great friend, the audience can now relate to her with their own personal experience

Ronald Reagan and Mario Cuomo were both important public political figures for America in the 1980’s. Ronald Reagan delivered a speech at the 1980 Republican National Convention. The purpose of Reagan's speech was to accept his position for the presidency. Mario Cuomo who was the New York governor spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 1984. He spoke to the people at the convention and many say that after hearing his speech they wish had been nominated to run for president. Even though Ronald Reagan and Mario Cuomo disagreed and contradicted most each others opinions they did agree upon the fact that “America is a shining city on a hill”. Mario Cuomo goes into more depth about this statement in his speech. While both of these men saw that there were things that needed to be fixed within America Ronald Reagan was more