President Reagan’s use of rhetoric in his speeches throughout his political career was essential in establishing a cohesive and successful relationship with the American people. His charismatic nature and unfaltering authenticity in every single speech defined him as a true leader – one who might finally be able to restore faith in the American presidency in a country perpetually traumatized by the Watergate Scandal. Reagan brought indisputable political beliefs established on a solid sense of conservatism as well as a solid moral code built on firm religious values. These two features that Reagan exemplified laid the groundwork for an administration that was characterized by consistent and unyielding principles. The perfect example of this aspect of his administration is prevalent in his rhetoric. His small anecdotes, perfect word choice, and references to past great leaders all underscored his incredible ability to communicate the successes and lessen the defeats that faced his administration. Through his use of consistent and unique rhetoric from his first major speech in 1964 continued to his farewell speech in 1989, Ronald Reagan established motifs of freedom, limited government, moral renewal, and hope for the future that ultimately rescue American pride in the executive branch and in the country as a whole.
In Ronald Reagan’s second inaugural address, which spans just over three pages, he used the word freedom 17 times. He took one of the most complex and hard to achieve concepts in the world and used America’s mastery of it to his advantage. The majority of American citizens loved the freedoms given to us by this bill of rights making it easy for Reagan to embrace. Furthermore, living in a democratic society with the opportunity and freedom to achieve whatever someone desires in life is truly the American dream. Reagan harnessed this in every single one of his speeches; as a result, the American public not only listened to him, but also started to love and connect with what he said – something unheard of in the post-Watergate world. Reagan used many anecdotes throughout his speeches that allowed him to connect with his audiences as he shared stories, which they could appreciate. In his speech endorsing presidential candidate Barry Goldwater on October 27, 1964, Reagan addressed the need to free the economy of the farming industry. He tackled a problem that appealed to a majority of the country and one that was often forgotten. At the start of the 1980’s, there were approximately 2.5 million farms across the US, which accounted for almost 35.6 billion dollars/year of exports. He vowed that some sort of intervention should and must be taken to remove the government from the farm economy; this did nothing but excite every man and women working every one of those 2.5 million farms at the time. His willingness to make an assertion as big as removing the government from a very prosperous industry especially in a decade dominated by democratic rule foreshadowed his efforts later to enforce a policy of limited government. In his second term in office, 23 years after giving his “A Time for Choosing” speech, Reagan had the audacity to go into West Berlin, a city that had been filled with civil unrest for generations, and said, “We [the American Presidents] come to Berlin because its our duty to speak in this place of freedom.” Throughout his term and even his entire life, Reagan did more than just try to reestablish the cause for freedom in the United states; he took on an active role to spread freedom to oppressed countries whose people couldn’t even dream of it. This thirst to establish the God-given right of liberty across the globe resonated with the American people who took pride knowing their country was once again working to spread democracy to those in need. Another anecdote that he used to establish the motif of freedom in his speeches was in his Farewell address to the country. He told a brief story detailing a group Indochinese refugees being rescued by United States soldiers. Upon being brought aboard the ship, one of the refuges said, “Hello, American sailor. Hello, freedom man.” After searching their entire lives for something as seemingly simple and well defined as freedom, it had to have been pretty powerful to hear that the United States could offer that to these refuges. This reignited a flame that had been flickering all throughout Reagan’s presidency in which America saw that people all around the world associated our country with freedom; these refugees were floating around praying and hoping someone would liberate them, and we, the United States of America made that happen. Reagan’s word choice in his speeches was impeccable. He always used the perfect word to capture the audience’s attention in suspense or in laughter. For example, in his “A Time for Choosing” speech, he discussed the depths that the liberal government has plunged the American public into and that “If we lose freedom here, there’s no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.” Reagan sounded completely desperate in his appeal to the American population. He painted the picture of the American system that was so courageously fought to establish in the revolutionary war and that might be the last refuge of freedom. In all reality, it is hard to recognize a man who is at the podium convincing the whole audience that their freedom may soon run out; this truly captured the attention of the audience. In his first Inaugural Address, he continued to use word choice to inspire the American public of the freedom that our country embellished after its origin. He wanted to establish a renewal in which “We [the United States] will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom.” Reagan did not just want to be an example of a good democratic system or appeal to other countries by saying that they should replicate our government because it works well. He wanted to be a bright flashing light in the face of oppression. He wanted to be THE exemplar of freedom so that those who didn’t have that luxury may retain some hope. Later in that same speech, he said, “As for the enemies of freedom, they will be reminded that peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it; we will not surrender for it, nor or ever.” Reagan was almost a Presidential cheerleader at this point, rallying the crowd with pride in America. He firmly established that losing is not an option and we, the United States of America, would not sit back and watch it happen. His ability to rally the crowd by carefully picking certain words was evident all throughout his presidency and resulted in the American people believing that Reagan might have the potential to restore faith in not only the Presidency but also in the future of America. The last way he inspired America to believe in freedom was by using the great history that our country has accumulated. Also in his first Inaugural Address, he referenced all of the monuments of all of the great leaders in American history, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln that encircled him as he gave this speech. He then spoke about the inconceivable number of lives that were lost “that add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom” and that are now remembered in the Arlington National Cemetery. Our education system idolizes the presidencies of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and all of our other great presidents; so if being in the presence of their monuments didn’t inspire pride in the American way of life and in American freedom, nothing would. Reagan took advantage of the historical meaning of the city of Washington D.C. and illuminated how important freedom was to our Founding Fathers and how important it should be to the American population.
Ronald Reagan spent much of his life before politics as an avid liberal. However, in seeing what policies the democratic government enacted under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, he decided that these issues crossed party lines. One of the main goals that he had in his campaign was to limit the role of government in America. For example, his main economic policy was deemed Supply-Side economics in which government would play little to no role in a free market system that would influence everyone, especially the upper class, to spend more money. Similarly, he wanted to remove the government from unnecessary welfare programs and instead fund job-creating policies to give everyday Americans the opportunity to earn a living on their own. However, the most pronounced way that he displayed the need for limited government was by expressing the need for the involvement of the American public. This motif of limited government and communal participation was preached in all of his speeches, and the entire population rallied behind the idea of a government truly for the people. Once again, Reagan used an anecdote to convey an issue to his audience in his second Inaugural address. He illustrated to his audience what it was like to live during the era of the Revolutionary War, characterized by civil unrest, unfair legislation, and parliamentary control. The system was an unjust government. However, after risking everything for the sake of freedom and a new government for the people, the United States freed itself from British oppression. Now, “for the first time in history, government,” the American people said, “was not our master, it is our servant.” Reagan appealed to the depths at which the colonies laid in before the Revolutionary war and contrasted them against the free system of limited government he had at that time. By underscoring the terrible aspects of the large government system that Britain used against the colonies, he elevated the perception of limited government. As a result, Reagan instilled a belief in the audience that small government involvement is better for the American system purely by telling a story. Reagan’s use of word choice to convey the importance of a small government was also incredibly vital to his successes. In his first Inaugural Address as President of the United States, he said, “We are a nation that has a government – not the other way around. The federal government did not create the States; the states created the federal government.” This use of parallelism applied a broad theme that nations are not created to fit a certain style of government. In the United States specifically, the founding fathers created a democratic government for the people to thrive in and be a part of it. His choice to use simple phrases in parallel structure illuminates Reagan’s concrete view of this issue – the government should be limited. Reagan continued this policy of limited government throughout his presidency up to his Farwell Address when he said, “As government expands, liberty contracts.” He used a very simple direct relationship that stated as long as the citizens of the United States want to have freedom, they can’t have a large government. He put this in easy-to-understand terms that are very difficult to argue against. The motif of freedom, as mentioned earlier, was at the heart of everything that Reagan strived for in office. With a government without limitations, he believed that American freedom would falter. Lastly, Reagan appealed to the wisdom of idolized figures such as the founding fathers to establish an understanding that a large central government would be detrimental to the American system. In his “A Time For Choosing” speech, he briefly outlined the current liberal state defined by “Great Society” programs that demand massive governmental involvement. He referred to the Senator of Pennsylvania at the time, Joseph Clark, who said, liberalism is “meeting the material needs of the masses through the full power of centralized government.” Reagan responded to this statement by saying, “ ‘the full power of the centralized government’ – this was the very thing the Founding Fathers sought to minimize.” Reagan set up a completely biased ultimatum for the American people that said they can either side with this measly Senator who said we can serve the best interests of “the masses” – all of the independent and free individuals of this country – or you can choose to be with the people who fought so hard to create this amazing country. These same people were the ones who had the well being of future citizens in mind instead of being blinded by the political party system. Reagan enables the audience to make an easy choice – a limited central government based on democracy is what the United States needs. Ronald Reagan, influence by his mother’s stout devotion to Presbyterian values started to dominate their house, had a commitment to strong morals. Through his entire presidency, and even sometime before, he spoke of establishing a moral renewal in the United States and abroad. In order to do that, he needed to fight the pressures of Communism and reaffirm the strong Christian beliefs that many Evangelicals and Reagan himself spread. His references to God, prayer, and moral values in his speeches were a constant reminder to the American public of the need for moral renewal across the world. Reagan told multiple anecdotes about people he has met and the morals that they exemplified in many of his speeches. For example, his “Evil Empire” speech expands upon the need to include parents in the conversation with health clinics as they help young girls with issues such as pregnancies and STD’s. The public and some critics were not pleased with Reagan’s opinion as it invaded the privacy of young women. However, Reagan was more concerned with the morals of hiding this information from parents. For example, he said, “no one seems to mention morality as playing a part in the subject of sex.” In living in the post counter culture world, Reagan tried to combat or at least curve the developing sexual culture toward a more moral stance. He also said, “the rights of parents and the rights of family take precedence over those of Washington-based bureaucrats and social engineers.” This firm stance that he took on the privacy of young women showed his commitment to family and to the many parents that he talked to who were all horrified to find out about what their daughters had been hiding from them. As shown by his anecdotes about the parents, he demonstrated a strong desire to reestablish and uphold morality in health care clinics. Later in his “Evil Empire” speech, Reagan told a story of a young father who was speaking to a large crowd in California. This man claimed to love his little girls more than anything, to which Reagan responded but that there was no way the man could say that. However, Reagan truly underestimated the man’s resolve as he continued on to say, “I would rather see my little girls die now, still believing in God, than have them grow up under Communism and one day die no longer believing in God.” The thousands of people gathered at that speech that day were electrified in realizing the overwhelming truth in his statement. Upon hearing this speech, Reagan recognized these morals were truly what was important in life. The use of this anecdote did precisely the same thing to the audience in Orlando, Florida when Reagan repeated the man’s story as when it was told originally – inspired people to seek true moral renewal and continue to seek faith in God. The use of perfect word choice in Reagan’s speeches persuaded his audiences to believe in his desire for moral renewal. For example, he personified communists as “warmongers” who live in the “soup kitchen of the welfare state” in his “A Time for Choosing” speech.2 Instead of just describing them as evil dictators which an aggressive agenda, he used the word “warmonger” or a political leader who encourages or advocates aggression and warfare toward other nations or groups. He used this phrasing to completely establish the evil intentions of communist nations. However, once he had the audience’s attention from using this language, he responded with the simple answer to solve the complex issue of Communism: “You and I have to have the courage to tell our elected officials that we want our national policy based on what we know in our hearts is morally right.”2 Reagan understood and firmly believed that “the real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at room, it is a test of moral will and faith.” The only way to win this battle with the Soviets was to spread America’s moral code to countries threatened by the immoral beliefs of Communism. Reagan continued to use word choice and parallel structure later in his presidency during an address in West Berlin. He described how the totalitarian world, specifically East Berlin, found symbols like love and worship, moral qualities necessary for survival and success in the world, to be an outrage. However, he personified the Berlin Wall as a symbol for the oppression in East Berlin, but predicted the falling of the wall, “For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth; the wall cannot withstand freedom.” His use of parallel structure here emphasized all of the powerful effects that the moral influence of God can have on a cultural as determined to subdue ethical principles as Communism. Reagan again caught the attention of the audience by arranging his words in the perfect order. In doing this, it’s hard to no agree with the convincing argument that Reagan presents in advertising morality. His last attempt to advocate for a strong moral renewal was by referencing powerful leaders and sources. In his “Evil Empire” speech, he did this multiple times. Once again, Reagan turned to the wisdom of George Washington to establish a precedent for what the people should have believed about morality. Reagan quoted him saying, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.” Just like he did with the motifs of freedom and limited government, Reagan used the idolization of George Washington to convey the importance of morality. According to our nation’s first President, without morality in our system, America will never be able to succeed politically. Most Americans would have trouble disagreeing with such a figurehead as George Washington and as a result Reagan was very successful in conveying the importance of these moral values in government. Reagan concluded his argument in this same speech by simply but effectively quoting the Bible. God’s commandments to the people include, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Reagan preached to the crowd that even though American citizens were traumatized by hate groups, it was important to think about what the Bible explains about how to react in these situations. Out of the millions of Christians in the United States at the time of this speech, if the lessons of the Bible weren’t enough to convey the need for a moral battle to defeat Communism, nothing would. Reagan’s continual appeal to past leaders and powerful sources again promoted the need for a moral crusade to defeat Communism and restore proper ethics in the United States.
The final motif that Reagan continually repeated throughout his speeches is instilling hope for the future of the American system. Because of scandals like Watergate and lame duck presidents like Ford and Nixon, America had lost hope in the future of government, specifically the executive branch. Reagan rallied the public behind him by delving into the depths of past suffering Americans and how amazing the progress has been to return to prosperity. In detailing these characteristics as well as defining his strategy for the future, Reagan established a sense of security and confidence in the American public that was previously destroyed by the ineffective presidencies of the 1970’s.
President Reagan told anecdotes of terrible situations that the American population has overcome in order to promote patriotism. In his address commemorating the anniversary of D-day, he began the speech almost as a novelist, illustrating the horrors and successes of that infamous day in history. He tells of the men “on the northern shore of France; the air is soft, but 40 years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men.” He used his words purposefully as if he narrating a story to his grandson sitting on his lap begging for more excitement. His sentences were short and quick, which resulted in a highly engaged and enthused audience – exactly what he desired. But once he had their attention, he shifted the mood to how these dreadful experiences of the past prepared Americans for the future. In this anecdote, his word choice and parallelism was again present stating, “But we try always to be prepared for peace; prepared to deter aggression; prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms; prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation.” He again used this parallel structure affirming to the audience the preparedness of the United States in avoiding and preventing another World War and how the absence of fear would turn into hope for the prosperity of Americans in the future. Similarly, Reagan addressed a previously distressed crowd in Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987. He immediately references the resilience of the people of Berlin who have “from devastation, form utter ruin, in freedom, rebuilt a city that once again ranks as one of the greatest on Earth.” Even though he wasn’t addressing the American people, Reagan showed how much he believed in the future of mankind by speaking to one of the most historically damaged cities in the world and verbalizing how far they have come with the assistance of freedom. He continued to exude his appreciation for Berlin and their future possibilities including holding united nations meetings as well as possibly hosting the Olympics in Berlin, both East and West. Most people of that era would have normally not even considered these options, but Reagan, because of his hope for the future of American government and international relations, just bluntly stated them.
Reagan makes up for his lack of referencing leaders, with a nearly excessive amount of hyperbolic word choice in his speeches about American hope for the future. Similarly to the anecdotes said in the speech at the Brandenburg Gate, he established hope for the future by detailing the hardships where the US has come from in his first Inaugural Address. He exaggerated the economic crisis by saying, “the sustained inflation” that we suffer from today “distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and fixed income elderly alike; it threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people.” By using words such as distorts, penalizes, crushes, and shatter he emphasized the terrible economic depths that America plunged into today. However, he followed that by encouraging the country to act as a united society and used short abrupt sentences to stimulate the audience such as, “We are going to begin to act, beginning today.” He made it very clear in only nine words that his administration, in unison with the entire American public, would start to act now, not tomorrow, not next week, now. His last example of word choice came as an extension of the aforementioned Brandenburg speech. By continuing to use short abrupt sentences, he called out President Gorbachev of the USSR by saying, “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” A very simple and to the point statement, Reagan ignited the population of Berlin under the common idea that other people around the globe also believed that the Wall should be dismantled in the hope for a new Berlin.
Ronald Reagan’s use of rhetoric was fundamental in his election and the success of his presidency. His ability to convey concise ideals to an audience and persuade them to follow his beliefs was nearly unprecedented by a President and it ultimately led to the restoration American pride. This miracle only a decade after the Watergate scandal was concretely evident in the gradual rise in Reagan’s approval ratings starting at as low as a 35% in the beginning of his term and progressing to a resounding 65%; when compared to the low approval ratings of 24% and 28% of Nixon and Carter respectively, there is an obvious increase. This trend continued into HW Bush’s presidency as he progressed all the way up to 89% toward the beginning of his term demonstrating the complete restoration of faith in the executive branch. Reagan’s conservative revival delivered to the United States could not have been done without his rhetoric and exemplary communication skills. He rejuvenated a perception that was lost in the 70’s – pride in the United States. With pride on the rise during his presidency, Reagan re-established a notion lost as well – hope for the future of the American people.

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[ 1 ]. Ronald Reagan, Second Inaugural Address, January 21, 1985, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1985/12185a.htm
[ 2 ]. Ronald Reagan, “A Time for Chosing,” October 27, 1964, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/timechoosing.html
[ 3 ]. “Historical Timeline – Farmers and the Land,” Agriculture in the Classroom, accessed April 14, 2015, https://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/farmers_land.htm
[ 4 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg gate in West Berlin,” June 12, 1987, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/061287d.htm
[ 5 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Farewell Address to the Nation,” January 11, 1989, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1989/011189i.htm
[ 6 ]. Ronald Reagan, “A Time for Chosing,” October 27, 1964, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/timechoosing.html
[ 7 ]. Ronald Reagan, “First Inaugural Address,” January 20, 1981, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1981/12081a.htm
[ 8 ]. Ronald Reagan, “First Inaugural Address,” January 20, 1981, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1981/12081a.htm
[ 9 ]. Ronald Reagan, “First Inaugural Address,” January 20, 1981, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1981/12081a.htm
[ 10 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Second Inaugural Address,” January 21, 1985.
[ 11 ]. Ronald Reagan, “First Inaugural Address,” January 20, 1981, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1981/12081a.htm
[ 12 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Farewell Address to the Nation,” January 11, 1989, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1989/011189i.htm
[ 13 ]. Ronald Reagan, “A Time for Chosing,” October 27, 1964, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/timechoosing.html
[ 14 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Evil Empire Speech,” March 8, 1983, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/30883b.htm
[ 15 ]. “Warmonger,” Oxford Dictionaries, Accessed April 19, 2015, http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/warmonger
[ 16 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Evil Empire Speech,” March 8, 1983, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/30883b.htm
[ 17 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg gate in West Berlin,” June 12, 1987, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/061287d.htm
[ 18 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Evil Empire Speech,” March 8, 1983, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/30883b.htm
[ 19 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day,” June 6, 1984, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/60684a.htm
[ 20 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin,” June 12, 1987
[ 21 ]. Ronald Reagan, “First Inaugural Address,” January 20, 1981, http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1981/12081a.htm
[ 22 ]. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin,” June 12, 1987
[ 23 ]. “Presidential Approval Ratings – Gallup Historical Statistics and Trends,” Gallup, accessed April 18, 2015, http://www.gallup.com/poll/116677/presidential-approval-ratings-gallup-historical-statistics-trends.aspx