Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Vice president Lyndon B. Johnson was transitioned into office to finish out Kennedy’s term. At this point in time, Republican and Democratic parties began campaigning for the upcoming 1964 election. The Republican nominee opposing Lyndon B. Johnson was past 5 term senator Barry Goldwater. As part of Goldwater’s campaign, future president Ronald Reagan gave a speech on national television that raised over 8 million dollars. This would come to be Reagan’s iconic speech named, “A Time for Choosing.” This speech went on to mark the beginning of Reagan’s success in the political world and add to the future list of speeches given. Because of Reagan's ability to create moving and iconic speeches, he
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It is clear that a main goal of his speech is to portray a good sense of character. Reagan uses many direct descriptions as well as religious and moral references in his speech. He also uses a clear cut tone with the audience, showing his true morals and getting his beliefs across. A major theme in this speech portrays and reflects a concern for the general direction of the nation in terms of foreign affairs at the time. Reagan weighs freedom and safety by comparing the liberty of the United States with “the ant heap of totalitarianism”. He uses this quote to paint his Democratic opponents, or the audience he wants to change, in a way that suggests that they have some form of weakness. Reagan asks “if his opponents would be more likely to appease than defend against an encroaching threat”. While explaining these possibilities, Reagan uses an obvious tone of voice while criticizing Democrats. He uses this to attach all of the negative aspects he explains in the speech to his opponent. This also stands to point out, he would never resort to such weakness. Therefore, Reagan is promoting himself as superior character and one of trust and respectable position. Another factor to reflect on is that Reagan is trying to build a well perceived character on behalf of another person. Since he is speaking for Barry Goldwater, his speech is intended to be representative of two people, even though the speech seems …show more content…
He applies several types of rhetoric and successfully appeals to the audience. Reagan is able to capture his audience and hone them in on the greater picture and state of the nation with simple logical arguments. Reagan then promotes Barry Goldwater as a solution to America’s dilemmas in a common sense manner, he makes it seem as if he is the obvious choice. Although Lyndon B. Johnson won the election, Ronald Reagan's a time for choosing did extremely well for the Goldwater campaign and is an excellent example of argumentative rhetoric applied to fit a spanning
It is clear that a main goal of his speech is to portray a good sense of character. Reagan uses many direct descriptions as well as religious and moral references in his speech. He also uses a clear cut tone with the audience, showing his true morals and getting his beliefs across. A major theme in this speech portrays and reflects a concern for the general direction of the nation in terms of foreign affairs at the time. Reagan weighs freedom and safety by comparing the liberty of the United States with “the ant heap of totalitarianism”. He uses this quote to paint his Democratic opponents, or the audience he wants to change, in a way that suggests that they have some form of weakness. Reagan asks “if his opponents would be more likely to appease than defend against an encroaching threat”. While explaining these possibilities, Reagan uses an obvious tone of voice while criticizing Democrats. He uses this to attach all of the negative aspects he explains in the speech to his opponent. This also stands to point out, he would never resort to such weakness. Therefore, Reagan is promoting himself as superior character and one of trust and respectable position. Another factor to reflect on is that Reagan is trying to build a well perceived character on behalf of another person. Since he is speaking for Barry Goldwater, his speech is intended to be representative of two people, even though the speech seems …show more content…
He applies several types of rhetoric and successfully appeals to the audience. Reagan is able to capture his audience and hone them in on the greater picture and state of the nation with simple logical arguments. Reagan then promotes Barry Goldwater as a solution to America’s dilemmas in a common sense manner, he makes it seem as if he is the obvious choice. Although Lyndon B. Johnson won the election, Ronald Reagan's a time for choosing did extremely well for the Goldwater campaign and is an excellent example of argumentative rhetoric applied to fit a spanning