It’s January 28th, 1986, a cold day at Cape Canaveral as we are ready to launch the 25th space shuttle mission. Space Shuttle Challenger sits there on the launch pad, like a huge giant ready to take on its journey to space. The crowd goes silent and the countdown begins: 3, 2, 1 . . . lift off! Challenger begins its ascent to the most unforgiving place: outer space. Carrying aboard the first teacher ever to go into space, the crew soars higher than the heavens. All of a sudden, tragedy unveils as Challenger explodes. America goes silent. Challenger was one of the first space shuttle missions to encounter a total loss. Not only is it hard for America to cope with the horror they encountered, but more so how their commander in chief will comfort
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He was known not only as the “Great Communicator,” but also as the president of the United States; therefore, he was given the utmost respect from the viewers the night he gave his eulogy about Space Shuttle Challenger. There are multiple times in his eulogy that he is able to demonstrate his credibility even further. One example is when he says, “Ladies and Gentlemen, 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.” Even though Reagan had an obligation to report on the state of the union, he moved that in order to talk about the tragedy of Space Shuttle Challenger. For the commander in chief to push back something fairly important in order to mourn the loss of others shows great creditability. He also specifically singles out a part of the audience: the school children watching the event unfold; he states, “I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were …show more content…
He is able to use anguish, sympathy, as well as hope to connect with the audience on an emotional level. For instance, when Reagan states, “Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight. We've never had a tragedy like this.” Reagan wants the viewers to understand the extent of tragedy that just occurred and allows us to do that by comparing it with a past incident where we also lost astronauts. With this statement, he allows his viewers to feel anguished. By making this comparison, he is allowing the audience to mourn the deaths, and that, in turn, is allowing them to accept the death of our seven astronauts. Therefore, he is allowing his viewers to properly mourn. Another example of when Reagan is able to connect to his audience emotionally is when he says, “For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much.” Reagan wants the viewers to not only think about the astronauts that were lost, but also sympathize with their families. Also, he wants the families of the lost ones to know that we may not know them personally, but the viewers sympathize and mourn with the families. A final example of how Reagan interacts emotionally with his viewers
He was known not only as the “Great Communicator,” but also as the president of the United States; therefore, he was given the utmost respect from the viewers the night he gave his eulogy about Space Shuttle Challenger. There are multiple times in his eulogy that he is able to demonstrate his credibility even further. One example is when he says, “Ladies and Gentlemen, 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.” Even though Reagan had an obligation to report on the state of the union, he moved that in order to talk about the tragedy of Space Shuttle Challenger. For the commander in chief to push back something fairly important in order to mourn the loss of others shows great creditability. He also specifically singles out a part of the audience: the school children watching the event unfold; he states, “I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were …show more content…
He is able to use anguish, sympathy, as well as hope to connect with the audience on an emotional level. For instance, when Reagan states, “Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight. We've never had a tragedy like this.” Reagan wants the viewers to understand the extent of tragedy that just occurred and allows us to do that by comparing it with a past incident where we also lost astronauts. With this statement, he allows his viewers to feel anguished. By making this comparison, he is allowing the audience to mourn the deaths, and that, in turn, is allowing them to accept the death of our seven astronauts. Therefore, he is allowing his viewers to properly mourn. Another example of when Reagan is able to connect to his audience emotionally is when he says, “For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much.” Reagan wants the viewers to not only think about the astronauts that were lost, but also sympathize with their families. Also, he wants the families of the lost ones to know that we may not know them personally, but the viewers sympathize and mourn with the families. A final example of how Reagan interacts emotionally with his viewers