Ronald Reagan Challenger Speech Summary

In spite of a tragedy on that brisk January day, President Ronald Reagan brought the nation together as one, in mourning the loss of seven lives aboard the space shuttle, Challenger. What made this moment so heartbreaking was due to the fact that not only were six astronauts lives lost, but also, the life of a teacher whom was about to make history by becoming the “first teacher in space” in addition to participating in an outreach program allowing her to teach lessons from her “out of this world” classroom. The entire nation, including schoolchildren, watched as the Challenger lifted off and moments later exploded. Reagan’s deliverance of the speech in place of the scheduled State of the Union Address made an indisputable fact that some matters …show more content…
In his address the President offered great respect for the seven lives lost and used his faith to bring light onto the situation while he addressed the families, NASA and schoolchildren directly in an empathetic yet undeviating way to allow for a gentle ease to fall over the country as they headed to bed in order to face the next day. President Ronald Reagan began his speech by building on the event and showing his respect for the lives lost. Within moments he stated, “We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.” Even though he was in charge of the greatest country in the world he allowed himself to be seen in a very vulnerable and emotional state as he delivered his speech from the oval office, sitting down, clearly as devastated by this accident as everyone else. He listed the seven lives lost by name and continues throughout his address to refer to them with the utmost respect. This respect allowed the people to see that he genuinely cared and felt the grief that had been bestowed upon the nation by this horrible event. He also used his faith and Christianity to his advantage as he comforts the nation by stating, “to touch the …show more content…
The overall structure of the speech lends to its power as he starts with his personal grief and broadens to the grief of America. The grief he shares with the public allows him to grab their attention and be able to let him finish what he has to say. The most important issue he addressed was the continuation of the space program, “We’ll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space.” It was a heavy question in every American’s mind whether this tragedy would put a stop to further travel into space especially for teachers and civilians. Reagan’s support of the space program’s continuation lifted a weight from and cleared the minds of the people in order to let them rest easy knowing that the program would continue and more space exploration would be pursued. President Ronald Reagan wrapped up his speech with remembrance, “The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them.” This statement let the people know how deeply sorry he felt for all involved and that the legacy and efforts of the Challenger crew would never be forgotten and that remembrance that is necessary for each person to hold dear to their heart. The framing of the speech imparts how important these lives were and how