Margaret Thatcher's Leadership In The Cold War

At a time of war, every country needs a good leader. A leader that will lead them out of the hard times and into times of bright light. Even though the Cold War was one of tension and not high-scale fighting, it still took a strong leader to keep domestic tensions under control. Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister, presents President Ronald Reagan as a strong and, more importantly, wise leader in her eulogy to the American people. In order to convey this message, she uses multiple rhetorical strategies. These include: repetition, juxtaposition, and an appeal to ethics.
Margaret Thatcher utilizes repetition in order to convey that Ronald Reagan was always working ambitiously for the American people. She uses them to describe what he did …show more content…
In showing the good and bad side of the situation, Thatcher always shows that Reagan was on the good side. Readers can see this rhetorical strategy when she begins talking about the way he could’ve handled situations and the mistakes of leaders of other countries, while juxtapositioning the good deeds of Reagan. Readers can find this in the fourth, fifth, and sixth paragraph. In all paragraphs Margaret Thatcher juxtapositions what others thought to what Ronald Reagan believed. In the fourth paragraph, Thatcher juxtapositioned the idea of “the decline of the West” and Reagan’s actions in inspiring America. This brought emphasis to Ronald Reagan’s perseverance. In the fifth, “limits to growth” was juxtapositioned to Reagan’s ability to transform the economy to “an engine of opportunity” in order to convey that Ronald Reagan was an ambitious leader compared to others. In the sixth paragraph, Thatcher juxtapositions that others only wished for “cohabitation” while Ronald Reagan was a catalyst of cooperation by turning enemies into friends. This enforced that he tried to peacefully mend relationships during the Cold War and went the extra mile to support others in our world. Margaret Thatcher uses juxtaposition to convey that Ronald Reagan was an American patriot that should be valued by the American …show more content…
This appeal to ethics shows the American people that they can trust her. Apart from presenting that she has plentiful knowledge of what Ronald Reagan has done during office, she also shows that she has ethical character as well. Thatcher does this by showing she was a good friend of his and an honorable person herself. The audience knows they are good friends because she calls him “Ronnie” at one point and she tells them that they talked regularly. She references to how she is a leader of a country as well, since she is a Prime Minister. This shows that she had gone through the same situation that President Reagan did during the Cold War. Thatcher knows the difficulties of this job and is showing that President Reagan did his job well. If the American people were hearing a eulogy from just a random person off the street, it wouldn’t be that impactful. Knowing that somebody personally knows what they’re talking about is everything. It is as if believing somebody who’s car is constantly breaking down that they are the best mechanic in the world. Being somebody’s friend takes work and getting to know each other, of which I believe Thatcher did. She exemplifies the knowledge of Ronald Reagan which a good friend would have. This makes Margaret Thatcher’s friendship and political companionship with Ronald Reagan an additional factor as to how she was able to