Pathos (and a Bit of Ethos)If pathos were a salsa, Reagan would be slopping a giant ladle full of garlicky pico de gallo on America's burrito of sympathy. And he will be serving seconds. It's the k...

Reagan delivered the "Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Address" under highly controlled circumstances. Seated behind his desk in the Oval Office, likely on his favorite sitting-pillow, he was face...

Firm, With Just the Right Amount of Give (Like a Block of Overpriced Organic Tofu)Talking about painful events can be very difficult. Reagan had to convey a sense of steadfastness, confidence, and...

Direct, Succinct, UncomplicatedWhen speechwriter Peggy Noonan wrote Reagan's Challenger address, she said she knew she had "to do a speech that is aimed at those who are 8 years old, and those who...

The speech doesn't really have a title, but is has a stuffy, official name: "Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger Address to the Nation, January 28, 1986." Cut and dried...and wrong. Reagan's...

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. Today is a day for mourning and rem...

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their...

 (2) Sea Level Yes, dropping in some poetry at the end there was a bold move, but it's not like Reagan was reciting "The Jabberwocky." (Also, that would have been pretty weird.)The speech is p...

In-Text ReferencesLiterary and Philosophical ReferencesJohn Gillespie Magee Jr.'s poem, "High Flight" (45)Historical and Political ReferencesFirst Lady of the United States of America, Nancy Reagan...

Contrary to popular belief, the space shuttle Challenger didn't really explode—though no one in Washington knew that at the time. It was actually engulfed in a fireball when a sudden release of h...