Margaret Thatcher's Eulogy Of President Ronald Reagan

During a time of terrifying darkness, a time of rising hostility, there stood two giants, menacingly staring down the other. One giant in the eastern hemisphere, named the USSR, and the other giant in the western hemisphere, the United States of America. As the two stared each other down, reaching closer and closer to war, a man stood up; determined to make the world a better place. This man spoke out against the USSR and the vices within the United States. This man was Ronald Reagan, the leader of the United States. With the fervor and duty of a leader, he climbed on top of the American giant, armed with diligence and the will of his people. On top, he began his speech against the Soviet Union, driving passion

Margret Thatcher was the prime minister of Great Britain as well as being close friends with Ronald Reagan, a former United States President. Margret Thatcher worked closely with Ronald Reagan, he was her dear friend during and after his presidency. In the eulogy given on June 11, 2004, to honor Ronald Reagan by Margret Thatcher, uses anecdotes to describe his contributions and rhetorical shift from a broader political standpoint into a more personal view in order to honor America's former president Ronald Reagan. Throughout this eulogy, Margret Thatcher expresses her anecdotes that explain and display all that Ronald Reagan has done. Ronald Reagan helped gain victory in the Cold War, with some violence “but also by inviting enemies out of their fortress and turning them

The speech was a commentary and reflection of the Soviet Union and their attempt at communism on the eastern side of Berlin. The people of East Berlin were starving and poor under communism and Regan not only used this to his advantage to spread the word about the danger of the spread of communism but also the eradication of the Berlin wall which trapped many civilians behind closed doors. Reagan used his title, along with a comparison of the two sides of Berlin, to evoke the response he wanted from the public. He additionally uses parallels between communism and capitalism to describe the benefits of capitalism, repetition, and logic to provide his listeners with a compelling argument. Firstly, his credibility is used heavily in his speech, not only in the writing of the speech but in the performance as well.

“A great president, a great American, and a great man...” While these characteristics could undoubtedly be used to describe many American Presidents, the words from Margaret Thatcher’s eulogy for Ronald Reagan describe a man who helped pull the United States together during the tense Cold War period and eventually defeated the communist Soviet Union. By using rhetorical strategies such as flattery, nostalgia, and patriotism, Margaret Thatcher successfully moves the audience of this message and convinces them that Ronald Reagan was the perfect American and someone they should strive to be like. At the same time, she uses clever diction to reinforce the idea that Great Britain is a great ally of the US. This is successful because of her high praise of the American President’s ideals while saying that she, and all of Britain agreed with him.

In the first couple of lines of her eulogy, Thatcher uses parallelism to get a message across about Reagan. Her first words clearly state, “We have lost a great president, a great American, and a great man,” (Line # 1-2). Parallelism means to use alike words in the same phrases or clauses. In this instance Thatcher repeats the word “great” three time in a phrase so that the reader could clearly understand that Thatcher believed Reagan was a great person in general. Using this strategy over exaggerates the view Thatcher had on Reagan so that her readers could eventually themselves believe he was a great man. In the next couple of lines, Thatcher again uses parallelism to describe to the reader Reagan’s goals, “He sought to mend America’s wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism,” (Line #6-8). Thatcher uses the words, “mend,” “restore,” and, “free,” which are all actions that mean healing. By using these three words, Thatcher uses Parallelism to express that Reagan was only trying to heal, to help, to save his country and those he could help. This made Thatcher’s readers see Reagan as a type of savior to the United States. Parallelism was used by Thatcher to emphasize her thoughts on Reagan and to draw in her readers so they think the same thing.

The great Margaret Thatcher, as seen from Ronald Reagan’s eyes, gave a compelling rhetoric eulogy, filled with metaphors, imagery, repetition, and a pathos appeal. This captivating eulogy was about a historical man. Through this eulogy American people could see the man's expenditures, understand what he accomplished, and feel his goals repeatedly.

With the word “Ronnie”, Ms.Thatcher shows the readers a personal side of the eulogy. She allowed the reader to see the close relationship with the former president by using his nickname. That nickname helps significs how accurate everything she said or is about to say is legitimate. Her choice of words about the cold war plays with the audience’s emotion. The cold war can be thought of as one of the difficult times in History. In the third paragraph, she quotes the former president “Whatever time i've got left now belongs to the big fella upstairs.” With the context of the quote, it shows how much compassion the former president had. When she states, “He...inviting enemies out of their fortress and turning them into friends.” she uses figurative language. That statement is a recognition of Mr.Reagan’s talents as president and the respect she had for

Thatcher begins her testimony of Reagan's character with repetition of the word "great." She uses this to describe all the ways in which he truly excelled and to list the aspects of Reagan's life that she was going to be praising throughout her eulogy. In her first body paragraph, Thatcher uses words like "cheerful" and "invigorating" to capture the essence that he gave off to others. Her use of unified diction allows the reader to not only connect to Reagan as a person but also feel Thatcher's pain throughout the speech after she losing someone she thought so highly of and considered a friend. She enhances Reagan's character when she says "He sought to mend America's wounded spirit" (Line 5-6). Her personification of America by describing its spirit as "wounded" allows the reader to connect to America's less than admirable state with terms that are relatable. Thatcher continues to develop Reagan's character with her use of metonymy. In line 15, she refers to the heart of communism as "the very heart of the evil

After his heartbreaking death, Ronald Reagan leaves behind a legacy that goes unnoticed by Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher commemorates the life of Ronald Reagan as she speaks to the close people of the former president in order to highlight his honor and leadership and reaches out to her audience to bring respect and mourning at the loss of Reagan. Thatcher utilizes powerful diction to portray Reagan, such as “cheerful and invigorating presence”, and “freshness and optimism”. These descriptions of his leadership in office and character contribute to the legacy Thatcher latches to Reagan’s memory. She uses juxtaposition of powerful diction by describing how Reagan’s jokes after an assassination attempt, “were evidence that in the aftermath of terror and in the midst of hysteria one

Reagan's infamous aggressive, but to-the-point rhetoric was both a positive and a negative in bringing about the demise of the Soviet Union. Combined with the massive arms race that Reagan had ignited (with the United States doing most of the racing), the president's harsh words scared Russian leaders of an eminent attack. Constantly referring to the USSR as an "evil empire," was somewhat counterproductive. But Reagan's challenging rhetoric served mostly as a positive factor in ending the Cold War. He was not one to beat around the bush, and demanded results. Perhaps his most famous line was when he went to Berlin and commanded, " Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Reagan also new that only taking the hard-line approach would not succeed in bringing about peace and he was willing to tone down the brashness of his remarks in return for results. This is most evident in his summit meetings

For the audience he gives them examples of how government interference hurts Americans and also allusions to past times such as the revolution and how the founding fathers did not want a big government. He shares that he has “an uncomfortable feeling that this prosperity isn’t something on which we base our hopes the future.” Reagan’s ability to connect with his audience was rare and unlike many of his colleagues. Whether the topics he spoke on were always relevant to that of the listener, it did not always matter.

Thatcher uses the characterization of Ronald Reagan to make the reader feel more emotionally attached to him. Thatcher describes Reagan as ¨a great American¨ and more importantly ¨a great man¨ (Thatcher) Describing Reagan as someone who ruled over a country without corruption makes him look good. The reader is likely to sympathize more with his death if they know more about his good heart. Thatcher tells stories about REagan's

Ronald Reagan gave a speech in Orlando, Florida on March 8, 1983 called, “The Evil Empire.” This speech was intended for the ears of all Americans and is one of the best known presidential speeches ever given. In his speech, Reagan uses multiple rhetorical strategies such as; metaphors, allusions, rhetorical questions, tone, pathos, and uses references from the bible. He talks about all the main points of abortion, teenage sex, drugs, the Soviet Union, and the practice of praying and God in our public schools. His speech was very well written, moving, and extremely influential. This speech shows the president’s belief that the

Thatcher uses contrast to set Reagan aside from everyone else in the way he ran his country. Once again, using the example of “Others… He…” Thatcher tells of the fear, doubt, and uncertainty many Americans faced, while describing Reagan as the great inspirational leader who boosted morale, spread reassurance, and brought back hope into the suffering peoples’ lives. Contrasting this heroic president to devastated citizens helps to portray him as a ray of light during dark times.

Due to the rapidly changing America, in his farewell address, Ronald Reagan expresses the need for unification of America, and America’s culture. In Reagan’s address, he uses many rhetorical devices to advance his purpose of unifying America, for instance, Reagan utilizes tone, syntax, and pathos to portray his pride, hopefulness, and patriotism for America. He uses these devices to show Americans of the unification America needs.