During Reagan’s office as president of the United States in the 1980s, tensions between America and the Soviet Union formed a time period in history known as the Cold War. As time went by, Reagan was able to improve relations between the two countries. Reagan’s accomplishments during the Cold War are clearly showcased in his eulogy, written by British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Her eulogy, directed towards Americans and the rest of the world, accomplishes her purpose to show that Reagan was adamant in solving the United States problems and never gave up. By employing laudatory diction; appealing to the audience with pathos, ethos, and logos; and utilizing parallelism to emphasize Reagan’s accomplishments, Thatcher expresses her message. …show more content…
As Thatcher depicts Reagan’s achievements , she uses parallelism by the repetition of the word “[o]thers”(30) then going on to describe what Reagan did despite what most people thought. She contrasts others beliefs with juxtaposition by the repetition of “[h]e inspired”(31), “[h]e transformed”(32) and “[h]e won”(36). This parallelism with the use of juxtaposition contrasts the pessimistic beliefs of others with Reagan’s optimistic goals to improve relations with other countries, showing that he was adamant to find solutions. In addition, parallelism is used when Thatcher states how Reagan saw “many sides of the truth” (74); she goes on to list his ideas about the Soviet Union by repeating the word “Yes” (74), to acknowledge that Reagan saw evil and adding “but” (76) to explain how Reagan acknowledged the deeper struggles of the Soviet Union. Thatcher emphasises Reagan abilities to see more than surface level; therefore, proving that he searched for ways to improve relations with the Soviet Union, despite the qualities of the country that American disagreed with.
Conclusion:
By using parallelism, employing ethos, and adopting a praising tone, Thatcher makes her point that Reagan desired to help relationship with the Soviet Union in and unrelenting manner. Thatcher not only achieves her direct purpose to honor Reagan and his accomplishments, but she also continues on to impact future politicians. By praising Regan of his accomplishment, she presents an example of how politician should deal with affairs in the
Thatcher advances her argument by utilizing anaphora within lines 59 to 70, elucidating Reagan’s determination to not concede during the Cold War. Thatcher claims, “he knew almost instinctively what to do,” motivating citizens to follow in Reagan’s footsteps and have confidence in their actions. In addition, Thatcher’s use of anaphora within lines 74-79 through the language “yes. but” continues to juxtapose stereotypes of the USSR and how Reagan stepped forth, realizing the “evil empire” of the Soviet Union’s need for America’s aid. Through this specific anaphora, Margaret emphasizes the importance of the American people aiding the USSR in recovery, as Reagan saw “that a man of goodwill might nonetheless emerge from within its dark corridors” (80-81).
Ronald Reagan, the former 40th president of the United States died on June 5th of 2004. A couple of days later on the 11th, Margaret Thatcher the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, wrote an eulogy for Ronald Reagan. In this eulogy, Thatcher uses rhetorical strategies to convince her readers into believing what she states. She uses the strategies of parallelism, pathos and diction to get her message out and to help her reader receive it. And thus Thatcher can convince her readers into believing what she says.
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.
First, as first leader to spot the potential for the new leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret convinced Reagan he could trust him (Abdullah). Reagan and Thatcher played an important role in easing Gorbachev’s path in leading the Russian people out of serfdom, the lowest social class forced to stay in one place (Wapshott). Along with working side-by-side, Thatcher and Reagan made a great political team by attacking separate jobs (Abdullah). While Reagan worked on telecommunications, the environment, and business, Thatcher took stands in health care. This political marriage was not perfect, however. Ronald and Margaret disagreed on occasional issues such as the Soviet natural gas pipeline to Europe, but both realized that agreement on fundamental issues remained more significant than their minor differences
The book focuses on showcasing the nearly impossible obstacles he had to overcome in order to carry out the duties as a man and as President of the United States. The authors wanted to create a portrait of a “great man operating in violent times”, and that they did, albeit it being a bit skewed. The book is a bit all over the place, but after the first chapter (1980 presidential debate) it follows a chronological trend, with each chapter marking an important moment in Reagan’s life. In regards to the prologue, Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard begin with the death of “the former leader of the free world, the man who defeated Soviet communism and ended the Cold War.” Honorable tribute to Reagan indeed but the more you read the book, the more you start to ponder who really was calling the shots.
She claims that “he saw the many sides of the truth.” Reagan saw the Soviet Union’s prominent desire for military power and territorial expansion, but also “sensed that it was being eaten away by systemic failures.” In addition, he “realized that a man of good will might...emerge” from Moscow’s evil empire. Thatcher mentions the Cold War by exemplifying that Reagan possessed an awareness for realizing the hidden truths under chaotic circumstances. By showcasing Reagan’s capabilities during a demanding event such as the Cold War, Thatcher develops a positive image of Reagan for Americans citizens to fondly remember, but to also give recognition to President Reagan’s aptitude. When displaying Reagan’s great intuition when it came to politics, Thatcher stresses that he held aptitude for his position leading a grand country that felt weakened. Ronald Reagan successfully fostered America through tough times with strength and
On January 11, 1989, President Ronald Reagan sat at his desk in the Oval Office to address his nation for the final time. This rhetorical moment was not the first of its kind. Rather, the Farewell Address is a Presidential tradition, started by George Washington, that every president takes part in before leaving office. As a sort of “goodbye” to the nation, the President discusses the accomplishments of his administration while offering pieces of advice for the future. Washington warned against a government with an “unmoderated” political party system (Spalding 75), Ronald Reagan warned of the effects of an America devoid of patriotism.
Yet by the end of his second term, Ronald Reagan has decided to change his view on the Evil Empire and to have a fresh start. President Reagan has never supported communism, he was even the leader who was leading the anti-communist movement worldwide. From the beginning of his presidency, Reagan had an enormous distrust on the Soviet Union. In 1983, in one of his famous presidential speeches, he denounced the Soviet Union as an ‘evil empire’, in fact ‘the focus of evil in the modern world’. After long term of unpleasant relations two great powers have decided to move forward with the current days issues like
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
Margaret Thatcher, in her eulogy for Ronald Reagan, described him as every person would wished to be talked about. She lauds upon his good nature and successful actions as president. Her use of informal diction, parallel structure, and satire had the effect of giving Ronald Reagan's life a memorable ending.
Reagan became president in 1981, which means that he was president of the U.S. during a time in which the Cold War began to draw to a close. (Fischer, 1997, p.477). Whereas his predecessors used détente, a more relaxed approach in order to reduce tension between the U.S. and USSR, Reagan and his advisers rejected this strategy (Authors, People and a Nation, p.833). This led to a turning point in the Cold War. Even though the Cold War ended in 1991, two years after Reagan’s presidency, Reagan is still known to have made a huge influence on ending the Cold War. This essay will investigate his actions and how they might have influenced the ending of the Cold War, by looking at how Reagan expressed his distrust toward the Soviet Union and communism, the ways in which Reagan expanded the arms race in order to bankrupt the USSR and other ways in which he tried to sabotage the Soviet economy, but also
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
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.
President Ronald Reagan, the man who is accredited with ended the forty six year cold war was elected on Nov. 4, 1980. Reagan won his election with fifty percent of the popular vote over former President Jimmy Carter who had forty one percent. While Reagan as a president is praised for such successes as strengthening the national defense, stimulating growth in the U.S. economically, and as mentioned before he is considered the President who ended the Cold War. President Reagan had achieved many things by the end of his administration, but just as he had many successes his presidency was plagued with shortcomings and a handful of what could be considered flat out failures. The purpose of this writing is to establish and identify the ‘cons’ or failures of the Reagan administration, and provide a brief description of each different aspect of the administration.