Jenny Porter
ENG1010 Berrett
October 6, 2014
“Pained to the Core – The Shuttle Challenger Disaster”
As humans we have all experienced horrible tragedies and loss in our lives. On
January 28, 1986 America as a whole witnessed a very devastating loss when the Space
Shuttle Challenger exploded upon take off. Hundreds of Americans sat in silence as they
viewed this tragedy in person, and live coverage via television. We lost the lives of seven
American hero’s that day; Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair,
Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAulifee. This unfortunate event called
upon former President, Ronald Reagan, to address the nation with his famous speech,
“Shuttle Challenger Disaster Address.” President Reagan’s address offered comfort to
those who viewed the tragedy, commemorated the service of the seven brave astronauts,
and encouraged future space exploration and discovery. President Reagan’s response to
the event was extremely heart-felt and effective because he used pathos to appeal to
emotion, logos to appeal to logic, and ethos to appeal to authority.
In his speech, President Reagan doesn’t necessarily present an argument, but
rather offers to console and find meaning in such a horrible disaster. He uses logos in his
speech by recognizing the factual event of the Challenger disaster, and the horrible loss to
the people of our country. He then refers to another terrible accident involving astronauts,
which effectively draws some of the attention away from the Challenger disaster,
acknowledging that all though this type of event occurred, we as a nation moved on and
overcame the pain of the event. Throughout his speech, Reagan tries to focus on the logic
of the event by stating his belief and respect in our space program, without diminishing
the profound loss of the seven astronauts and the impact it will have on their family and
the nation. He effectively conveys the message that no one is mourning alone in this
event by stating, “We mourn their loss as a nation together.” This helps people share in
the pain together as a nation, rather than individually.
Often referred to as the “great communicator,” President Reagan himself is the
major contributing ethos in this speech. As the President of the United States he
immediately assumes the credibility of his position. Reagan proved himself as President
by standing up for the American people. He was not afraid to speak his mind about
controversial issues, and he fought for what the American people wanted. He was an
intelligent man of great moral character who was thought very highly of during his years
in the oval office. He also recognizes and gives great credit to the employees of NASA
and it’s space program by saying, “I wish I could talk to every man and woman who
work for NASA who worked on this mission and tell them: Your dedication and
professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your
anguish. We share it.”
President Reagan was supportive in delivering his message to the nation, while
exhibiting great empathy and compassion in his tone. He used pathos in a very personal
and emotional way to appeal to his audience. This is evident from the start when he
expressively states, “Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle
Challenger.” He continues on to convey proper respect to each of the seven astronauts
while stating their names individually, and offering solace to their families. He addresses
the school children of America who might have watched the life coverage of the disaster
on television at home and/or in their classrooms. I believe he does this in order to bring
awareness to parents and teachers, of the emotional impact the event may have on the
children. The emotions of pain, sympathy and empathy are written across his face during
his speech, as evident in the picture below. At the end of his speech, President Reagan
leaves us with a hope that everything will be alright, and that the nation will recover from
this.
President Reagan Shuttle Challenger disaster speech delivered 28 January 1986, Washington, D.C.
The main point of his message was to offer solace to everyone affected by the
disaster and to remind us that although it ended tragically, it is a process of our
exploration and discovery of space to which we will both overcome and continue in the
future. He indicates that their death and our loss as a nation was not in vain by stating,
“Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.” President Reagan’s response
to the Shuttle Challenger disaster was extremely heart-felt and effective because he used
pathos to appeal to emotion, logos to appeal to logic, and ethos to appeal to authority.
Work Cited
Transcription by Michael E. Eidenmuller. “Ronal Reagan Address to the Nation on the
Space Shuttle Challenger Tragedy.” Americanrhetoric.com. 2009. Web. 28 September
2014. http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/PDFFiles/Ronald%20Reagan%20%20Shuttle%20Challenger%20Address.pdf