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Essay on liberty
Essay on liberty
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Ronald Reagan’s idea of freedom correlates with the idea that the government is the causation rather than the solution to the issues as stated within the article in which he believes that freedom can be gained by harnessing the people's power while the government attempts to use its authority to create a sense of hardship for the people. In the early 1980’s, during Reagan’s presidency, Reagan spoke about his belief in regards to the people's’ freedom as well as the U.S being viewed as the land of the free.(page 321) Reagan eventually goes onto speaking with the former president Carter after getting elected in Washington D.C in 1981 shares his views and supports his idea’s on freedom and the issue with the government. Within Reagan's Inaugural Address he talks about how the idea of freedom for the people is dependent on how they view their own power and must harness their own power in order to gain their own freedom. …show more content…
In the Inaugural Address , Reagan says “ It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, … It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people.” (page 322) This meant that inflation within the economy caused hardships for many families. The issues within the economy most definitely confines the people because without money or a good income many of the issues in regards to poverty restrict how much freedom people can have. Also, Reagan argues that reshaping the government would be a factor in bettering the lives of the people rather than getting rid of the government. (page 322) This showed that Reagan wasn’t out to get rid of an unjust government rather he tried to initiate a compromise between the people and the government so the people and the government would both be
Throughout Reagan's speech, he used or rather talked about the issues that plague society today, such as combat, parenting, medicine/clinics and things of that nature. By him mentioning or hinting at these issues and using these relevant issues at hand it caused his audience to reflect on his speech as well as the so called prevalent "evil" that exists in today's world.
Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States of America during the Cold War era. On January 28th, 1986, he gave a speech to discuss the tragedy of the Challenger Space Shuttle, which exploded in atmosphere. The speech was delivered in the Oval Office during his State of the Union Address. He was attempting to inform and comfort America about the disaster. The author uses multiple rhetorical devices in his speech. The importance of these devices is to convey a goal of the author to persuade the reader to a certain perspective. A speaker uses these devices to give the speech more impact. Rhetorical and persuasive devices can make a speech more effective since the devices can use emotional and logical appeal. In this speech, Reagan does not use very many complicated devices, but he does use appeal, anaphora, repetition, and allusion.
When President Reagan took office, the U.S. was on the back end of the economic prosperity World War 2 had created. The U.S. was experiencing the highest inflation rates since 1947 (13.6% in 1980), unemployment rates reaching 10% in 1982, and nonexistent increases GDP. To combat the recession the country was experiencing, President Reagan implemented the beginning stages of trickle down economics – which was a short-term solution aimed to stimulate the economy. Taxes in the top bracket dropped from 70% to 28% while GDP recovered. However, this short-term growth only masked the real problem at hand.
Have you ever listened to a speech after a tragedy that was so good, that it affected you and even though something traumatic happened it helped you feel better? That indeed is a style of speaking called rhetoric. Rhetoric is the study of effective speaking and writing, and the art of persuasion. Many people are not able to speak and convey that art of rhetoric that helps with grief or sentiment. Today, I will show you an example of two different speeches delivered after tragedies, by two of our nation’s presidents. The first, President Obama’s address to the nation after Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting and the other Ronald Reagan’s address after The Space shuttle “Challenger” tragedy.
In Ronald Reagan’s speech he creates this idea of a broken and selfish country. America is founded upon a democratic government that has proved to be useful in that past but, in Reagan’s speech he says, “In this present
One of Lincoln’s most famous quotes is “A House divided against itself cannot stand.” This describes his presidency well- focusing on maintaining the Union. In the beginning, Lincoln tried to stay out of sensitive affairs involving the North and South in an attempt to keep them together, promising the South little interference. Despite this, he played a key role in passing the Thirteenth Amendment, doing whatever it takes to end slavery for good and ending the Civil War.
Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States of America, tries to diminish the influence of the federal government in an individual’s life. By doing so, Ronald Reagan created a comparison between the year before (1985) to the year they were in at the time. (1986) Showing all of the positive outcomes in 1986 and the troubles during the year 1985. Reagan uses the appeal to logic to define all of the successful turnouts they’ve had and uses the appeal to emotion to focus more on how the government is too powerful; “taking away opportunities.” When Ronald created these rhetorical devices, it could convince citizens that “private values must be at the heart of public policies,” and that they don’t need
""A Time for Choosing" by Ronald Reagan - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2013. .
Kengor wrote “Reagan thought in terms of defining principles and grand ideas, and among them he valued freedom more than any other” (102). And moving forward in his political campaign freedom became the biggest and most highlighted theme in his speeches and statements. Paul Kengor even states that freedom became a more popular topic and theme over his statements on and of God. He states “Actually, the two concepts were inseparable to him---freedom, ultimately, was a God-given inalienable right” (102). Reagan not only believed that freedom was a moral value for himself, but that God gives freedom and it’s a right that only he should be able to give and take away. In June 1957, Reagan went to give a commencement address. In this speech, he told a story of an unknown man, and Paul Kengor quotes what Reagan quoted of the unknown man who said, “I would still implore you to remember this truth: God has given America to be free” (103). In relation to that statement made by the unknown man, Kengor writes “God had not chosen America to be free, Reagan was saying, but with that freedom, He had entrusted the nation with a larger responsibility to all mankind” (103). That very quotation would for the rest of Reagan’s time, be something he would use or refer to when speaking on behalf of
President Reagan includes a notable number of quotes from past events in modern history in his speech to enhance his points. Regan takes it back to the year of 1945, “In this season of spring in 1945, the people of Berlin emerged from their air-raid shelters to find devastation.” (Reagan) He furthermore switches into two years later and discusses the Marshall
President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) and President John F. Kennedy (JFK) were both very inspirational people who gave important speeches during their presidency. These men both wrote about their own ideas in each speech they presented. The speech from Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” and Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address” both write of their own beliefs of freedom, and their purposes. Although during Roosevelt’s time in 1941 the situation was different from Kennedy’s situation, because Roosevelt was entering WWII and Kennedy was in a cold war.
Ronald Reagan believed that the United States must never lose their principles or grounding which come from being part of the faithful. He viewed evangelicals who participated in the government as being saviors of the Unite States. He saw them as preventing the moral decline of the United States. He saw the overall battle as being between good and evil, with the United States being a beacon of all that is good, so long as it remained true to its’ christian principles. Reagan urged his audience to not accept the idea that both sides of a struggle are equally at fault. That the battle of good versus evil is ever ongoing and that the arms race was not just a simple misunderstanding, but rather a battle against evil. Reagan believed that because their motives were spiritual and not materiel, that they would triumph because there are no limitations on the freedom of man.
President Reagan, at the time in the beginnings of his second term, had successfully maintained overall a high approval rating with the American people. He had won their trust and respect by being quite relatable to the average citizen (Cannon). He had planned that evening to give his State of the Union address, but instead postponed it. The tragedy that had unfolded just hours earlier demanded his complete attention (Eidenmuller 29).
Kennedy, “When President Kennedy spoke at the City Hall those 24 years ago, freedom was encircled, Berlin was under siege. And today, despite all the pressures upon this city, Berlin stands secure in its liberty. And freedom itself is transforming the globe” (Reagan par. 15). He relates this image to inspire people in a difficult time, because in the same way that John F. Kennedy spoke to the people of Berlin during rough times and delivered a message of hope and freedom that was expressed through a vision of seeing Germany and all of Europe united, “Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe” (Kennedy par. 8). Reagan hoped to relay the same message during tough times as well and with the hopes that his words would be received with the same openness and eagerness the German people exhibited when Kennedy visited in
American freedom has faced many tribulations, especially throughout the slavery, segregation, and women’s suffrage eras. However, the ideological belief of individual freedom has always triumphed. From when the first Pilgrim stepped onto American soil to the present day America has been run by a democracy and the freedom that system of government allows its peoples to have. “Americans share a common identity grounded in the freedom — consistent always with respecting the freedom of others — to live as they choose” (Friedman).