Katrell Clay

9/27/16
English 101
Mr. Matthews

Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Ronald Regan was a very controversial president. On a speech given September 1st,
1980, at Liberty State Park, Regan spoke about the current state of the country expressing his
concern about the country and ways President Jimmy Carter is ruining it. Regans opinion is that
the American dream has been lost under Carter's presidency. Regan uses ethos to talk about the
unemployment and financial state of the nation to prove that president Carter is leaving the
country in the state of despair. In addition, Regan uses pathos to emotionally connect to hard
workers who have to make ends meet during the rescission; as well as Kairos which people can
still relate to even to this day.
During the first half of Ronald Regans speech, he uses ethos to talk about the
unemployment rate in the US; stating that there are eight million [people] out of work
(Regan). He is using statistics to let everyone know that the state of America has not gotten any
better since Jimmy Carter has been in office. Additionally, Regan mentions that Jimmy carter has
raised taxes on the American people by 30 percent, while their real income has only risen 20
percent (Regan). While the American people are paying more taxes they are not making enough
to keep up with the inflation. This causes companies to not be able to afford their employees
causing many people to get laid off. This is why Regan referred the current state of the country
as a depression instead of a recession.

Ronald Regan also uses ethos to talk about the financial state of the economy. He
emphasizes that Inflation is running at 18 percent in the first quarter of this year (Regan). To
start out 1980 with high inflation is really damaging. Then he states that the country is at The
highest interest rates since the Civil war, reaching at times close to 20 percent (Regan).The
fact that the economy is reaching levels of that of something that happened 155 years ago is
astonishing. Plus, in 1980 there were no wars presently happening at the moment. This was a
problem that was a goal of Ronald Regan to point out to the people. Even though President
Jimmy Carter has tried to move the economy along, his methods werent working. As Ronald
Regan put it, It is his fifth new economic program in three and a half years (Regan). Time after
time his programs have failed to prove why Jimmy Carter has not been doing a good job.
Ronald Regan connects emotionally to his audience by using pathos. Midway through his
speech he talks about the major difference between a recession and depression. He connects to
the people who think that the current state of the economy is more than a recession by saying,
Let Mr. Carter go to their homes, look their children in the eye and argue with them that its
only a recession that put Dad or Mom out of Work (Regan). He relates to the Americans who
know that for them, this is more than a recession for them. Regan knows that not everybody is
effected by the recession but for the people who are it is a serious issued that needs to be
addressed.
At the end of Ronald Regans speech Kairos was used. He said a phrase that everyone
has heard of in todays society. A person can think of what America has become when they hear
this phrase or think twice about what direction the country is going. The notorious phrase is,
make America great again. (Regan). Donald Trump has referenced this phrase ever since he
announced his presidential candidacy. Americans to this day still feel like their country isnt

great enough. After all the effort that politicians democratic or republican put in despite their
different views of the world, all of them at just trying to make as great as it already is. The
United states was never not great. Make America great again was a slogan of the past because it
matched that economic state. Presently, the United States is in a way better condition compared
to how it was back then.
Ronald Regan was a very controversial president. On a speech given September 1st,
1980, at Liberty State Park, Regan spoke about the current state of the country expressing his
concern about the country and ways President Jimmy Carter is ruining it. Regans opinion is that
the American dream has been lost under Carter's presidency. Regan uses ethos to talk about the
unemployment and financial state of the nation to prove that president Carter is leaving the
country in the state of despair. In addition, Regan uses pathos to emotionally connect to hard
workers who have to make ends meet during the rescission; as well as, Kairos which people can
still relate to.
Ronald Regan knew what he was getting into by going to a democratic state and
delivering a speech. He is the first Republican candidate to come here since 1968 (Regan).
However, Regan knew what he was getting himself into. He knew that the issues going on in that
time were so dire that something had to be said. He used ethos to dig deeper into the financial
and unemployment crisis. Regan also used pathos to connect emotionally to workers who have to
make ends meet and companies who cant afford those workers during times of rescission.
Finally, he used Kairos which many Americans still have strong opinions about.

Works Cited
Regan, Ronald. "Labor Day Address at Liberty State Park." Jersey City, 1st September 1980. 3.