Rhetorical Analysis of A Time For Choosing Essay Example

Ronald Reagan was the fortieth president of the United States, the thirty-third governor of California, and deemed the "great communicator". Ronald Reagan was able to achieve many accomplishments throughout his lifetime, but what was the main event that acted as a turning point for his life? The event that led Ronald Reagan to his life of politics was his speech "A Time for Choosing ". This speech is considered one of the best speeches presented by a soon-to-be presidential candidate. This speech is not only regarded as one of the best eventual candidate speeches but is seen as one of the best speeches in American history. This is one of the top 100 speeches because of the use of rhetorical appeals, the addressing of the American debt crisis, and the great effect it had at raising money for Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign.

The speech “A Time for Choosing” has many examples of rhetorical appeals. Ronald Reagan used mainly pathos and ethos in this speech. Although Ronald Reagan mainly used ethos and pathos he still had all three forms of rhetorical appeals throughout his speech. Pathos was heavily used throughout this speech, for example, “As for the peace that we would preserve, I wonder who among us would like to approach the wife or mother whose husband or son has died in South Vietnam and ask them if they think this is a peace that should be maintained indefinitely.” (Reagan 1964). Ronald Reagan states this when he speaks on defending the freedom of the U.S.A. Ronald Reagan is also able to use ethos many times throughout this speech. For example “The performer hasn't been provided with a script. As a matter of fact, I have been permitted to choose my own words and discuss my own ideas” (Reagan 1964). When Ronald Reagan states this he is reassuring the audience that he is speaking on his own accord. Although Ronald Reagan did not use many examples of logos he has a very important portion of his speech where he discusses the increasing national debt and the inflation of taxes, “No nation in history has ever survived a tax burden that reached a third of its national income.” (Reagan 1964). During that portion, Reagan speaks on the exponentially growing debt and how it will affect America in the future if we do not make a change.

"A Time for Choosing" addressed the debt crisis, one of the most important issues that America has ever faced. Over fifty years ago, "A Time for Choosing" was presented through a television broadcast. This speech addressed the significant issues about the constantly growing debt in the U.S. as well as the issues addressing the government over constantly losing value in its currency and raising taxes. Over fifty years later, these issues are still relevant to this very day. America as a country has been in a constantly growing debt for over two hundred years topping over thirty trillion dollars, and because of this, the national debt limit has to be constantly raised “We've raised our debt limit three times in the last twelve months, and now our national debt is one and a half times bigger than all the combined debts of all the nations of the world.” (Reagan 1964). This speech also addresses the taxes growing and how this situation could negatively affect the nation in the future “No nation in history has ever survived a tax burden that reached a third of its national income. Today, thirty-seven cents out of every dollar earned in this country is the tax collector's share” (Reagan 1964). Instead of taking one specific political stand on these issues, Ronald Reagan takes a different approach to unite the people as Americans, "You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right. Well I'd like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There's only an up or down" (Reagan 1964). This approach that Ronald Reagan takes to unite the people of America led to a very successful speech. 

"A Time for Choosing" was also very effective at raising money for Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign. Ronald Reagan presented this speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater when he was a presidential candidate. Barry Goldwater did eventually go on to lose the election by one of the largest margins ever recorded. This does not diminish the fact that Ronald Reagan was able to raise over one million dollars for Barry Goldwater’s campaign. Before the speech "A Time for Choosing" was presented Barry Goldwater’s campaign was beginning to lose its funds. Ronald Reagan’s public speaking skills were shown many times throughout the speech. At one point in the speech, Ronald Reagan talks about a Cuban refugee, and his delivery gave this story a lot more meaning, " a Cuban refugee ... said, 'How lucky you are? I had someplace to escape to.' " (Reagan 1964). Ronald Reagan’s performance throughout this speech gave the audience a call to action to keep the freedom that unites the people of America and to keep this freedom so that we could keep the diversity that America is built on.

Ronald Reagan was able to accomplish many great things throughout his lifetime. The turning point that paved the way for his life of politics was the speech “A Time for Choosing”. This speech was able to give Ronald Reagan the recognition he deserved as one of the greatest public speakers. “A Time for Choosing” was a life-changing speech for Ronald Reagan by all definitions. The speech “A Time for Choosing” is one of the top 100 speeches because of the use of rhetorical appeals, the addressing of the American debt crisis, and the great effect it had at raising money for Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign.