Kansas. What a great place to. Reassess Ronald Reagans rhetorical legacy. And weve got such great reasons to do that. I think reagan is routinely recognized in the same class for eloquence as Franklin Delano roosevelt, only slightly behind abraham lincoln. And thats not such a bad thing, to only be slightly behind abraham. He used his words win two overwhelming president ial victories, and his words helped what has been called by many authors the age of reagan. We have four panelists today and im going to introduce them now now and then were simply going to go in order thats listed and and we have agreed that were going to take no than 15 to 16 minutes each, leaving some time discussion at the end. I know there very distinguished scholars in the room and we all look forward to that. The first presenter is alison brash from the university of wisconsin. The world has a stage. Reagans Foreign Policy rhetoric and the invocation of peace. And shes talking about Research Done as part of her Outstanding New book, rand fowler of Abilene Christian university is going to talk about the great communicator and the great satan revisiting reagans approach to iran. Elizabeth spalding from the victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and pepperdine is going to talk about the moral that the the evil empire in sdi and the moral rhetoric of peace through strength and was summed trepidation. Im going to back clean up and talk about the arc of reagans soviet rhetoric. A grand strategy for the cold war. Allison. Wright, thank you all very. I had a brief title at the last minute, too, so apologies that i did not let you know that. But the world is his stage. Scenes from reagans rhetorical legacy. If the cold war, a drama enacted in various places and moments on the world stage, ronald played a starring role. His was the marquee name, the actor who appeared on set at pivotal junctures in this geopolitical contest. And in fact for many u. S. Americans, the 40th president of the United States spoke as the ultimate cold warrior episode that reagan cultivated, embodied and embraced a hallmark. Reagans rhetorical skill lay in his ability, make complex policies, proposals, ideas come quite literally to life by using images, bodies and to bolster his argument. Aristotle once rhetoric as the ability to see in each particular case, all the available means of persuasion. And this description positions rhetoric as a radically contingent exercise, one that requires the orator to first identify by, and then to address the complexities of the political and the historical moment, while also attending to the overlapping and, often conflicting expectations of multiple audiences. No small task. But as i detailed in my recent book and other published work, some of the most important means of persuasion reagan deployed not just through his words, but through the images, the stories and the the people and the places he gestured to rhetorically. In so doing, he invited his to see themselves as participants in the narrative that he recounted. And in fact, i would go so far to argue that this invocation of images, bodies and places is what made him the great communicator. To be sure, hilanguage was eloquent, moving and able to help members of the u. S. Public see themselves as part of national narrative. He described, but it was also physical, tangible and material laden with elements. The vivid pictures he displayed the ordinary civic actors he featured. And the symbolic places from which he chose to speak. This is what made his image of the nation come to life. And so in todays talk, i revisit three specific scenes in which reagan used his rhetoric to bring people and places before the eyes of his audience. And although these specific episodes are, i would imagine, wellknown to many in this room, i draw on these examples not just to demonstrate how the centrality of, images, bodies and places in reagans rhetorical practice created a lasting template for all future president s to use, but also demonstrate how future president s after reagan utilized these strategies, theyve come to shape how we think about and we talk about our expectations for president ial rhetoric seen one. Visualizing the landscape of u. S. When reagan defeated jimmy carter in the 1980 president ial action by more than 8 million votes, many saw reagans victory as a direct rejection of carters at home and abroad. Paul fessler notes that when Ronald Reagan took office in early 1981, the united appeared weak and faltering in foreign affairs. The United States still reeling from defeat in vietnam faced not only a soviet expanding into afghanistan, but also a major hostage crisis iran. It seemed as if americas as a strong, confident International Superpower was fading into a distant memory. Reagan addressed this perception of a weakened america in his inaugural address, pledging that as a nation took the steps to, quote ourselves here in our own land, we will be seen as having greater strength throughout the world and be exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom. As john and Robert Roland have argued, reagans first inaugural address offered, a foundational statement of his governing and of contemporary conservative ism. By offering we the people as the antidote to big government, the heroes of this moment, reagan argued, ordinary americans who went about their lives and their livelihoods with quiet determination, a form of patriotism. But reagan also used the or location of his address to remind his audience of a shared historical narrative, one he believed would inspire a renewed sense of national identity. In so doing, he also established a new norm for president ial inaugural addresses. For the first time, the ceremonies were held on the west front of the u. S. Capitol, allowing the assembled audience to look out over the National Mall as new president spoke. Photographer and news organizations also captured and circulated images of the scene and those watching Television Coverage at home were transported to the through vivid imagery and depiction. And so youre now going to see in clip which was broadcast on cspan and what viewers at home may have seen. Youre missing sound. Im just showing you the images as i talk about it. Toward the end of his speech, reagan emphasized the significance of this view, and he said, standing here one faces a magnificent vista. Opening up on this citys special beauty and history, the president went on to reference sites as the washington monument, the jefferson and the lincoln memorial, and then across the potomac Arlington National cemetery. Reagan said that inspired by those giants on his shoulders, we stand, he asked his audience to see themselves as a living, breathing between past, present and future, a nature, a nation of individual actors who could, with their best effort and their willingness to believe in themselves and to believe in their capacity to perform great deeds that they could confront. The problems facing the nation. Reagans depiction of these people, places and moments that comprise the nations history was made possible by his direct references to the markers on the symbolic landscape before him. Later, u. S. Followed suit with, the exception of reagans second inaugural, which was held indoors due to bitterly cold temperatures. All successive inaugurations have been held on the west front of the u. S. Capitol building. Several president s, including barack obama and joseph biden, have also rhetorically gestured to the scene set before them to evoke a shared historical narrative. Most recently, in january 2021, and just two weeks after the attack on, the u. S. Capitol building, biden repeated point at his audience to various places on the National Mall to remind his audience the sacred nature of the space. And in so doing, he also noted resiliency of the american project. Like reagan, biden reminded his audience of other moments in u. S. Democracy had been tested and yet endured. This was a history that was not certain, not guaranteed. The democratic experiment was. One that required collective commitment. A respect for. And a conservation of the nations most foundational and principles. The challenge now, biden said, was whether the nation could meet this moment and write the next great chapter in the history of the United States. And it is a challenge that remains a scene to elevating ordinary American Heroes. One year and six days after his first inaugural address on january sixth, 1982. Ronald reagan delivered first state of the Union Address. In his speech, he cast a hopeful vision for american renewal, even as he addressed the weak economy and proposed cuts to the federal budget. But what made reagans 1982 state of the Union Address notable transformative even was his salute to lennys sputnik during the final moments of his speech just two weeks earlier, sputnik dived into the frigid waters of the Potomac River to a passenger of an air florida that crashed into the 14th re bridge during takeoff from what was then known as Washington National airpo. We now know it, of course,s the Ronald Reagan airport. Sputnik became overnight celebrity and thmea replaye heroic chant for millions of americans on the evening news, the white hoe invited sputnik and his wife linda to sit next to first Lady Nancy Reagan in the house gallery during reagans address and, the president concluded his speech by identifying sputnik as an example of the spirit of American Heroism at its finest. Even as he honored publicly, reagan also the young government employee, to represent what he called the, quote, quiet, everyday heroes, unquote, who sacrificed their time and their energy to revitalize the american spirit by pointing out sputnik to those in the house gallery and to millions of americans watching at home. Reagan helped his audience visualize what. He was describing the ideals of a modern American Hero were now reflected in the person of lenny sputnik. This salute to inaugurated a new generic norm for the state of the Union Address. Prior to 1982, president s relied on strategies of language to deliver their report to congress. But reagans featuring of one ordinary civic hero a new rhetorical strategy by which president s now display individuals as evidence for their argument. Beginning with reagan this now expressed expected invocation of a sputnik offers the opportunity to display both rhetorically and physically. The civic ideals they wish to laud, the National Issues they deem important, and the policy proposals they wish to. These scott notes then provide a physical representation of the overall body politic living, breathing, metaphor, testifying that the state of the union is fact strong. The president ial deployment of scott next can also provide a cautionary tale, one that can be used to galvanize members of congress and, by extension, the u. S. Public. Such was the case in 2018, when donald warned of the threat north Koreas Nuclear arsenal posed to the United States and its allies. To underscore the point, the president featured several individuals who had direct experi ence with the depraved character of the north regime, and one of them included ji sung hu, a north Korean Defector who escaped to south korea in 20. And so you can see in this image, the crowd is applauding and mr. Sung h is holding up his crutches because he had lost two limbs as part of his escape. And prior to h life in north korea,resident trump heralded mr. Sung hos and sacrificas, quote, a test, admit to the yearning of every human soul to live in freedom, unquote. This trump argued the same desire that had inspired early americans to declare independence from Great Britain and to form the United States. And, like reagan, had first done in 1982. Trump the u. S. Public to recognize quote the heroes who lived not only in the past but all around us defending hope, pride and, the american way. The task, he said to his audience, was, quote, to respect them, to listen, to them, to serve them, to protect them and, to always be worthy of them unquote. And this is the task remains. Scene three commemorating dday, reagans deployment of bodies in place continued two years later when he commemorated the 40th anniversary of dday. In his speech at point, a hawk, reagan told the story of the mission that 225 u. S. Army rangers undertook on the morning of. 6th of june 1944. Their mission, he said, wasne of the most difficult and daring of the entire invasion for these u. S. Army rangers were to up the sheer and desolate cliffs behind him. And you can see those the image on the right to take the enemy guns that could have decimated re of the allied warships ferrying troops across the english channel. Throughout his 13 minute speech, reagan repeatedly referenced the 62 surviving u. S. Army rangers who enacted the narrative he had described and who were seated before him. And he reminded his audience that were here together in the very place where these events unfolded. Now, to be sure, the text of speech is moving eloquent, beautiful. Its a rhetorical masterpiece. But what made it stand out . An exemplar of president ial commemoration, was how reagan repeatedly pointed his audience to physical material evidence the boys of point, a hawk and, the sheer and desolate cliffs behind him to encapsulate his argument, the decision to feature these people and places was not some mere flourish. Instead was a deliberate rhetorical strategy supported by reagans white house speechwriting team, most specifically. Peggy noonan, secretary of state. Short schultz and a number of white house advance staff. Indeed, as materials from the Reagan Library here make plain. Officials saw the president s featuring of the boys of point a hawk and his rhetoric in place as a central of his overall commemoration. Numerous u. S. President s followed his example. But i think its important to note how Reagan Reagans commemorative action extended well beyond the 40th anniversary of dday and also influenced his reelection campaign. In fact, the retelling, the normandy invasion, became a central part of the 1984 convention film the producers of the convention documentary that was shown in dallas. That fall explained in one memo to the campaign that their goal was to position reagan as a narrator of a shared. They wrote that, there would be no interviewer or narrator, only the voice of the president. And i quote from their memo he is our guide. In effect, the film as the president speaks, we begin to dissolve through and see those actual elements of which he speaking the verbal images become, visual images we see and hear those moments the president is talking about. And we begin to relive those events and experiences on film, unquote. On the final evening, the 1984 Republican National convention in dallas the u. S. Public encountered these striking images in an 18 Minute Campaign film. And what up on the screen is the of the film that uses reagans speech at point hawke. Entitled a new beginning. The striking Video Montage featured snippets of speeches at point of hook, including panoramic shots of the cliffs at point of hawk and endless road rows of white crosses and stars. David in the normandy american cemetery, the most poignant aspect of this section was how the campaign interspersed reagans speeches with actual of the men storming the beaches on june six, 1944. The video also featured close shots of the 62 boys of pointe a hawk that were present reagans address and as the listened to reagans narrative of allied landings landings at normandy, they watched and white footage of soldiers swimming to shore. When reagan recounted the courageous climb of the u. S. Rangers 40 years earlier, the camera zoomed in on the faces of the aged veterans. This juxtaposition of text and image provided a striking tribute not just to the men who fought at normandy, but it also reinforced reagans image as a focused, patriotic head of state dedicated to protecting us democracy at home and around the world. Conclusion reagans rhetorical legacy as these scenes make plain reagans skill was not due to alone. The president used his spoken oratory to bring people, places and historical events literally before the eyes of the audience, helping them to see or imagine the policies events he sought to describe. Throughout his presidency, reagan relied on such imagery to make complex proposals tangible and relatable to the ordinary citizen. His vision for what the nation had been, what it was and what it could be came to life on the National Mall. His hope for an active, engaged u. S. Public was embodied in the person of lenny slotnick, an everyday American Hero, and his enduring in the u. S. Commitment to defending democracy in europe was encapsulated by physical presence of 62 u. S. Army rangers, 40 years after they scaled the cliffs. Pointe a hawk. But examples also demonstrate how the words and actions of u. S. President s shape the norms of president ial public address, not just what we expect a president do or say within a particular context, but also how their speech and contributes to the nations character, its ethos, its overarching narrative and sense self. When the president speaks, people listen and they respond. Kind. What a president says and how they say it matters. The choices of individual chief executive. A precedent for what the public can and should expect to hear from their leader. Past choices dictate present expectation ones and the rhetoric of past president s. The choices current and future chief executives make for good or for ill. As president reagan understood the si