Ronald reagan speech 40th anniversary of d day

Rhetorical Analysis:

President Reagan’s Remarks on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day

Anonymous Student

EN1101: Composition I

April 23, 2016

On the 6th of June, 1984, then President Ronald Reagan gave a memorial address to those gathered at the site of the U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France. The president’s epideictic oratory, although relatively short (just over thirteen minutes), displays a wealth of rhetorical tropes and tools and includes such devices as anamnesis, anaphora, hypophora, polysyndeton, epistrophe, alliteration, and tricolon; just to name a few. Mr. Reagan skillfully uses these tools to build ethos with his audience, an understanding of the incredible valor of those memorialized there, to emphasize his own personal patriotism and faith, and to apply those values to the current world’s troubles.

Within the first couple minutes of his speech, President Reagan accomplishes three major tasks: he establishes his credibility, creates in the minds of his audience a sober scene of a world at war, and portrays the seemingly impossible odds that confronted the men he is honoring. With the memorial as his backdrop, he begins by taking the audience back in time as he gives a brief historical account of the events that took place there in 1944. This use of anamnesis, the calling to mind past events, builds his authority and trustworthiness on the subject. He brings to mind these relevant details by stating, “For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow.” He uses descriptive terms such as “under a terrible shadow,” “nations had fallen,” and “Europe was enslaved” to create for the audience this picture of a waring world. Not only does this remind those who were there of the seriousness of that day, but it establishes and reinforces it for those who were not.

Reagan also uses anaphora not only to build ethos with the crowd but to also shape the scene in their minds. To emphasize the distinction between the “lonely, windswept point” of the current day to that of D-Day, Reagan states, “The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire.” By repeating the words “the air,” he makes this contrast evident, creates a sense of soberness, and gives gravity to the situation that faced the Rangers who fought there. In order to further heighten the significance of that day, he concludes his introduction by utilizing a brief polyptoton: by using two cognate forms of “seize,” Reagan compares the “top of these cliffs” with the “continent of Europe,” thereby equating the importance of that particular battle with the winning back of the entire continent.

The president shifts his focus to the subject of his eulogy: The Rangers who valiantly and victoriously fought there so many years ago. Reagan masterfully describes those men with a progressive anaphora when he says, “These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. And these are the heroes who helped end a war.” From boys to men, from men to champions, and from champions to heroes; Reagan elevates in the minds of his audience those men from mere boys to mature men – from the ordinary to the extraordinary. This evolution of the common to the uncommon serves not only to praise those men, but, in a subtle way, to give hope to all who currently seek honor and glory through military service.

In order to recognize that these men did not perform alone that day, President Reagan continues his tribute and includes several illustrations of the valiant actions of the Allied forces. He briefly tells of “Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders,” “Lord Lavat of Scotland,” “the Poles,” “the Canadians,” and several others. This act of inclusive diplomacy is typical of presidents and does not take honor away from Rangers, but instead increases it by equating all of their bravery. He makes this clear in his speech by saying, “All of these men were part of a roll call of honor.”

Reagan then shifts time and focus back to the present day as he engages the surviving members of the Rangers with a question he then answers. This use of hypophora helps to smooth the transition from discussing the men and their actions to discussing the reason for those actions. He asks them, “Why?” and briefly pauses, lowers his tone, and looks out to the audience in order to engage them personally, draw attention to the importance of his question, and give all listening the opportunity to contemplate the answer. He continues his query and almost immediately answers by stating, “Why did you do it? What impelled you… it was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.” By doing this, Reagan reveals the major theme of his speech – those four values that he attributes to men such as these: faith, belief, loyalty, and love.

The president begins to unfold the first two of these values with another use of anaphora to emphasize faith by stating, “The men… had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy.” Reagan then immediately addresses the belief these men held. In fact, he states that it was a “deep knowledge” that this war was a moral war that exemplified the difference between “the use of force for liberation” and the “use of force for conquest.”

Ronald Reagan continues to attribute these virtues to those men in his display of the next two values: loyalty and love. This can be seen by his personal American patriotism and his notion of a nation united that permeate his world view and ooze out of almost every line of his speech. He displays both of these principles through the utilization of the rhetorical devices epistrophe and polysyndeton, respectively. In the case of the former, he emphasizes the value of American patriotism and democracy by repeatedly referring to them with the phrase “worth dying for.” As for the latter, polysyndeton and the idea of a country united in support, Reagan provides a powerful image. He claims that those who fought that day felt in their hearts the unified support of their countrymen back home, and this was illustrated by those “in Georgia,” “in Kansas,” and “in Philadelphia” attending churches, praying, and honoring them by ringing the Liberty Bell. By using such language, Reagan molds the historical narrative into a picture of ubiquitous support of the war effort, loyalty and belief in America and her values, and faith in the providence of God.

Reagan’s personal faith and patriotism is so strong that it colors his view of those men’s actions throughout his speech. Just as he transfers his fervent Americanism to those soldiers, he ascribes the reason for their actions to a faith similar to his. His references to God’s providence and protection in paragraph 15; the prayer by Colonel Wolverton that God would bless their endeavor; and General Ridgway’s thoughts on a quote from the Holy Bible, “I will not fail thee nor forsake thee;” together reveal a leader who relies on the importance of God’s direct involvement in the hearts of men and believes they do, as well.

The concluding portion of Reagan’s eulogy is marked by a major shift as he expands the focus out from the American Rangers and back to the world. He uses mesodiplosis to emphasize the enormity of the task that awaited a post-war world by stating, “there were lives to be rebuilt… governments to be returned… nations to be reborn… [and] a new peace to be assured.” Reagan wastes no time equating the Allied nations to those Rangers and the battle of rebuilding to the battle at Point de Hoc by telling his audience, “the Allies summoned strength [for this task] from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love of those who fell here.” He clearly sees a connection between the values that won the battle, the values that won the war, and the values that rebuilt the nations in the aftermath.

Reagan seems to favor a trifold repetition of thoughts throughout his closing remarks that compare the United States and the Allied Nations with the Soviets. He first lays the groundwork for praise by describing the United States’ Marshal Plan as a “shield for freedom, for prosperity, and for peace” and then rebukes the occupying Soviet troops by describing them with the alliteration “uninvited, unwanted, [and] unyielding.” He is, however, quick to offer an olive branch to the Soviets by recognizing their losses in the war and stating, “I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war,” but quickly adds that they must be, “willing to move forward… share our desire and love for peace, and… give up the ways of conquest.”

Then, like the climactic barrage of a fireworks finale, Reagan unleashes with three uses of “bound;” a tricolon of “loyalties, traditions, and beliefs;” and a triplicate of comparisons, “we were with you then; we are with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny” – all of this in only four sentences. Reagan is communicating to the Allies his belief that those four values defined earlier are what secured their victory, and as long as they are the shared values of those who treasure freedom, it will stand secure.

In conclusion, President Reagan’s speech masterfully and systematically creates two increasingly inward looks at the world. First, his focus narrows from a world war to a battle; from a battle to the soldier; and from the soldier to his motivation. He then applies that same style again by shifting from the aftermath of war to the tension of two factions; from that tension to a solution; and from that solution he returns focus to the motivations of faith in God, belief in freedom and democracy, loyalty, and a love for all mankind. Reagan promotes the belief that with these values the world will defeat oppression, strengthen liberty, and overcome evil. His abundant and skillful use of rhetoric reveal some of the reasons why he was later given the moniker “The Great Communicator.”

Works Cited

Burton, Gideon O. Silva Rhetoricae. February 26, 2007. http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/A/anamnesis.htm (accessed March 30, 2016).

Khachigian, Ken. The Orange County Register. February 5, 2011. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/reagan-287119-great-dollar.html (accessed April 19, 2016).

Reagan, President Ronald. "Remarks at a Ceremony Commemoration the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day. June 6, 1984. https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf (accessed April 23, 2016).

Reagan, Ronald. Normandy Speech 6/6/84. YouTube (streaming video). Posted April 16, 2009. https://youtu.be/eEIqdcHbc8I?t=5m15s (accessed March 28, 2016).

� Gideon O. Burton, Brigham Young University, "Silva Rhetoricae,” �HYPERLINK "http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/A/anamnesis.htm"�http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/A/anamnesis.htm� (Burton 2007)

� President Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day," June 6, 1984, Paragraph 1, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, �HYPERLINK "https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf"�https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf�.

� Ibid, Paragraph 1.

� President Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day," June 6, 1984, Paragraph 2, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, �HYPERLINK "https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf"�https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf�.

� Ibid, Paragraph 3.

� Ibid, Paragraph 5.

� President Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day," June 6, 1984, Paragraph 7, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, �HYPERLINK "https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf"�https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf�.

� Ibid, Paragraph 8.

� Ibid, Paragraph 9.

� Ibid, Paragraph 10.

� President Ronald Reagan, Normandy Speech 6/6/84, YouTube (streaming video), posted April 16, 2009, accessed March 28, 2016, �HYPERLINK "https://youtu.be/eEIqdcHbc8I?t=5m15s"�https://youtu.be/eEIqdcHbc8I?t=5m15s�

� President Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day," June 6, 1984, Paragraph 11, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, �HYPERLINK "https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf"�https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf�.

� Ibid, Paragraph 12.

� Ibid, Paragraph 12.

� President Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day," June 6, 1984, Paragraph 13, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, �HYPERLINK "https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf"�https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf�.

� Ibid, Paragraph 14.

� Ibid, Paragraph 15.

� President Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day," June 6, 1984, Paragraph 17, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, �HYPERLINK "https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf"�https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf�.

� Ibid, Paragraph 17.

� Ibid, Paragraph 18.

� Ibid, Paragraph 19.

� Ibid, Paragraph 22.

� President Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day," June 6, 1984, Paragraph 24, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, �HYPERLINK "https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf"�https://ml.reaganfoundation.org/pdf/Remarks%20_Ceremony_Commemorating_the_40th_Anniversary_of_the_Normandy_Invasion060684.pdf�.

� Ken Khachigian, “What made Reagan the Great Communicator,” February 5, 2011, Paragraph 1, The Orange County Register, �HYPERLINK "http://www.ocregister.com/articles/reagan-287119-great-dollar.html"�http://www.ocregister.com/articles/reagan-287119-great-dollar.html�