This analysis has been written in response to Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech given in 1983
“There is sin and evil in the world, and we’re enjoined by Scripture and the Lord Jesus to oppose it will all our might.” President Ronald Reagan spoke these words in front of the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8,1983 as he gave his, celebrated “Evil Empire” speech. Regarded by some scholars as, “Reagan’s most important Cold War speech,” as it laid “the groundwork for the eventual triumph of the west,”[i] the evil empire speech did more than deliver a pointed attack to the heart of the soviet Union, it revealed Reagan’s character, strength and honesty. Reagan was an effective speaker and his evil empire speech reflected this fact. This paper will analyze Reagan’s evil empire speech by first taking a closer look at different levels of identification that he establishes with his audience and then again at his command of language.
Reagan, the former movie star turned politician, was described by one columnist as, “one of the most popular presidents of the 20th century and transformed the political landscape of an era with his vision of conservative government.”[ii] After serving eight years in office, in which his decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease overlapped, Reagan passed away in August of 1994 at the ripened age of 93.[iii]
However, in his life, Reagan pointed towards the belief in the God of the Bible and in the salvation of Jesus Christ.[iv] His belief in the power of the Holy Spirit overflowed into every aspect of his life, including politics. In memory of his death, the LA Times regarded his optimism as, “real and unyielding.”[v] All of which stems back to the foundations of his youth where his mother, Nelle, instilled in him what developed into a strong faith in God. Paul Kengor wrote in his book, God and Ronald Reagan, that, “Nelle Reagan had a heart for God, and she did her best to impart that faith to her son Ronald. It was her aspiration that he should one day take that faith to the world.”[vi]
With this faith-based background it was fairly easy for him to establish a quick and strong relationship with his audience, as he was speaking to a room full of evangelical Christians. Reagan also establishes ethos and credibility with the audience in his oration upon a variety of controversial social issues with the United States of America with which he finds fault in that he is the President and these are issues where he has gained a lot of knowledge.
The event he spoke at was the 1983 annual National Association of Evangelicals Conference, it was this time held in Orlando, Florida. The NAE represents the union of thousands of churches across the country and 40 different denominations; however, as the headquarters are located in Washington, D.C., the NAE naturally has a passion for politics as well.[vii] The 1980s was a time of “legislative victories” for the NAE on Capitol Hill as well as in the White House as Reagan was highly supported by Evangelicals and his election into office saw the NAE with greater opportunities to influence the government.[viii]
In 1983, America was in the midst of the Second Cold War and he would have to continue to deal with the Soviet Union for the rest of his term in office. In his speech on the evil empire, Reagan made his distaste for the Soviet Union morals clear and predicted its eventual implosion as he deigned to “de-legitimize it.”[ix] In the arena that Reagan gives this speech, he is allowed more leeway to speak openly about faith and can blur the lines between religious convictions and political principles. He is able to preach upon the role and duty of a Christian within this political environment, in which he engrains ideas of love, liberty and a sovereign God.
ANALYSIS
The “Evil Empire” speech Reagan gave at the annual NAE Conference in 1983 under a cursory review can seem haphazard as it seems as though he gives his three points then makes another that doesn’t seem at all related to the first half of the speech. But to just look at this speech and not delve in for a closer look would be regrettable as it is very intricately constructed, it’s like a jewel to uncover.
Under closer examination, this speech can be divided into nine separate parts. One may notice that Reagan does not actually begin his speech until five minutes into the speech, or seven paragraphs if one is reading the text. He spends the first five minutes of his oration establishing a relationship with the audience. From the beginning he lowers himself to the same level as his audience as he becomes very ‘real’ as he says to the assembly, “Thank you for your prayers. Nancy and I have felt their presence many times in many ways. And believe me, for us they’ve made all the difference.” His tone loses its commanding tone and takes on more of a serious tone as one would when talking about something very personal. Also, the sentences get shorter and the vocabulary becomes more conversational. Just the sentence previous to this quotation he used “remiss,” “discharge,” and “personal debt of gratitude.” None of which I hear people use in conversation. Yet as he begins sharing his ‘personal debt of gratitude,’ it’s almost as if he is speaking to every individual in the audience.
So, in this first partition, he becomes transparent but quickly lightens up the mood with two jokes. By doing this, he further establishes a comfortable atmosphere and ‘relationship’ between himself and the audience. It is also within this first part that he states his thesis, though it is hidden within nearly five minutes of speech he says, “The basis of those ideals and principles is a commitment to freedom and personal liberty that, itself is grounded in the much deeper realization that freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly sought and humbly accepted.”
The next part Reagan gives the foundations of America, America today and then the America of the future within the context of the founding fathers’ “experimentation” in democracy and liberty. With Alexis de Tocqueville’s quote, Reagan demonstrates how our democracy and liberty is threatened by “prevailing” attitudes of “a modern-day secularism” that supersede the values our country was founded upon and in extension the existence of such rules and regulations, regardless of how well intended, threaten our democracy and liberty because that democracy and liberty can not be found separate from the values they were based.
The third portion gives examples of these mandated these “rules and regulations” or a modern-day secularism established in order to provide “freedoms” that directly oppose established values. Those include: Parental notification of the extent of a child’s involvement with abortion clinics; mandating prayer in public schools; and, infanticide/mercy killings.
However, it is not in Reagan’s character to be so depressing, so in the fourth part he brings hope back to the audience by exhorting them, “Now, I’m sure that you must get discouraged at times, but there you’ve done better than you know, perhaps.” He then goes on to give evidence of the “spiritual awakening in America.” And Reagan further goes on to show the progress the nation is making on some of the issues he just discussed.
Now the movement from this portion to the fifth part of the speech is significant. The mood of the speech begins to change as Reagan, like a spiritual commander-in-chief of the United States armed forces; he rallies the troops of this assembly through enemy victimage, aligning all against the threat to our freedom, evil. He will go on to say later in his speech that though “military strength is important” the real crisis “is a spiritual one.”
In the following portion of the speech, he starts to share his views towards the Soviet Union, and communism. It is this portion of the text many focus upon because the Soviet Union is the “Evil Empire” for which the speech is named. However, what is most important about this section is where Reagan rounds out communism as morality being “entirely subordinate to the interest of class war. This description sounds like a double entendre in which America also gets served a warning.
Like it is expected from Reagan, he lightens the mood by the insertion of hope when assures the audience that he will do everything within his power to persuade the Soviet Union of America’s “peaceful intent” in this seventh part. Reagan goes on to be optimistic about America’s ability to stand strong in the original values that were based under God.
In this next portion of the speech, Reagan lays down the plan, the ‘this is what we need to do’ portion of the speech. He says that the audience must pray for the salvation of all of the people living within the “totalitarian darkness” of the Soviet Union, and to not be overcome by them.
The next portion of the speech accompanies the previous portion by explaining how ‘what we need to do’ will actually be done, the call-to-action. Reagan asks the audience to do two things, to “speak out against those who would place the United States in a position of military and moral inferiority,” and to “resist the attempts of those who would have you withhold your support for our efforts, this administration’s efforts, to keep America strong and free.” He further asks the people to fight with clear, sound minds as he urges them “to beware the temptation of pride.”
The last portion of the text is his conclusion in which he does two things. He first restates his thesis when he restates what Whittaker Chambers wrote regarding the crisis of the Western world, in that “the degree in which the West is indifferent to God, the degree to which it collaborates in communism’s attempt to make man stand alone without God.” With this statement Reagan is trying to make the point that the growing apathy of America towards the values on which she was founded will make us more and more like the Soviet Union.
The second thing he does, in true Reaganian fashion, is he uplifts the audience by believing that America will overcome this because God’s grace is with us providing a strength that “knows no limitation.” He then ends with a line that draws the church together in reliance on each other, which connects back to the beginning of the speech when he thanks the nation for their prayers because, “they’ve made all the difference.”
So after reviewing the break down of the speech, one will notice that it is both topical as well as chronological. It is topical in that it does move from point-to-point. However, it is also chronological in that in the beginning he talks about issues he’s fighting against, and then he moves toward the current fight with the Soviet Union. He then leads the audience towards the future, as he calls the audience to action, warns America against ignoring morality lest they become what they are trying to fight against, all the while believing and leaving a vision that we will overcome.
It is also clear that in looking at the organization of the content, that motivated sequence is employed. Because Reagan had already won over his audience before he even started speaking, as evident in the nearly 20 sec applause he received as he stepped to the podium to begin speaking, he tried establish a closer relationship with the audience by becoming slightly more ‘transparent’ with his personal life. He then goes right into telling two jokes, which lightened the mood and got people laughing, kept them engaged, and added dimension to his speech. The quick transition between these two emotions was beneficial in that now the audience doesn’t know quite what to expect from him as a speaker.
The need, though buried, is in the “commitment to freedom and personal liberty,” by the “realization that freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly sought and humbly accepted.” He provides examples to strengthen how this is deteriorating in American society.
However, Reagan ‘satisfies’ by providing by assuring the assembly that he will do everything within his power to gain peace but he will make it clear to the Soviet Union that America is not so easily consumed, as he stands against the nuclear freeze solutions, which he says provide, “merely the illusion of peace.”
Reagan provides visualization through the story of the young father, a quote from C.S. Lewis as well as a quote of Whittaker Chambers. All of these quotes illustrate either what the root of this evil is or what could become if this freedom we chase after is lost, either by our absorption into the communist culture or because we, “attempt to make man stand alone without God.” Then in a call-to-action, Reagan requests the audience to love and pray for the Soviet Union and to be wise and unyielding in dealing with them, keeping this pursuit of “freedom” in mind.
The speech does not include much figurative speech, as it is not particularly poetic in nature. Though it does have moments of visual imagery like when Reagan tells stories or jokes. They came to their feet with shouts of joy.” There were two quotations that stood out in which auditory sensory imagery was used. One of which was when Reagan said that, “these quiet men do not raise their voices, because they sometimes speak in soothing tones of brotherhood and peace,” almost allowing the audience to hear those voice. Another type of figurative language found in the speech is alliteration when he said, “discarding the tried and time-tested values upon which our very civilization is based.” By using alliteration here, the weight of the American values are impressed upon the listener or reader instilling that they should not be treated so lightly. One allusion was found in the beginning of the speech when he talks about feeling like Lincoln when he says, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I [Lincoln] had nowhere else to go.” From this the audience has two images of Reagan, one of him akin to Lincoln, a beloved, strong and honored president. The other of someone completely humbled, a servant leader, a theme heavily covered in the Bible, as Christ was the ultimate example of a servant leader. Another example of an allusion was located within the call-to-action when Reagan asks everyone to love and pray but be wise and discerning. In doing this he repeats Matthew 10:16, which says, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”[x] With these allusions, he connects emotionally with the audience while also establishing ethos in his integration of major Christian themes.
What’s particularly interesting is that though the word choice is formal, which is appropriate to the assembly, he is able to deliver the speech in such a conversational manner that it is quite believable that he speaks like that all the time. It also plays to his advantage that he rarely refers to his notes, and seems to speak extemporaneously. If not extemporaneously it, he speeches are very well rehearsed.
[i] Busch, Andrew E., and Elizabeth Edwar Spalding. 1993. "1983: Awakening from Orwell's nightmare." Policy Review no. 66: 71. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 19, 2010).
[ii] Johanna Neuman, “Former President Regan dies at 93,” LA Times, June 6, 2004.
[iii] "Ronald Reagan: The 'Great Communicator,’" CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/05/reagan.obit/index.html. (accessed October 17, 2010)
[iv] Paul Kenegor, God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life (New York: ReganBooks, 2005), 16.
[v] Johanna Neuman, “Former President Regan dies at 93,” LA Times, June 6, 2004.
[vi] Paul Kenegor, God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life (New York: ReganBooks, 2005), 16.
[vii] “About us,” National Association of Evangelicals, http://www.nae.net/about-us (accessed October 17, 2010)
[viii] “History,” National Association of Evangelicals,http://www.nae.net/about-us/history/62 (accessed October 17, 2010)
[ix] “The Evil Empire,” American Heritage Magazine, http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2008/4/2008_4_18.shtml (accessed October 17,2010).
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