Therefore he establishes a strong personal ethos which he sustains throughout the remainder of the speech, (Rowland, p. 237). Reagan knew that many in the audience which he was speaking to had actually been through the very even he spoke about. Therefore, he had to establish a very personalized ethos in order to live up to their expectations of his speech; as well as to better connect the event with those in the audience who had heard about the events of D-Day but had not experienced first hand. He focuses particularly on the fight of the Rangers because of their strategic involvement in the invasion, as well as the historical importance in the overall success of the invasion. He seldom uses comparisons because he is not talking abstractly about those events; he is telling them how thy really happened, to the people that they happened too, "And before me are the men who put them there. 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," (American Rhetoric, 2008). Therefore, that eliminates the need to constantly use analogies which would further abstract is message. Conclusion

The nostalgic, yet honorary tone, Reagan used in this particulair speech was very appropriate for the occasion in which he was speaking. He had to be careful not to place too much distance between him and the event of the invasion at Normandy because he knew that a large portion of his audience had actually been there in the first place. However, he did honor them well without making them seem unreal to those who knew and loved them. He not only honored the dead soldiers who had been brave enough to give their lives for their country, but also the ones who survived and had graced him with their presence that day in 1986. Reagan consistently brought his speech back to the real experience of the invasion, using language...

Reagan was able to do so because the message of his speech was so powerful that he did not want to dilute it in anyway with complicated analogies or speech mannerisms. The frankness of his description of June 4, 1946 was much more affective than any figurative story or elaborate and eloquent language could have provided for the Veterans within the audience.
Short-Term Affects

This speech was incredibly affective for the honesty and personal nature which it presented. His tribute to those in the audience was not over bloated, therefore many were more touched by the realness of his words than any other flattery technique would have provided.

Long-Term Affects

This speech was later remembered as one of Ronald Reagan's greatest speeches, (CBS News, 2004). It was politically unbiased and personal, which made this particulair speech stick out from a majority of his other speeches both as president and his other political endeavors during his lifetime.

Works Cited

American Rhetoric. "Ronald Reagan -- 40th Anniversary of D-Day Address." http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganddayaddress.html.2008.

CBS News. "Ronald Reagan's D-Day Tribute: In 1984 Speech Called Normandy

Where the West was Held Together.' http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/05/national/main621260.shtml.1994.

Rowland, Robert C. "The Ethos of Rhetoric." Argumentation and Advocacy. Vol. 41.

The White House. "Biography of Ronald Regan. http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/rr40.html2008.

YouTube. "President Ronald Reagan's Speech at Point-du-Hoc, Normandy." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBeyZAmmJNg.2008.