Neo-Aristotelian Analysis of Reagan's "Evil Empire" Speech

Introduction

When President Ronald Reagan delivered his historic "Evil Empire" speech in 1983, America's enemies were well-known and consisted most especially of the former Soviet Union. Children born since the turn of the 21st century have never known a world with a Berlin Wall or a divided Germany, and even observers at the time of the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 could not believe what they were seeing. Despite their incredulity, many analysts in the aftermath credited President Reagan with ending the Cold War due in large part to this address. To determine the basis for that claim, this paper provides a Neo-Aristotelian analysis of Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech, followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

Reconstruction of the Original Situation

A Neo-Aristotelian analysis of a historic speech focuses on three basic principles: (a) the situation, (b) the speaker, and (c) the speech itself. The first step involves reconstructing the artifact's original situation by examining the exigency — the event or issue that provoked the speaker to address a problem that could be resolved through rhetorical communication — as well as the context in which that exigency occurred and the audience the speaker chose to address. The context includes historical and cultural events that gave rise to the speech, the broader conversation it joins, and socio-cultural attitudes toward the speech's topic. The critic must understand who the audience was, what they knew and felt about both the speaker and the exigency, and what role they might play in resolving it.

In 1983, the outcome of the Cold War was still uncertain, and the Soviet Union together with its Warsaw Pact allies still appeared as a monolithic threat arrayed against the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies. Moreover, Soviet efforts to expand their hegemony beyond their existing sphere of influence were apparent to American policymakers. It was against this backdrop that Reagan presented his "Evil Empire" speech.

Investigation of the Speaker's Background, Motivations, and Intentions

The second step in Neo-Aristotelian criticism involves investigating the speaker's background, motivations, and intentions — understanding why this particular speaker stepped forward to respond to the rhetorical exigency, what his or her reputation and qualifications were, and what the speech was intended to accomplish.

With a background in show business and politics, Reagan was well prepared to deliver a speech that would make history. He was also highly motivated to restore America to what he perceived as its rightful place as the world's leading power by winning the Cold War. As Ritter and Henry observe, "Reagan always retained hope that Americans would wake up and rescue freedom from the evil empire of communism. The conflict still might be won instead of lost. If Americans rallied immediately, the conflict might even be avoided altogether through a show of determined strength" (26). It was the intention of this speech to communicate that message to the American people and, ultimately, to Soviet leadership. In this regard, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich emphasizes that "by calling the Soviet Union an 'evil empire,' Reagan sent a clear signal that America was going to challenge the Soviet Union morally, win the psychological information war, and de-legitimize it. If the government was evil, he argued, how could it have authority?" (19).

Application of the Five Canons of Rhetoric

The third step applies rhetoric's five canons — invention, organization, style, memory, and delivery — to the artifact, followed by an evaluation of its effects and effectiveness.

Invention

President Reagan was acutely aware of the popularity of George Lucas's 1977 Star Wars motion picture and used that cultural reference in another of his famous speeches intended to counter the perceived growing threat of the Soviet Union. Although his use of the "evil empire" analogy to describe the Soviet monolith was not his own invention, it struck a responsive chord among the American public (Kramer 41).

Organization

The "Evil Empire" speech was organized into three main sections. The first consisted of introductory remarks reinforcing the president and first lady's strong belief in the power of prayer, along with a humorous anecdote about "an evangelical minister and a politician arriving at Heaven's gate" and an explanation of why he was especially pleased to present this speech. The second section outlined his views on the fundamental differences between the political ideologies of the United States and the Soviet Union and the need for vigilance in response to the latter's declared intention of fomenting world revolution. The final section offered a brief summary and inspirational remarks intended to reassure the audience that not only did America possess the "right stuff" to prevail over the Soviet Union, but that such an outcome was inevitable.

Style

Reagan was not called "the Great Communicator" without reason. The style of this speech resembled his other formal addresses, in which he applied his long experience in public speaking — using his well-modulated voice and measured pacing to drive home each point — while generously incorporating religious references that undoubtedly delighted his audience.

Memory

The ravages of World War II and the Korean War were still fresh in the minds of the American public and of the intended audience for Reagan's 1983 speech. America's former wartime ally had transformed itself into its most formidable adversary, one whose stated intention was to "bury" the United States. Against this backdrop, it is little wonder that Reagan's speech was so well received.

Delivery

The "Evil Empire" speech was delivered to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida. The passage containing the speech's most famous allusion reads as follows:

In your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride — the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and labeling both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.

Conclusion

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan delivered an address to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida that changed the course of world history by characterizing the actions of the Soviet Union as fundamentally evil in fueling dissent and revolution in countries around the world. Although few people realized it at the time, the Berlin Wall would come down and the Soviet Union would collapse less than a decade later. When those events did come to pass, many observers credited Reagan's speech as representing the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

Works Cited

Gingrich, Newt. "The Evil Empire: On the 25th Anniversary of Two Famous Reagan Speeches, the Former Speaker of the House Asks Why We Haven't Learned More from the 40th President." American Heritage 58.4 (Spring–Summer 2008): 18–21. Print.

Kramer, Peter. "Star Wars." History Today 49.3 (March 1999): 41. Print.

"Neo-Aristotelian Criticism — Steps in the Process." Modern Rhetorical Criticism. 2016. Web.

Ritter, Kurt. Ronald Reagan: The Great Communicator. New York: Greenwood Press, 1992. Print.