Ronald Reagan as a "thoughtful" speaker: the sources of evidence for selected assertions from his campaign speech of October 27, 1964.

Abstract

This study began with a curiosity concerning the impact of Ronald Reagan's 1964 speech in behalf of Barry Goldwater's campaign for the Presidency. As preliminary research seemed to confirm certain tentative conjectures, a number of more distinct questions emerged which seemed worthy of formal investigation Ultimately, inquiry into these questions led to the formulation of an approach to certain aspects of rhetorical criticism which, in some respects, seem to be both novel and useful. To the uncritical listener, Ronald Reagan's "A Time For Choosing" might seem to be the epitome of the "logical" speech. It is a kind of rhetorical montage, bursting with "facts and figures," delivered--as those who have seen a film or heard an audio-tape of the speech can testify--with earnest sincerity and conviction. Still, the speech seems not to have persuaded the audience for whom it was intended--the segment of the political spectrum neutral or unfavorable to the Goldwater candidacy. Frequently, unfamiliar and incongruous evidence was introduced as if it were common knowledge, with little or no indication of source. The critical listener, who ideally might have preferred to verify this evidence before making a judgment, was forced to accept the evidence as accurate or reject it as inaccurate almost entirely upon his evaluation of Reagan--an evaluation which, under the circumstances, was based as much on extrinsic factors as it was upon the logos of the speech. The present study seeks to provide a critical evaluation of the substance, particularly the evidential aspects, of Reagan's political oratory. The purposes of the study are: (1) to determine which of Reagan's evidential statements a critical audience would have wished to verify; and (2) to establish the sources for these assertions; in an effort (3) to discover how faithfully Reagan's reporting reflected the information contained in those sources. The study is developed along the following lines: Chapter I sketches the background and circumstances which produced "A Time For Choosing," advances the rationale for the present inquiry, and outlines the methodology which has been employed. Chapter II reproduces "A Time For Choosing," with an indication of the evidential assertions selected for investigation, Chapter III reports the results of the research directed to these assertions, along with Mr. Reagan's own indicated sources. Chapter IV presents this researcher's conclusions. In the Appendices, interested readers will find reproduced all of the correspondence directed to Mr. Reagan during the course of the research, as well as Mr, Reagan's response to the questionnaire submitted to him during the closing phases of the study asking for verification or correction of apparent sources.