Ronald Reagan Presidential Policies and Speeches that Promoted Them

Ronald Reagan delivered one of the most memorable speeches ever given on behalf of a presidential candidate. It was part of a pre-recorded television program, Rendezvous with Destiny. The speech was titled a “Time for Choosing” and it was delivered on October 27, 1964, for Barry Goldwater. Reagan focused on peace, prosperity, and his belief in the importance of smaller government. In his speech Reagan successfully tackles each of these topics using logos. He gives concrete examples of the failure of big government. He gives logical details proving that the current course of action deters prosperity. He argues for peace that only comes through strength. Although the speech does not get Goldwater elected, it launches Ronald Reagan into the political world. The speech also moved people to donate one million dollars for Goldwater’s campaign. When viewing the speech live, the audience was mesmerized.

The founding fathers sought to minimize centralized government because they knew that the government does not do anything as good as the private sector. Reagan gives concrete examples using the farming economy. He states that democratic government programs led to a decline of five million in the farm population. Democrats ask for the right to imprison farmers who wouldn’t keep books as prescribed as the federal government, and then asked for the right to seize farms through condemnation and resell them to others. He also gave examples of the federal housing authority and the veterans administration taking back 120 thousand housing units through mortgage foreclosure. Reagan said the more the plans fail the more the planners plan.

In his condemnation of large government programs, he points out several failures of policies where the government seeks to help where it is not necessary. The Area Redevelopment Agency declared Rice County, Kansas, a depressed area. This county has two-hundred oil wells and the 14,000 people there have over 30 million dollars in personal savings’ accounts. Reagan calls attention to the fact that we are spending 45 billion dollars on welfare. There are 9.3 million families that are supposedly poverty-stricken. You could divide up that 45 billion dollars and give each family $4600 a year to add to their present income. He explained with sarcastic intent the sad fact that the government is only giving $600 to each family out of the 45 billion dollars. He joked that somewhere there must be some overhead. He highlights that the federal government wants to spend more money to send juvenile delinquents to the Civilian Conservation Core camps than it costs to send them to Harvard. Under the guise of helping the elderly, the federal government created Social Security as an insurance program to prevent destitution. He feels that one could double their investment if they could personally manage those funds for themselves instead of allowing the federal bureaucrats to invest it. He adds that the fund is 298 billion dollars in the hole.

Reagan points out that government programs grow exponentially. Our government set out to help 19 countries with foreign aid and ended up helping 107. Reagan gives comical examples of purchases made with the 146 billion dollars of foreign aid. For example, we bought extra wives for Kenyan government officials. He states that 52 nations have bought 7 billion dollars' worth of our gold, and all 52 are receiving foreign aid from us. He jokes that a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth and that once you create a federal program you can never get rid of it. 1 out of every 6 of our nation's workforce is employed by the government. Reagan gives many varied examples of government programs that are failing our country. His speech is successful in pinpointing several instances in which large centralized government programs create disfunction.

Ronald Reagan uses logos, or logical appeals, to state that the current administration is not on a path to prosperity. Reagan supported his argument with evidence, data, and undeniable facts about the economy. He states that no nation has ever survived a tax burden that reached a third of its national income. He addresses the fact that 37 cents out of every dollar earned in the United States goes to taxes. He states that the government spends 17 million dollars than it takes in. He reminded Americans that we haven’t balanced our budget 28 out of the last 34 years. He cautioned that we have raised our debt limit 3 times in the last 12 months. He also warned that our national debt is 1 and a half times bigger than all the combined debts of all the nations of the world. Ronald Reagan uses statistics to prove to his audience that the current administration does not have as good of an economic plan for prosperity. He uses fear to persuade the audience by stating that we only have 15 billion dollars of gold in our treasury and we don’t own an ounce. He personalizes this message by warning against a welfare state and socialism. He gives an example of talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped communism, and this man said, “I had some place to escape to.” Reagan cautions that if we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. Reagan used logical details to prove that the current course of action deters prosperity. This should move his audience to vote for Goldwater.