The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the 
manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, 
nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for 
the journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of 
earth" to "touch the face of God."—from the Challenger Address


Millions of Americans, including hundreds of thousands of 
schoolchildren, watched in horror as the Challenger shuttle 
capsule exploded on live television on January 28, 1986. Coupled 
with that awful image in Americans' memory is the face of 
President Ronald Reagan addressing the public hours later with 
words that spoke to the nation's shock and mourning.

    Focusing on the text of Reagan's speech, author Mary Stuckey 
shows how President Reagan's reputation as "the Great 
Communicator" adds significance to our understanding of his 
rhetoric on one of the most momentous occasions of his 
administration.

_________________________________________________________

MARY E. STUCKEY, who holds a joint appointment in the 
political science and communication departments at Georgia State 
University, is a prolific author on the subject of the presidency and 
serves as book review editor of the journal Rhetoric and Public 
Affairs.  She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Notre 
Dame.


Library of Presidential Rhetoric


What people are saying about this book

" . . . an instructive, reasoned, and compelling investigation of the 
origins, language, and meaning of this speech. It is a permanently 
useful work . . . written in a comprehensible, even scintillating 
style."—Roger Launius, Chair, Division of Space History, National 
Air and Space Museum