Reagan on the Challenger Explosion

This video of Reagan's address to the nation after the Challenger disaster illustrates some key points about his presidency from Gould. On page 195, Gould states, "[T]he Reagan team produced State of the Union messages with as much care as an Academy Awards show." While Oscar-level care and prep probably didn't go into the execution of this particular address, for such a short, 4-minute clip, it exhibits some elementary yet key and important cinematic camera techniques. The camera starts out extra-wide, then slowly zooms in on Reagan in increments. It's as if the camera is bringing the audience incrementally closer to the President, making his message more and more personal. It's Reagan's modified fireside chat - he's talking directly to you in your home.

You also see in this clip how he is the ideal voice Americans would want to hear in the aftermath of this disaster - a comforting, secure, stable and steady presence, the voice of confidence, reassurance and unwavering patriotism that America needed after "fifteen years of false starts and unsuccessful presidents" (Gould 191). His voice is quiet yet firm and reassuring - unfaltering. Gould informs us that "Brief radio addresses had been one way that Reagan kept in touch with his conservative base after he left the California governorship in 1974. These short broadcasts suited well his ability to get a policy issue explained in clear, simple terms" (Gould 194). Here, Reagan's not explaining a policy issue, but his penchant and talent for the clear and simple is again on display. He makes a personal address to America's schoolchildren in clear, simple language - language any 4th or 5th-grade child, but also any adult, could understand. This isn't just a popular way to appeal to children and their parents - this IS Reagan's brand of politics. He spoke to the people without losing any of his integrity in kitschy, hokey, populist metaphors. He spoke in a manner all American's could understand, and he certainly appealed to the "everyman," but he did so without compromising any of his intelligence and his integrity, which is how he garnered massive electoral support in 1984.