Mistereagan's neighborhood: Rhetoric and national unity

Abstract

This essay examines the rhetorical themes through which President Ronald Reagan has, relative to his recent predecessors, unified the nation behind his leadership. Drawing upon familiar myths, symbols, values, and beliefs Mr. Reagan adroitly depicts a community of extraordinarily ordinary Americans who can accomplish anything because of their faith in a proud heritage of self‐evident morality. The interweaving of these themes is so skillful that any criticism of the President or his policies is initially construed as an attack upon the very meaning of America.