President Reagan's defensive discourse on the Iran‐Contra affair

Abstract

This essay develops a preliminary synthesis and extension of approaches to defensive discourse articulated by Burke, Ware and Linkugel, and Scott and Lyman. This formulation is applied to President Reagan's discourse on the Iran‐Contra affair. Three phases emerge using different strategies. Reagan's defense is then evaluated. We argue that Reagan's defense developed through three distinct phases and that the final phase, in which he admits making a mistake and takes decisive action to prevent its recurrence, is the most effective.