{"id":195,"date":"2026-02-06T05:19:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T10:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/tops\/?page_id=195"},"modified":"2026-02-06T05:19:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T10:19:33","slug":"ronald-reagans-national-address-in-response-to-the-challenger-space-shuttle-explosion","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/tops\/resources-for-teachers\/individual-speeches\/ronald-reagans-national-address-in-response-to-the-challenger-space-shuttle-explosion\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronald Reagan\u2019s national address in response to the Challenger space shuttle explosion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Before Watching:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>President Reagan addressed the United States after the nation was shaken by the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle mid-flight. The disaster was broadcast live. What do you think his audience wanted him to say about this?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be prepared to consider how the speech is organized and to listen for main thesis statements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Challenger: President Reagan&#039;s Challenger Disaster Speech - 1\/28\/86\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Qa7icmqgsow?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>After Watching:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What do you think was the most powerful statement made in the speech?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How would you describe the tone of the speech?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What was Reagan wanting to persuade people to do or think?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How was the speech organized? By chronology, by spatial description, by cause and effect, or by audience?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If he had been speaking in front of a live audience instead of a camera, how might the speech have been different?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before Watching: After Watching:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":304,"featured_media":0,"parent":164,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-195","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ronald Reagan\u2019s national address in response to the Challenger space shuttle explosion - Tennessee Online Public Speaking Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cci.utk.edu\/tops\/resources-for-teachers\/individual-speeches\/ronald-reagans-national-address-in-response-to-the-challenger-space-shuttle-explosion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ronald Reagan\u2019s national address in response to the Challenger space shuttle explosion - 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