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Abstract
Ronald Reagan's addresses, news conferences, and statements on disarmament during his first term form the focus of this dissertation. The rhetoric of the Nuclear Freeze Campaign formed the background for the study of Reagan's response. A November 18, 1981, address before the National Press Club was selected as the representative anecdote for the disarmament rhetoric.
Using Kenneth Burke's dramatistic method, the dissertation concludes that Reagan's effective choices in transformation, entitlement, and identification produced a disarmament drama that enabled many American listeners to cope with the arms race. The understandings created by this drama appealed to an audience that had been aroused by the freeze movement about the dangers of nuclear war. Reagan's rhetorical choices included transforming the conflict of the people versus the arms race into a conflict between the people and the Soviet threat, entitling a nuclear buildup "START" to make it appear that reduction goes further than freezing weapons, and identifying with America's desire not to repeat past mistakes of history by promoting a need for a strong Alliance. Reagan reinforced the drama of an arms buildup as a road to peace. These choices, the constraints of freeze member's access to the media, and inconsistencies among freeze appeals, contributed significantly to the current lack of support for a nuclear freeze. Thus, the dissertation concludes that Reagan better equipped his auditors to come to grips with the arms race than did the freeze advocates.
