Ronald Reagan's economic jeremiad

Abstract

Ronald Reagan's address to the nation on February 5, 1981, concerning the state of the economy is a contemporary secular version of the jeremiad, a rhetorical form that has persisted in America since colonial times. Reagan skillfully utilizes the elements of the jeremiad genre to motivate citizen and congressional response to what he views as an economic crisis. He is adept in lamenting ills and faults, vividly depicting potential calamity, exhorting repentance and reform, and declaring optimism.