1964 RNC Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech: Anaphora

    1964 RNC Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech: Anaphora

      What's a reminder? It's something intended to make us remember what we already know but might have forgotten. It's hard when there are so many things to remember: class schedules, homework assignments, teeth cleanings, friends' birthdays… No way can a person keep it all straight right?

      But no fear, Barry Goldwater is here.

      And how does he do it? With a trick we call anaphora. "Anaphora" is when the first word or words of a sentence are repeated a bunch of times. In this case, the Most Popular Phrase award is shared by "let me remind you" and "I needn't remind you."

      Let's see what all he's reminding his audience of in this speech.

      First, they're reminded that those who try to impose their vision of utopia on others "always create the most hellish tyrannies" (46).

      That's a sobering reminder.

      Other helpful reminders include:

      • "Only the strong can remain free… only the strong can keep the peace" (56)
      • The Republican Party is well aware of above fact and has shouldered the responsibility of it and marched for its cause
      • The Eisenhower Administration totally got that, and they did awesome things because they got it
      • The Democrats totally don't get it, which has led to the U.S. being weak, timid, and deceitful in dealings with other countries and our own troops
      • It's also led to a billion people becoming Communist captives
      • Decentralized government, keeping government close to the people, is how the "ladder of liberty" is constructed (122)
      • And, of course, the reminder of all reminders: "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice… moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue" (133-34)

      This is a great tactic because, by phrasing his philosophy as a bunch of reminders instead of saying "this is the way it is," he's letting people think that these are all things they've all thought before, that they all believed, but that they just needed to be reminded of. It's a subtler way of saying, "We're all in this together, we understand what's going on, and furthermore, here's what we're going to do about it."