Welcome to Words Matter with Katie Barlow and Joe Lockhart.

Welcome to Words Matter, I'm Katie Barlow.

Our goal is to promote objective reality.

As a wise man once said, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, not their own facts.

Have power and words have consequences.

This week on Presidential Words Matter, we focus on Ronald Reagan and how he used the power of his office

to provide leadership and comfort in a time of national tragedy, crisis, and mourning.

The space shuttle Challengers' launch had already been delayed twice when it finally took off

on January 28, 1986. This particular launch was widely publicized because for the first time in

history, a civilian, a teacher named Kristen McCullough was traveling into space.

The plan was to have McCullough communicate to students from space.

According to the New York Times, nearly half of America's school children aged 9 to 13

watched the event live in their classrooms. But tragically, a short 73 seconds into flight,

the world was stunned when the challenger burst into flames, killing all seven crew members on board.

President Ronald Reagan canceled his scheduled State of the Union address that evening and instead

addressed the nation's grief. A young speechwriter, a friend and a hero of mine Peggy Nunean was tasked

with drafting the president's remarks on this solemn occasion. It was a heavy burden,

as she later recalled, quote, I kind of figured the entire nation had just seen an auto accident.

Nunean drafted a speech that was aimed as she put it, quote, at those who were eight years old,

those who were 18, and those who were 80. It was nothing less than one of the greatest speeches

in presidential history. And it earned Ronald Reagan his now famous moniker, the great communicator.

With that, let's listen to Ronald Reagan's January 20th, 1986 speech, following the space shuttle

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