Dividing the world: The dichotomous rhetoric of Ronald Reagan

The language of politics often divides our world into two groups: those who share our own values, and those who supposedly oppose them. Ex-President Ronald Reagan was a master of the use of dichotomous language. His dichotomies were most clearly present in his descriptions of the U.S.- Soviet relations and the American and the Soviet military. The military build-up on the American side was exculpated, while the Soviet military build-up was vilified. With the change of the Soviet leadership in 1985, Reagan’s dichotomous thinking was challenged, and towards the end of Reagan’s presidency a slight change in his rhetoric can be noticed: he started to acknowledge a good side to the Soviet Union; however, there was often a tendency to denigrate the observed good. New areas of dichotomies arose, and vilification flourished till the end of his presidency.