Author: Garth E. Pauley Publisher: ISBN: Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 326
Book Description
Every president since Franklin Roosevelt has confronted civil rights issues during his tenure in the White House, and most have faced intense demands to speak publicly about the nation's racial problems and possible solutions. Indeed, modern American presidents have become a major focal point for the civil rights struggle. In The Modern Presidency and Civil Rights, Garth E. Pauley examines modern presidents' communicative and symbolic involvement in these matters, focusing on four crucial speeches, the circumstances surrounding them, and their effect on public attitudes and policy. Pauley's perspective is both historical and critical. It explores the pattern of presidential discourse on race in the modern era and considers the promise and limitations of presidential talk with regard to civil rights. The four significant episodes of American presidential speech Pauley examines are: Harry Truman's address of June 29, 1947, to the NAACP; Dwight Eisenhower's national address on September 24, 1957, following the integration crisis at Little Rock; John F. Kennedy's speech on June 11, 1963, labeling civil rights as primarily a moral issue; and Lyndon Johnson's voting rights message of March 15, 1965. Historical background is provided by a discussion of Roosevelt's racial stance. Pauley's analysis is guided by several assumptions about the presidency, civil rights, and rhetoric, beginning with the assumption that presidential rhetoric matters. Pauley examines the role of rhetoric in leadership, policy making, and the political meanings and interpretations that form the political culture. Following in the tradition of his discipline, Pauley gives both close analysis of the speech text itself and consideration of the historical situation surrounding the speech.
Author: Amos Kiewe Publisher: Praeger ISBN: Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 300
Book Description
This volume examines how presidents from Truman to Bush rhetorically approached and managed political, military, judicial, legislative, and economic crises during their presidencies. Editor Amos Kiewe assembles new essays by communications scholars who look at rhetoric initiated during national crises, and account for various rhetorical developments affected by crises, changes in presidential rhetoric, and rhetorical and situational crisis constraints. Their studies suggest similarities in rhetoric in different types of crises, and yield resources for postulating patterns of crisis rhetoric. Each chapter's author presents a crisis rhetoric case study, analyzing initial strategies and tactics, shifts in rhetorical tactics, adjustments of discourse to particular phases in the crises, and unique rhetorical approaches designed to accommodate unexpected turns of events. The contributors discuss how presidents use rhetorical inventions, flip-flops, face-saving posturing, and even silence to diffuse crises. Specific topics include Eisenhower's response to the constitutional crisis in Little Rock, Kennedy and the Berlin Wall crisis, Johnson and the Kennedy assassination, Nixon and Watergate, and Bush and the Persian Gulf Crisis. Recommended for political scientists and communication theorists.
Author: James Arnt Aune Publisher: ISBN: Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 366
Book Description
For a century and a half the words of presidents have framed, expressed, and sometimes challenged the civil rights policies of America. As James Aune notes in his introduction to this important volume, "Perhaps more than in any other policy arena, presidential discourse on civil rights and justice toward African Americans illustrates both the highest level of eloquence and the lowest level of rhetorical selfdeception possible in a representative democracy." The authors of this book examine the ways in which American presidents and their administrations have defined the meaning of civil rights from Rutherford B. Hayes to William Jefferson Clinton. Using a variety of methodologies, the book's contributors examine: - the depressing tale of how the Southern Redeemer presidents from Hayes to McKinley abandoned the promise of civil rights and reestablished the racial class system; - the eugenics of Calvin Coolidge's race rhetoric; - the creative rhetorical invention of Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry Truman that laid the foundation for a positive reconstitution of the American community; - the much-debated civil rights legacy of John F. Kennedy's administration; and - the efforts by conservative presidents to redefine the civil rights legacy in their own terms. The book's insightful closing chapter analyzes President Clinton's 1997-98 Race Initiative and its failure, drawing conclusions about the role of presidential rhetoric in the near future of civil rights. The original and challenging analyses and perspectives of this well-written, tightly focused volume shed light on both the history of civil rights and the practice of presidential rhetoric. Whether for individual enlightenment or for course use, readers will find the book addresses many previously unanswered questions and opens new paths for exploring the central American dilemma.
Author: Colleen J. Shogan Publisher: Texas A&M University Press ISBN: 9781585446391 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 252
Book Description
Although sometimes decried by pundits, George W. Bush’s use of moral and religious rhetoric is far from unique in the American presidency. Throughout history and across party boundaries, presidents have used such appeals, with varying degrees of political success. The Moral Rhetoric of American Presidents astutely analyzes the president’s role as the nation’s moral spokesman. Armed with quantitative methods from political science and the qualitative case study approach prevalent in rhetorical studies, Colleen J. Shogan demonstrates that moral and religious rhetoric is not simply a reflection of individual character or an expression of American “civil religion” but a strategic tool presidents can use to enhance their constitutional authority. To determine how the use of moral rhetoric has changed over time, Shogan employs content analysis of the inaugural and annual addresses of all the presidents from George Washington through George W. Bush. This quantitative evidence shows that while presidents of both parties have used moral and religious arguments, the frequency has fluctuated considerably and the language has become increasingly detached from relevant policy arguments. Shogan explores the political effects of the rhetorical choices presidents make through nine historical cases (Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Buchanan, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Carter). She shows that presidents who adapt their rhetoric to the political conditions at hand enhance their constitutional authority, while presidents who ignore political constraints suffer adverse political consequences. The case studies allow Shogan to highlight the specific political circumstances that encourage or discourage the use of moral rhetoric. Shogan concludes with an analysis of several dilemmas of governance instigated by George W. Bush’s persistent devotion to moral and religious argumentation.
Author: Garth E. Pauley Publisher: Texas A&M University Press ISBN: 1585445819 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 191
Book Description
Though Lyndon Johnson developed a reputation as a rough-hewn, arm-twisting deal-maker with a drawl, at a crucial moment in history he delivered an address to Congress that moved Martin Luther King Jr. to tears and earned praise from the media as the best presidential speech in American history. Even today, his voting rights address of 1965 ranks high not only in political significance, but also as an example of leadership through oratory. Garth E. Pauley carefully analyzes both the content and the context of this historic speech. He begins with an analysis of the less-than-linear path of voting rights in the United States, and highlights the failures and limited successes of previous legislation. Many commentators have seen Johnson’s voting rights speech as a response to the escalating protests in Selma, and Pauley explores that connection. Did Johnson wait too long to address the issue? Would he have championed voting rights without the protests? Pauley traces the development of the speech and the policy with these questions in mind. He situates the speech not only within its immediate context but also within Johnson’s ideology and value system, tracing the influences on Johnson’s racial attitudes and describing the complex of policies he developed to address issues of inequality. Having set the stage for the address, Pauley then carefully analyzes the text itself. He charts the “authorship” of the speech through several drafts by aides, traces the purposefulness of the allusions, and recounts the extemporizing Johnson introduced when he actually delivered the address. He notes the idealistic, even mythic dimensions of the speech, which contrast with its plainspoken style. Finally, Pauley gauges the effectiveness of the speech. He reports the response to the address in the media, among civil rights leaders, and in the general population. Pauley concludes with some reservations about the effectiveness not only of this address but also of the Johnson program for racial justice. Nonetheless, he believes that “Lyndon Johnson’s ‘We Shall Overcome’ speech remains a remarkable achievement,” combining principle with rhetorical leadership.
Author: Davis W. Houck Publisher: Baylor University Press ISBN: 1932792546 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 1013
Book Description
V.2: Building upon their critically acclaimed first volume, Davis W. Houck and David E. Dixon's new Rhetoric, Religion, and the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965 is a recovery project of enormous proportions. Houck and Dixon have again combed church archives, government documents, university libraries, and private collections in pursuit of the civil rights movement's long-buried eloquence. Their new work presents fifty new speeches and sermons delivered by both famed leaders and little-known civil rights activists on national stages and in quiet shacks. The speeches carry novel insights into the ways in which individuals and communities utilized religious rhetoric to upset the racial status quo in divided America during the civil rights era. Houck and Dixon's work illustrates again how a movement so prominent in historical scholarship still has much to teach us. (Publisher).
Author: Ben Voth Publisher: ISBN: 9781666917956 Category : Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
In this book, Ben Voth argues that the centennial of the modern presidency embodied in the rhetoric of presidents Wilson, Harding and Coolidge provides an opportunity to re-examine our conventional understanding of U.S. presidents and presidential rankings. In particular, this book focuses on Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge's rhetoric surrounding women's suffrage and the political treatment of Black Americans. Voth demonstrates that ideological considerations elevated Wilson too high in presidential rankings and sabotaged Harding to an unwarranted ethical floor. Scholars of communication, rhetoric, and American history will find this book of particular interest.
Author: Martin J. Medhurst Publisher: ISBN: Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 304
Book Description
With the administrations of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the American presidency underwent many profound changes. Chief among those was a radical evolution in the interaction of the president with the general public. Divided into three sections, the ten essays of this volume focus on that evolution and offer thought-provoking analyses concerning the role of presidential rhetoric in passing policy, generating support, and promoting public discourse. In Part I, Jeffrey Tulis, who introduced the concept of the rhetorical presidency more than a decade ago, considers how the dilemmas he envisioned as part of that concept change just as the political arena changes. Glen E. Thurow reflects on private virtue and public duty as aspects of presidential character. Bruce E. Gronbeck argues that the electronic age has fundamentally changed the nature and impact of presidential rhetoric and, indeed, the presidency itself, while Thomas W. Benson contemplates whether politics is even possible in the environment of current computer-mediated communications. Part II turns from theoretical and metatheoretical explorations to practical criticism in a series of case studies. Roderick P. Hart and Kathleen Kendall evaluate the significance of a single telephone conversation about civil rights between Vice President Lyndon Johnson and Theodore Sorenson in June, 1963. Using Richard Nixon's rhetoric as the example from which to draw general themes and issues, Edwin Black considers the complex moral economy that supports presidential self-invention. G. Thomas Goodnight uses the debate over Ronald Reagan's policy toward Central America to study "rhetorical history . . . contested memory and the uses of time in the service of power." Robert L. Ivie examines Graubard's critique of presidential war rhetoric in the context of the Persian Gulf action. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell presents a framework for understanding the public views of the First Lady, focusing on Hillary Rodham Clinton but drawing historical parallels. Finally, Part III of this volume offers a social scientific assessment of the theoretical and interpretive research on presidential rhetoric from one of the nation's leading scholars of the presidency, George Edwards. An introduction and afterword by series editor Martin J. Medhurst seek to clarify the nature and status of the debate about the rhetorical presidency. Beyond the Rhetorical Presidency offers scholars with an interest in speech communication and political science a volume that reexamines the place and significance of presidential rhetoric.
Author: Garth E. Pauley
Author: Garth E. Pauley
Author: Amos Kiewe
Author: James Arnt Aune
Author: Colleen J. Shogan
Author: Kevin M. Coe
Author: Garth E. Pauley
Author: Davis W. Houck
Author: Ben Voth
Author: Martin J. Medhurst