Reading the Presidency: Advances in Presidential Rhetoric (Frontiers in Political Communication)

Description

This edited collection explores ways to better understand the rhetorical workings of political executives, especially the United States president. Scholars of the presidency, rhetorical theorists and critics, and various authors examine the ways in which presidents use the institution, the media, and popular culture to instantiate, expand, and wield executive power. Cover Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: The Study of Presidential Rhetoric in Uncertain Times: Thoughts on Theory and Praxis (Stephen J. Heidt) Going Public, the Rhetorical Presidency, and the Waning Utility of Metatheory Presidents, Rhetoric, and the Quandary of Significance in the Absence of Metatheory Chapter Summaries Notes Section One: Reading the President through Institutions Chapter One: Cartographer-in-Chief: Maps in Televisual Addresses and the Cold War President as Geographic Educator (Timothy Barney) Presidential Rhetoric and Critical Geopolitics Kennedy, Laos, and the “Victim of Geography” “As You See Here on the Map”: Nixon’s Cartography of Cambodia The “Backyard” and Reagan’s Mapping of Central America Conclusion Notes Chapter Two: Reading the Presidency In Situ: Obama in Cuba and the Significance of Place in U.S. Presidential Public Address (Allison M. Prasch) Reading U.S. Presidential Rhetoric In Situ Obama in Cuba: (Re)Visions of a Post-Cold War Foreign Policy Conclusion Notes Chapter Three: The Other Presidential Rhetoric: Rhetorical Mobilization within the White House (Milene Ortega / Mary E. Stuckey) The Panama Canal Treaties Carter’s Communication Magnifying the President’s Message Fragmentation Mobilization Amplification Conclusion: The President and the Presidency Notes Chapter Four: Genre-Busting: Campaign Speech Genres and the Rhetoric of Political Outsiders (Ryan Neville-Shepard) Advancing Genre Studies: “Violators” versus “Outsiders” Third Party Genre-Busting Donald Trump’s Genre-Busting in the 2016 GOP Primary Conclusion Notes Chapter Five: The Rise of Comforter-in-Chief: Presidential Responses to Violence Since Reagan (Jay P. Childers / Cassandra C. Bird) How Presidents Expand the Presidency An Emergent Role An Expanding Role Jonesboro, Arkansas Springfield, Oregon Littleton, Colorado An Established Role Conclusion Notes Section Two: Reading the Presidency through Interactions Chapter Six: Obama’s Command: Chemical Weapons in Syria and the Global Duties of a Rhetorical Presidency (Ronald Walter Greene / Jay Alexander Frank) The Rhetorical Presidency is an Ethical Machine Command is an Ethical Technology Command is a Distributive Technology Conclusion Notes Chapter Seven: Unpresidented: Articulating the Presidency in the Age of Trump (Blake Abbott) An Unstable President The Instability of the Presidential Subject Articulating the Presidency Conclusion Notes Chapter Eight: Trump, Twitter, and the Microdiatribe: The Short Circuits of Networked Presidential Public Address (Stephen J. Heidt / Damien Smith Pfister) Short Circuits of Deliberation Trump, Twitter, and the Microdiatribe Analyzing Presidential Rhetoric in a Digital Media Ecology Conclusion Notes Chapter Nine: Pioneers, Prophets, and Profligates: George W. Bush’s Presidential Interaction with Science (Leah Ceccarelli) Scientists as Pioneers and Prophets Scientists as Uncertain Scientist as Immoral Conclusion Notes Chapter Ten: Negotiating the Limits of a Multiparty Democracy: Michelle Bachelet’s Rhetoric of Commitment (Belinda A. Stillion Southward) Why Study Non-U.S. Presidential Rhetoric? How to Study Non-US Presidential Rhetoric Bachelet’s Life and Context Bachelet’s Rhetoric of Commitment Selection and Translation of Texts Analysis: Committed to the Commitments of the People and the State Conclusion: The Potential and Limits of a Rhetoric of Commitment Notes Section Three: Reading the Presidency through Interruptions Chapter Eleven: The Debt Ceiling Debacle: Presidentialism as Cruel Optimism (Paul Johnson) Presidentialism’s Effects and Appeal Cruel Optimism and the Presidency The Debt Ceiling Fight Conclusion Notes Chapter Twelve: The Discursive Antecedents to Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs (Joel M. Lemuel) The Postmodern Turn in Presidential Address Addiction in Forensic Discourse (1910s−1960s) Addiction in Juridical Discourse (1880s−1960s) Addiction in Medical Discourse (1880s−1960s) Therapeutic Communities: The Spiritual Path to Recovery Methadone Maintenance Therapy: The Pharmacological Path to Recovery Addiction in Scientific Discourse (1960s–1970s) Addiction in the Rhetoric of the Nixon Administration Addiction as a Symptom of Civil Disorder: Echoes of Juridico-Forensic Discourse in Nixon’s Campaign Rhetoric Addiction as a Public Health Problem: Echoes of Medico-Scientific Discourse in President Nixon’s Drug Policy Rhetoric Conclusion Notes Chapter Thirteen: Home-Making, Nation-Making: American Womanhood in Progressive Era Presidential Rhetoric (Leslie J. Harris) Loci of Order and Home Women, the Progressive Era, and Politics Home and Presidential Rhetoric Duties of and to Women Conclusion: The Presidency and Women’s Place Notes Chapter Fourteen: White “Honky” Liberals, Rhetorical Disidentification, and Black Power during the Johnson Administration (Lisa Corrigan) LBJ, Identification, and the Black Freedom Struggle Fracturing the Coalitions: Black Power and White Liberals (Dis)identification and Collective Action LBJ and Black Power’s Disidentification White Backlash and Black Power Notes Afterword: Reflections on Rhetoric and the Presidency (David Zarefsky) Notes About the Contributors