The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric

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Texas A&M University Press, Jan 17, 2008 - Political Science - 400 pages
Culminating a decade of conferences that have explored presidential speech, The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric assesses progress and suggests directions for both the practice of presidential speech and its study.

In Part One, following an analytic review of the field by Martin Medhurst, contributors address the state of the art in their own areas of expertise. Roderick P. Hart then summarizes their work in the course of his rebuttal of an argument made by political scientist George Edwards: that presidential rhetoric lacks political impact.

Part Two of the volume consists of the forward-looking reports of six task forces, comprising more than forty scholars, charged with outlining the likely future course of presidential rhetoric, as well as the major questions scholars should ask about it and the tools at their disposal.

The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric will serve as a pivotal work for students and scholars of public discourse and the presidency who seek to understand the shifting landscape of American political leadership.

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Contents

FROM RETROSPECT TO PROSPECT The Study of Presidential Rhetoric 19152005 Martin J Medhurst Baylor University
3
POWER AND AUTHORITY IN A POSTMODERN PRESIDENCY John M Murphy University of Georgia
28
THE ECONORHETORICAL PRESIDENCY James Arnt Aune Texas AM University
46
THE RETURN OF THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY Marouf Hasian Jr University of Utah
69
TO PRODUCE A JUDICIOUS CHOICE Presidential Responses to the Exercise of Advice and Consent by the US Senate on Supreme Court Nominati...
99
THE RHETORICAL PRESIDENCY AND THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN DREAM Leroy Dorsey Texas AM University
130
OF ALLIES AND ENEMIES Old Wine in New Bottles or New Wine in an Old Jug? Marilyn J Young Florida State University
160
REVISING THE COLD WAR NARRATIVE TO ENCOMPASS TERRORIST THREATS Vietnam and Beyond Carol Winkler Georga State University
182
PART 2 TASK FORCE REPORTS
249
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE PRESIDENCY AND DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY Chair Vanessa B Beasley Southern M...
251
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION TO CONGRESS Chair Mary E Stuckey Georgia State Univ...
272
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE PRESIDENCY AND PUBLIC OPINION Chair J Michael Hogan Pennsylvania State Universit...
293
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF PRESIDENTIAL RHETORIC Chair Steven R Goldzwig ...
317
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE RHETORICAL PRESIDENCY Chair David Henry Uni...
340
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON PRESIDENTIAL RHETORIC IN TIMES OF CRISIS Chair Denise M Bostdorff College of Wooste...
355
CONTRIBUTORS
379

GEORGE W BUSH PUBLIC FAITH AND THE CULTURE WAR OVER SAMESEX MARRIAGE Martin J Medhurst Baylor University
209
THINKING HARDER ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL DISCOURSE The Question of Efficacy Roderick P Hart University of Texas at Austin
238

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About the author (2008)

JAMES ARNT AUNE, a professor of communication at Texas A&M University, is the coeditor of one previous volume in the Presidential Rhetoric Series, Civil Rights Rhetoric and the American Presidency (2005), and the author of several other books on rhetoric. MARTIN J. MEDHURST is the founding editor of the Presidential Rhetoric Series and the prime mover behind the ten conferences on that topic held at Texas A&M University as a program of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service. This volume is the outgrowth of the last of those conferences. Medhurst is now a Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Communication at Baylor University.

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