The White House Speaks - Presidential Leadership as Persuasion

This work treats presidential leadership as persuasive communication. The major theories of presidential leadership found in the literature establish the central role of persuasion, and introduce the interpretive systems approach to political communication as a theoretical framework for the study of presidential leadership as persuasion. Case studies examine recent presidents' use of public persuasion to perform their leadership functions. Particular attention is devoted to coalitional constraints on presidential pardoning rhetoric, presidential leadership through the politics of division, the political significance of conflicting political narratives, the sermonic nature of much 20th-century presidential discourse, the difficulties inherent in persuading the public to make sacrifices, and the dangers of relying too heavily on public rhetoric. The concluding chapter considers the rhetoric that contributed to the demise of the Bush presidency, the election of Bill Clinton, and the challenges facing the Clinton presidency.

List of contents

Preface
Presidential Leadership as Persuasion
The Interpretive Systems Approach to Presidential Leadership
The Coalitionless President and the Pardons
The Politics of Division
Narrative Conflict and the Panama Canal Treaties
Political Jeremiads from the Bully Pulpit
Presidential Mobilization for Sacrifice
The Presidency in Rhetorical Crisis
Conclusions: Presidential Leadership in the 1990s
Index

About the author

CRAIG ALLEN SMITH is Professor of Communication at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

KATHY B. SMITH is Associate Professor of Politics at Wake Forest University.

Product details

• Authors: Craig Allen Smith, Smith Craig A., Smith Kathy B.
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 11.04.1994
• EAN: 9780275943943
• ISBN: 978-0-275-94394-3
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Media, communication > General, dictionaries; USA, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Communication Studies, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Semantics, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / National, Communication Studies, United States of America, USA, Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics, Central / national / federal government, Central government, Semantics, discourse analysis, etc, Politics, Law, and Government