Front cover image for The White House speaks : presidential leadership as persuasion

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
Print Book, English, 1994
Praeger, Westport, Conn., 1994
Messages
xvi, 263 pages ; 25 cm
9780275943943, 0275943941
28801170
1. Presidential Leadership as Persuasion
2. The Interpretive Systems Approach to Presidential Leadership
3. The Coalitionless President and the Pardons
4. The Politics of Division
5. Narrative Conflict and the Panama Canal Treaties
6. Political Jeremiads from the Bully Pulpit
7. Presidential Mobilization for Sacrifice
8. The Presidency in Rhetorical Crisis
9. Conclusions: Presidential Leadership in the 1990s