The rhetorical presidency of George H.W. Bush / edited by Martin J. Medhurst.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Medhurst, Martin J.

Series:

Presidential rhetoric series ; no. 14.

Presidential rhetoric series ; no. 14

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bush, George, 1924-2018--Oratory.

Bush, George.

Bush, George, 1924-2018--Language.

Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century.

Rhetoric.

Communication in politics--United States--History--20th century.

Communication in politics.

Political leadership--United States--History--20th century.

Political leadership.

United States--Politics and government--1989-1993.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (220 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

For George H. W. Bush, the distinction between campaigning ("politics") and governing ("principles") was crucial. Once in office, he abandoned his campaign mode and with it the rhetorical strategies that brought electoral success. Not recognizing the crucial importance of rhetoric to policy formation and implementation, Bush forfeited the resources of the bully pulpit and paid the price of electoral defeat. In this first-ever analysis of Bush's rhetoric to draw on the archives of the Bush Presidential Library, scholars explore eight major events or topics associated with his presidency: the first Gulf War, the fall of the Berlin wall, the "New World Order," Bush's "education presidency," his environmental stance, the "vision thing," and the influence of the Religious Right. The volume concludes with a cogent of the 1992 re-election campaign and Bush's last-gasp use of economic rhetoric.Drawing on the resources of the Bush Presidential Library and interviews with many of Bush's White House aides, the scholars included in this tightly organized volume ask, How well did President Bush and his administration respond to events, issues, and situations? In the process, they also suggest how a more perceptive embrace of the art of rhetoric might have allowed them to respond more successfully."The Rhetorical Presidency of George H. W. Bush "breaks important ground for our understanding of the forty-first president's time in office and the reasons it ended so quickly.

Contents:

Why rhetoric matters : George Bush in the White House / by Martin J. Medhurst

George Bush's struggle with the "vision thing" / by Catherine L. Langford

And the wall came tumbling down : Bush's rhetoric of silence during German reunification / by William Forrest Harlow

Agency and agent in George Bush's Gulf War rhetoric / by Rachel Martin Harlow

The new world order : President Bush and the post-Cold War era / by Roy Joseph

Political truancy : George Bush's claim to the mantle of "education president" / by Holly G. McIntush

Prudence, procrastination, or politics : George Bush and the Earth Summit of 1992 / by Martín Carcasson

George Bush and the religious right / by Amy Tilton Jones

Economically speaking : George Bush and the price of perception / by Wynton C. Hall

Afterword : evaluating the rhetorical presidency of George Bush / by Martin J. Medhurst.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-299-05365-3

1-60344-558-7

OCLC:

608778383