Rebecca M. Townsend (Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, M.A., Indiana University) is an associate professor of communication at the University of Hartford and a scholar of rhetoric and ethnography.

“This edited volume on presidential rhetoric in post-Soviet Central and Eastern Europe features a set of clearly and crisply written chapters that provide theoretically informed analyses and critiques of political discourse in Poland, Romania, Belarus, Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia—places beyond the reach of rhetorical scholarship not so long ago. It examines presidential rhetoric building national identity, modeling prudential leadership, and more. We also witness Trump in Warsaw abetting a racist right-wing nationalism and end with Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s emergence as a heroic symbol of democracy.”—Robert L. Ivie, Professor Emeritus, English (Rhetoric) and American Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington

• List of Figures – List of Tables – Acknowledgments – Rebecca M. Townsend: Introduction: Centering Conversations on Presidential Rhetoric in Central and Eastern Europe – Cezar M. Ornatowski: Reinventing the Polish Presidency: Lech Wałęsa and the Political Imaginary of Post–1989 Poland – Agnieszka Kampka/Ewa Modrzejewska: Sources of National Pride: Ceremonial Rhetoric of Polish Presidents – Svilen V. Trifonov/Nadezhda Sotirova: Political Prudence in Times of Protest: The Rhetoric of Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev – Marta Natalia Lukacovic: President Zuzana Čaputová and Her Discourse Surrounding Contemporary Security Threats – Andrew C. Jones: Locating Lithuania in President Dalia Grybauskaitė’s Annual State of the Nation Addresses 2010–2014 – Adriana Cordali: Ceaus,escu’s Cult of Personality and the Visual Rhetoric of the Presidential Portrait – Gábor Pál: From Archetypes to Prototypes, from Prototypes to Strategic Public Identity: Constructing the Persona of a Proper Political Leader – Anna Bendrat/Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca: Closing Statements as Rhetorical Subgenre in Pre-election Debates in Poland and the United States – Alena L. Vasilyeva: Affordances and Constraints of Election Debate Formats – Ralph Frasca/Mary L. Kahl: Constructive Cooperation between "Men of Good Will": Richard Nixon’s 1969 Romanian Rhetoric and Press Reaction at Home and Abroad – Rebecca M. Townsend: Trump Addressing Warsaw and the Wider "West" – Menno H. Reijven: "Serving as an Example": Democracy as a Key Symbol in Obama’s Presidential Speeches in Poland – Timothy Barney: The Post-Cold War American Presidency and the Rhetorical Life of Václav Havel – Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca/Anna Bendrat/Marta Natalia Lukacovic, Agnieszka Kampka/Adriana Cordali/Andrew C. Jones/Rebecca M. Townsend: Epilogue: A Reflection Forward on President Zelenskyy and Ukraine – Notes on Contributors – Index.

Rebecca M. Townsend (Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, M.A., Indiana University) is an associate professor of communication at the University of Hartford and a scholar of rhetoric and ethnography.

“This edited volume on presidential rhetoric in post-Soviet Central and Eastern Europe features a set of clearly and crisply written chapters that provide theoretically informed analyses and critiques of political discourse in Poland, Romania, Belarus, Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia—places beyond the reach of rhetorical scholarship not so long ago. It examines presidential rhetoric building national identity, modeling prudential leadership, and more. We also witness Trump in Warsaw abetting a racist right-wing nationalism and end with Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s emergence as a heroic symbol of democracy.”—Robert L. Ivie, Professor Emeritus, English (Rhetoric) and American Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington

• List of Figures – List of Tables – Acknowledgments – Rebecca M. Townsend: Introduction: Centering Conversations on Presidential Rhetoric in Central and Eastern Europe – Cezar M. Ornatowski: Reinventing the Polish Presidency: Lech Wałęsa and the Political Imaginary of Post–1989 Poland – Agnieszka Kampka/Ewa Modrzejewska: Sources of National Pride: Ceremonial Rhetoric of Polish Presidents – Svilen V. Trifonov/Nadezhda Sotirova: Political Prudence in Times of Protest: The Rhetoric of Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev – Marta Natalia Lukacovic: President Zuzana Čaputová and Her Discourse Surrounding Contemporary Security Threats – Andrew C. Jones: Locating Lithuania in President Dalia Grybauskaitė’s Annual State of the Nation Addresses 2010–2014 – Adriana Cordali: Ceaus,escu’s Cult of Personality and the Visual Rhetoric of the Presidential Portrait – Gábor Pál: From Archetypes to Prototypes, from Prototypes to Strategic Public Identity: Constructing the Persona of a Proper Political Leader – Anna Bendrat/Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca: Closing Statements as Rhetorical Subgenre in Pre-election Debates in Poland and the United States – Alena L. Vasilyeva: Affordances and Constraints of Election Debate Formats – Ralph Frasca/Mary L. Kahl: Constructive Cooperation between "Men of Good Will": Richard Nixon’s 1969 Romanian Rhetoric and Press Reaction at Home and Abroad – Rebecca M. Townsend: Trump Addressing Warsaw and the Wider "West" – Menno H. Reijven: "Serving as an Example": Democracy as a Key Symbol in Obama’s Presidential Speeches in Poland – Timothy Barney: The Post-Cold War American Presidency and the Rhetorical Life of Václav Havel – Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca/Anna Bendrat/Marta Natalia Lukacovic, Agnieszka Kampka/Adriana Cordali/Andrew C. Jones/Rebecca M. Townsend: Epilogue: A Reflection Forward on President Zelenskyy and Ukraine – Notes on Contributors – Index.

Rebecca M. Townsend (Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, M.A., Indiana University) is an associate professor of communication at the University of Hartford and a scholar of rhetoric and ethnography.

“This edited volume on presidential rhetoric in post-Soviet Central and Eastern Europe features a set of clearly and crisply written chapters that provide theoretically informed analyses and critiques of political discourse in Poland, Romania, Belarus, Lithuania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia—places beyond the reach of rhetorical scholarship not so long ago. It examines presidential rhetoric building national identity, modeling prudential leadership, and more. We also witness Trump in Warsaw abetting a racist right-wing nationalism and end with Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s emergence as a heroic symbol of democracy.”—Robert L. Ivie, Professor Emeritus, English (Rhetoric) and American Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington

• List of Figures – List of Tables – Acknowledgments – Rebecca M. Townsend: Introduction: Centering Conversations on Presidential Rhetoric in Central and Eastern Europe – Cezar M. Ornatowski: Reinventing the Polish Presidency: Lech Wałęsa and the Political Imaginary of Post–1989 Poland – Agnieszka Kampka/Ewa Modrzejewska: Sources of National Pride: Ceremonial Rhetoric of Polish Presidents – Svilen V. Trifonov/Nadezhda Sotirova: Political Prudence in Times of Protest: The Rhetoric of Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev – Marta Natalia Lukacovic: President Zuzana Čaputová and Her Discourse Surrounding Contemporary Security Threats – Andrew C. Jones: Locating Lithuania in President Dalia Grybauskaitė’s Annual State of the Nation Addresses 2010–2014 – Adriana Cordali: Ceaus,escu’s Cult of Personality and the Visual Rhetoric of the Presidential Portrait – Gábor Pál: From Archetypes to Prototypes, from Prototypes to Strategic Public Identity: Constructing the Persona of a Proper Political Leader – Anna Bendrat/Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca: Closing Statements as Rhetorical Subgenre in Pre-election Debates in Poland and the United States – Alena L. Vasilyeva: Affordances and Constraints of Election Debate Formats – Ralph Frasca/Mary L. Kahl: Constructive Cooperation between "Men of Good Will": Richard Nixon’s 1969 Romanian Rhetoric and Press Reaction at Home and Abroad – Rebecca M. Townsend: Trump Addressing Warsaw and the Wider "West" – Menno H. Reijven: "Serving as an Example": Democracy as a Key Symbol in Obama’s Presidential Speeches in Poland – Timothy Barney: The Post-Cold War American Presidency and the Rhetorical Life of Václav Havel – Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca/Anna Bendrat/Marta Natalia Lukacovic, Agnieszka Kampka/Adriana Cordali/Andrew C. Jones/Rebecca M. Townsend: Epilogue: A Reflection Forward on President Zelenskyy and Ukraine – Notes on Contributors – Index.