More Than a Doctrine

Randall Fowler teaches rhetoric at the University of Maryland, College Park. He previously taught at Baylor University and at Jordan Applied University in Amman as a Fulbright instructor. Martin J. Medhurst is Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Communication and professor of political science at Baylor University. He is the founding editor of the journal Rhetoric and Public Affairs.

"[A] thought-provoking and radical book that explores an explosive subject that is as relevant today as it was in 1957. Thoroughly researched, so that it includes some once top-secret materials that probably have had few eyes laid on them to-date."-Anna Faktorovich, Pennsylvania Literary Journal "The Eisenhower Doctrine has long since faded from memory, and yet the doctrine and the rhetoric that accompanied it marked an important turning point in America’s approach to the Middle East. Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, or ‘international communism’ as Eisenhower would have it, the doctrine remains relevant. It was the first full enunciation of interests-support for conservative allies, and ensuring that the region’s oil reached the global market-that continue to define much of Washington’s priorities."-Survival: Global Politics and Strategy "Fowler skillfully uses the Eisenhower Doctrine as the lens through which to view America's developing relationship with the Middle East. . . . More Than a Doctrine is useful for readers interested in both history and the study of rhetoric."-Nicole Anslover, Kansas History "More Than a Doctrine is an excellent study of the effects and impact of presidential rhetoric. It uses Eisenhower’s presidency to demonstrate the value of truthfulness in international affairs, and the necessity of not being swept away by an orator."-Mike Watson, Providence “Randall Fowler’s timely and provocative book addresses an important and enduring question: How did Americans come to see the Middle East as an area of vital U.S. interest? . . . Grounded in the most important case studies of the 1950s, More Than a Doctrine illuminates the long-term significance of this critical turning point in American globalism, which set the stage for decades of regional entanglement.”-Kenneth Osgood, author of Total Cold War: Eisenhower’s Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad“Deeply researched and cogently argued. . . . This study could not come at a more appropriate time.”-Jerry M. Long, associate professor in the Honors College and director of Middle East Studies at Baylor University and author of Saddam’s War of Words: Politics, Religion, and the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait“Fowler reveals the ways that future presidents were heirs of Eisenhower’s political precedents and rhetorical warrants that normalized U.S. interventionism as its dominant foreign policy in this war-torn region of the world.”-Shawn J. Parry-Giles, professor of communication at the University of Maryland and author of The Rhetorical Presidency, Propaganda, and the Cold War, 1945–1955

• Foreword    Acknowledgments    Introduction    Eisenhower Doctrine Address    1. The Eisenhower Doctrine: A Species of Containment    2. Operation Ajax: Eisenhower’s Rhetoric of Misdirection    3. From Baghdad to Cairo: The Limits of Rhetorical Surreption    4. Lion’s Last Roar, Eagle’s First Flight: Eisenhower at Suez    5. The Doctrine Applied: Intervention in Lebanon and the Rhetoric of Justification    Conclusion    Notes    Bibliography    Index