Martin J. Medhurst – författare

This is an anthology of the top 100 American speeches of the twentieth century, as determined in the nationwide survey of communication scholars conducted at the end of 1999. Respondents were asked to judge speeches on two main criteria: rhetorical artistry and historical impact. The survey received considerable press coverage, and the website that houses the survey results gets hundreds of hits weekly. The major attraction of the book for an academic/higher education market - full, accurate texts of all 100 of the top speeches of the 20th century - should make it at least equally appealing for the trade market. It should remain the authoritative volume of 20th century speeches well into the 21st century.

The rise of the media presidency through radio and television broadcasts has heightened the importance of presidential speeches in determining the U.S. president's effectiveness and popularity. Not surprisingly, this development has also witnessed the rise of professional speechwriters. The chapters in this book (two by former White House speechwriters) give insight into the process of presidential speechwriting, from Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration to Ronald Reagan's.

Since the time of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the American presidency has changed in profound ways. Chief among these has been the way presidents interact with the general public. The ten chapters of this volume, by presidential scholars Jeffrey Tulis, Glen E. Thurow, Thomas W. Benson, Roderick P. Hart, Thomas Goodnight, and George Edwards, among others, offer thought-provoking analyses concerning the role of presidential rhetoric in passing policy, generating support, and promoting public discourse.

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 had brought electoral success. Not recognizing the importance of rhetoric to policy formation and implementation, Bush forfeited the resources of the bully pulpit and paid the price of electoral defeat. Here, scholars explore 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 an analysis of the 1992 re-election campaign and Bush's last-gasp use of economic rhetoric. The contributors draw on the resources of the Bush Presidential Library and interviews with many of Bush's White House aides. They also suggest how embracing the art of rhetoric might have allowed Bush 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.

Culminating a decade of conferences that have explored presidential speech, ""The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric"" assesses progress and suggests directions for both the practice of presidential speech and its study. In Part One, following an analytic review of the field by Martin Medhurst, contributors address the state of the art in their own areas of expertise. Roderick P. Hart then summarizes their work in the course of his rebuttal of an argument made by political scientist George Edwards: that presidential rhetoric lacks political impact. Part Two of the volume consists of the forward-looking reports of six task forces, comprising more than forty scholars, charged with outlining the likely future course of presidential rhetoric, as well as the major questions scholars should ask about it and the tools at their disposal. ""The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric"" will serve as a pivotal work for students and scholars of public discourse and the presidency who seek to understand the shifting landscape of American political leadership.

Culminating a decade of conferences that have explored presidential speech, The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric assesses progress and suggests directions for both the practice of presidential speech and its study.In Part One, following an analytic review of the field by Martin Medhurst, contributors address the state of the art in their own areas of expertise. Roderick P. Hart then summarizes their work in the course of his rebuttal of an argument made by political scientist George Edwards: that presidential rhetoric lacks political impact.Part Two of the volume consists of the forward-looking reports of six task forces, comprising more than forty scholars, charged with outlining the likely future course of presidential rhetoric, as well as the major questions scholars should ask about it and the tools at their disposal.The Prospect of Presidential Rhetoric will serve as a pivotal work for students and scholars of public discourse and the presidency who seek to understand the shifting landscape of American political leadership.

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.

The rise of the media presidency through radio and television broadcasts has heightened the visibility and importance of presidential speeches in determining the effectiveness and popularity of the President of the United States. Not surprisingly, this development has also witnessed the rise of professional speechwriters to craft the words the chief executive would address to the nation.Yet, as this volume of expert analyses graphically demonstrates, the reliance of individual presidents on their speechwriters has varied with the rhetorical skill of the officeholder himself, his managerial style, and his personal attitude toward public speaking. The individual chapters here (two by former White House speechwriters) give fascinating insight into the process and development of presidential speechwriting from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to Ronald Reagan’s. Some contributors, such as Charles Griffin writing on Eisenhower and Moya Ball on Johnson, offer case studies of specific speeches to gain insight into those presidents. Other chapters focus on institutional arrangements and personal relationships, rhetorical themes characterizing an administration, or the relationship between words and policies to shed light on presidential speechwriting.The range of presidents covered affords opportunities to examine various factors that make rhetoric successful or not, to study alternative organizational arrangements for speechwriters, and even to consider the evolution of the rhetorical presidency itself. Yet, the volume’s single focus on speechwriting and the analytic overviews provided by Martin J. Medhurst not only bring coherence to the work, but also make this book an exemplar of how unity can be achieved from a diversity of approaches. Medhurst’s introduction of ten “myths” in the scholarship on presidential speeches and his summary of the enduring issues in the practice of speechwriting pull together the work of individual contributors. At the same time, his introduction and conclusion transcend particular presidents by providing generalizations on the role of speechwriting in the modern White House.