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.