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rhetoric of caution: How the rhetorical strategies of President Bill "Comeback Kid" Clinton facilitate his desire for control without commitment
Title
The rhetoric of caution: How the rhetorical strategies of President Bill "Comeback Kid" Clinton facilitate his desire for control without commitment.
Creator
Escoffery, Leonie Isolyn., Florida Atlantic University, Hahn, Dan F.
Abstract/Description
The image of Bill Clinton in the popular press is that of a President who is unable to commit to a course of action, a man with tenuous credibility, and the reputation of being able to slide his way out of compromising situations. However, these characterizations reflect a limited perspective of the complex contradictions that characterize the Clinton presidency. This analysis attempts to address the paradox of a President who is perceived as being chameleon in nature, and yet who is widely...
Show moreThe image of Bill Clinton in the popular press is that of a President who is unable to commit to a course of action, a man with tenuous credibility, and the reputation of being able to slide his way out of compromising situations. However, these characterizations reflect a limited perspective of the complex contradictions that characterize the Clinton presidency. This analysis attempts to address the paradox of a President who is perceived as being chameleon in nature, and yet who is widely recognized as being highly competent in his grasp of substantive and complex policy questions. Clinton's rhetoric, which has been negatively exploited by his opposition, has so many fundamental strategic advantages that it is also partly responsible for his political successes, for his ability to be the "Comeback Kid." A dynamic configuration of seven rhetorical strategies is proposed and discussed as forming the initial criteria of what I call a "rhetoric of caution." Clinton's rhetorical leadership, demonstrated through his televised addresses to the nation, is analyzed through the critical framework of a rhetoric of caution. When viewed from this angle of the critical prism, what the President's opponents portray as "slick" can justifiably be characterized as "flexible." Implications and limitations of this analysis are examined.
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Date Issued
1996
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15309
Subject Headings
Presidents--United States., Clinton, Bill,--1946---Oratory., Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century., Communication in politics--United States--History--20th century., United States--Politics and government--1993-
Format
Document (PDF)
power of memory
Title
The power of memory: how Western collective memory of the Holocaust functioned in discourse on Kosovo.
Creator
Bjellos, Tajana., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description
This thesis provides a rhetorical analysis of the Western representation of the Kosovo conflict and its resolution in the year 1999. By reviewing political, scholarly and media rhetoric, the thesis examines how the dominant narrative of "genocide in Kosovo" was created in Western discourse, arguing that it gained its persuasive force from the legacy of the collective memory of the Holocaust. Using the framework of Kenneth Burke's theory of Dramatism and Walter Fisher's theory of the narrative...
Show moreThis thesis provides a rhetorical analysis of the Western representation of the Kosovo conflict and its resolution in the year 1999. By reviewing political, scholarly and media rhetoric, the thesis examines how the dominant narrative of "genocide in Kosovo" was created in Western discourse, arguing that it gained its persuasive force from the legacy of the collective memory of the Holocaust. Using the framework of Kenneth Burke's theory of Dramatism and Walter Fisher's theory of the narrative paradigm, this thesis aims to understand how language, analogy and collective memory function in rhetoric to shape audience perceptions and guide political and military action. The study illustrates the mechanics of the operating rhetoric by analyzing two primary sources, the rhetoric of U.S. President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2683535
Subject Headings
Discourse analysis, Narrative, Narrative (Rhetoric), History, Rhetoric, Political aspects, History, Memory, Political aspects, Kosovo War, 1998-1999, Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), Crimes against humanity, History
Format
Document (PDF)
"The Manhattan Project," 1992: An analysis of rhetorical changes in the strategic modification of the Clinton campaign for the presidency
Title
"The Manhattan Project," 1992: An analysis of rhetorical changes in the strategic modification of the Clinton campaign for the presidency.
Creator
Donovan, Rose-Marie., Florida Atlantic University, Hahn, Dan F.
Abstract/Description
In the spring of 1992, Democratic candidate Bill Clinton began to slip in the polls during his quest for the presidency, primarily because of negative publicity surrounding character issues. To counteract the problem, he embraced a radical campaign overhaul, "The Manhattan Project," designed by his ambitious young strategists. The plan was to strengthen his campaign theme, and to portray him as a middle-class (as opposed to elitist) candidate. Ten of Clinton's formal speeches, five from...
Show moreIn the spring of 1992, Democratic candidate Bill Clinton began to slip in the polls during his quest for the presidency, primarily because of negative publicity surrounding character issues. To counteract the problem, he embraced a radical campaign overhaul, "The Manhattan Project," designed by his ambitious young strategists. The plan was to strengthen his campaign theme, and to portray him as a middle-class (as opposed to elitist) candidate. Ten of Clinton's formal speeches, five from before the change in strategy and five from after, are the primary research material investigated in this study. The speeches are compared through a modified content analysis of selected words and themes, and through a qualitative analysis based on current theories in political and campaign rhetoric of what constitutes a successful campaign, including evaluation of theme, symbolism, imagery, contextuality, and constraints, in an effort to determine if the strategy change was effective.
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Date Issued
1996
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15308
Subject Headings
Presidents--United States--Election--1992, Clinton, Bill,--1946---Oratory, Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century, Communication in politics--United States--History--20th century, United States--Politics and government--1989-1993
Format
Document (PDF)