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The Bully Pulpit, Presidential Speeches, and the Shaping of Public Policy

Edited by Jeffrey S. Ashley and Marla J. Jarmer - Contributions by Kevin R. Anderson; Jeffrey S. Ashley; David H. Carwell; Elizabeth A. Dudash-Buskirk; Jason A. Edwards; Paul Franz Testa; Richard G. Frederick; Marita Gronnvoll; Marla J. Jarmer; Eric Morris; Melinda A. Mueller; Daneryl May Nier-Weber; Stephen F. Robar; Joshua M. Scacco; Emily Schnurr; Teresa Maria Linda Scholz; Michael Shirley; Grant Walsh-Haines and Edmund Wehrle

Issue framing is the way that people, especially politicians, get other people to view a particular problem or issue. By framing the issue in a particular way, the goal is to get people to think about the issue, to believe that an action is required and, most importantly, to believe that a particular action (the one being proposed by the framer) is the right one. The use of language and imagery is an essential part of issue framing and has been an integral part of the presidency since our nation’s founding, but it has become particularly important since Theodore Roosevelt began to take his message directly to the people.

This work examines a selected speech delivered by every president from Roosevelt through Barack Obama to show how language has been instrumental in directing policy. Each chapter will examine the situation or background for the problem, include a transcript of the speech the president delivered, and conclude with an analysis of the speech in terms of the particular frame that the speech utilized and the eventual outcome, or policy direction, inspired by the speech.

Lexington Books

Pages: 280 • Trim: 6 x 8¾

978-1-4985-0195-8 • Hardback • November 2015 • $120.00 • (£92.00)

978-1-4985-0197-2 • Paperback • April 2019 • $44.99 • (£35.00)

978-1-4985-0196-5 • eBook • November 2015 • $42.50 • (£33.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / Speech & Pronunciation, Political Science / American Government / Executive Branch, Political Science / Public Policy / General

The Bully Pulpit, Presidential Speeches, and the Shaping of Public Policy

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Issue framing is the way that people, especially politicians, get other people to view a particular problem or issue. By framing the issue in a particular way, the goal is to get people to think about the issue, to believe that an action is required and, most importantly, to believe that a particular action (the one being proposed by the framer) is the right one. The use of language and imagery is an essential part of issue framing and has been an integral part of the presidency since our nation’s founding, but it has become particularly important since Theodore Roosevelt began to take his message directly to the people.

This work examines a selected speech delivered by every president from Roosevelt through Barack Obama to show how language has been instrumental in directing policy. Each chapter will examine the situation or background for the problem, include a transcript of the speech the president delivered, and conclude with an analysis of the speech in terms of the particular frame that the speech utilized and the eventual outcome, or policy direction, inspired by the speech.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 280 • Trim: 6 x 8¾

978-1-4985-0195-8 • Hardback • November 2015 • $120.00 • (£92.00)

978-1-4985-0197-2 • Paperback • April 2019 • $44.99 • (£35.00)

978-1-4985-0196-5 • eBook • November 2015 • $42.50 • (£33.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / Speech & Pronunciation, Political Science / American Government / Executive Branch, Political Science / Public Policy / General

Author

Jeffrey S. Ashley is a professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University.

Marla J. Jarmer is communications instructor and director of the writing center at Danville Area Community College.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Theodore Roosevelt: Conservationism
Melinda A. Mueller
Chapter Two: William Howard Taft and the Conservation of the Republican Party in 1912
Eric Morris
Chapter Three: Woodrow Wilson: Women’s Suffrage
Marla Jarmer
Chapter Four: Warren G. Harding: Return to Normalcy
David H. Carwell
Chapter Five: Calvin Coolidge: Regime Articulation through Expectations
Joshua M. Scacco
Chapter Six: Herbert Clark Hoover: Farm Relief
Stephen F. Robar
Chapter 7: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Inauguration of the New Deal
Richard G. Frederick
Chapter Eight: Harry S. Truman: Veto of Taft-Hartley Act
Michael Shirley
Chapter 9: Dwight Eisenhower: Farewell Address
Paul Franz Testa
Chapter 10: John F. Kennedy: Civil Rights
Marita Gronnvoll
Chapter 11: Lyndon Baines Johnson: Vietnam, and “Peace Without Conquest”
Edmund Wehrle
Chapter 12: Richard Nixon and American Indian Policy
Jeffrey S. Ashley
Chapter 13: Gerald Ford: Plan to Whip Inflation Now
Jason Edwards
Chapter 14: Jimmy Carter: Human Rights as “The Soul of Our Foreign Policy”
Teresa Maria Linda Scholz
Chapter 15: Ronald Reagan and American Drug Policy
Emily Schnurr
Chapter 16: George H. W. Bush and the Persian Gulf War
Elizabeth A. Dudash-Buskirk and Nicholas J. Nickols
Chapter 17: Bill Clinton: Race and the Crisis of the American Spirit
Kevin R. Anderson
Chapter 18: George W. Bush: Terrorism and American Security
Daneryl May Nier-Weber
Chapter 19: President Barack Obama: The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act
Grant Walsh-Haines

Reviews

This book does a wonderful job of combining political science, history, and communication studies. Contributors from across disciplines unite under a single theme: the president is in a unique position to use language to influence public policy. With historical background and analysis of what each president has attempted to do, each chapter is both informative and fun to read.
— Zachary Smith, Northern Arizona University

From Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama, the influence of the bully pulpit is made evident from the authors’ examination of presidential addresses that led to major shifts in public policy. The Bully Pulpit, Presidential Speeches, and the Shaping of Public Policy is balanced politically and the essays are thorough yet highly readable. I highly recommend this book.
— Robert Watson, distinguished professor of American History at Lynn University and author of Affairs of State

The Bully Pulpit, Presidential Speeches, and the Shaping of Public Policy

The Bully Pulpit, Presidential Speeches, and the Shaping of Public Policy

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