Anti-Intellectual Presidency

The Decline of Presidential Rhetoric from George Washington to George W. Bush
Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-19-989809-1
Verlag: OUP US

Buch, Englisch, 208 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 310 g

In The Anti-Intellectual Presidency, Elvin Lim draws on interviews with more than 40 presidential speechwriters to investigate this relentless qualitative decline, over the course of 200 years, in our presidents' ability to communicate with the public. Lim argues that the ever-increasing pressure for presidents to manage public opinion and perception has created a "pathology of vacuous rhetoric and imagery" where gesture and appearance matter more than
accomplishment and fact. Lim tracks the campaign to simplify presidential discourse through presidential and speechwriting decisions made from the Truman to the present administration, explaining how and why presidents have embraced anti-intellectualism and vague platitudes as a public relations strategy. Lim sees
this anti-intellectual stance as a deliberate choice rather than a reflection of presidents' intellectual limitations. Only the smart, he suggests, know how to dumb down. The result, he shows, is a dangerous debasement of our political discourse and a quality of rhetoric which has been described, charitably, as "a linguistic struggle" and, perhaps more accurately, as "dogs barking idiotically through endless nights." Sharply written and incisively argued, The Anti-Intellectual Presidency
sheds new light on the murky depths of presidential oratory, illuminating both the causes and consequences of this substantive impoverishment.

Zielgruppe

Students, scholars, and general readers interested in American politics, American history, and political science

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lim, Elvin

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Politische Kommunikation und Partizipation
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Politische Führung
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Studien zu einzelnen Ländern und Gebieten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. The Problem of Presidential Rhetoric
2. The Linguistic Simplification of Presidential Rhetoric
3. The Anti-Intellectual Speechwriters
4. The Substantive Impoverishment of Presidential Rhetoric
5. Institutionalizing the Anti-Intellectual Presidency
6. Indicting the Anti-Intellectual Presidency
7. Reforming the Anti-Intellectual Presidency

Appendix I: The General Inquirer (GI)
Appendix II: Definitions of General Inquirer Categories Used
Appendix III: Annual Messages, 1790-2006
Appendix IV: Inaugural Addresses, 1789-2005
Appendix V: Presidential Speechwriters Interviewed
Appendix VI: The Flesch Readability Score

Über Autor(innen)

Lim, Elvin
Elvin Lim is Assistant Professor of Politics at Wesleyan University.