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How Well Has President Barack Obama Chosen from Among the Available Means of Persuasion?

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Polity

Abstract

This essay answers the question, “How well did President Obama choose from among the available means of persuasion in the early years of his presidency?” by probing the ways in which his pre-inaugural speech at the Lincoln Memorial blurred the rhetorical roles of nominee and president-elect; the absence of a digestive statement in his inaugural; the failure of his nationally telecast BP oil spill address to respond to the expectations created by his campaign rhetoric and by the speech itself; the ways in which the setting of his speech after the Tucson tragedy sabotaged an otherwise powerful speech; and the insurmountable challenges posed by the decision to address the nation as the DOW tumbled in the wake of the S and P downgrade.

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Notes

  1. William J. Clinton: “Remarks at a Memorial Service for the Bombing Victims in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,” April 23, 1995. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=51265.

  2. John F. Kennedy: “Remarks in the Rudolph Wilde Platz, Berlin,” June 26, 1963. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9307.

  3. Ronald Reagan: “Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin,” June 12, 1987. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=34390.

  4. Woodrow Wilson: “Address to a Joint Session of Congress Requesting a Declaration of War Against Germany,” April 2, 1917. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=65366.

  5. Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Address to Congress Requesting a Declaration of War with Japan,” December 8, 1941. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=16053.

  6. Lyndon B. Johnson: “Special Message to the Congress: The American Promise,” March 15, 1965. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=26805.

  7. The American Presidency Project, 1999–2012—Gerhard Peters—The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/.

  8. Barack Obama: “Address in Chicago Accepting Election as the 44th President of the United States,” November 4, 2008. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=84750.

  9. Ibid.

  10. Barack Obama: “Remarks at the Lincoln Memorial,” January 18, 2009. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=85440.

  11. Thomas Jefferson: “Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1801. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25803.

  12. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Eloquence in an Electronic Age: The Transformation of Political Speechmaking (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1988).

  13. Abraham Lincoln: “Address at the Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,” November 19, 1863. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=73959.

  14. Abraham Lincoln: “Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1865. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25819.

  15. Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1933. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=14473.

  16. John F. Kennedy: “Inaugural Address,” January 20, 1961. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8032.

  17. Ronald Reagan: “Inaugural Address,” January 20, 1981. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=43130.

  18. Peter Baker, “Obama Takes Oath, and Nation in Crisis Embraces the Moment.” The New York Times, January 21, 2009, A1.

  19. Carl Hulse, “Obama is Sworn in as the 44th President.” The New York Times, January 21, 2009.

  20. Dan Balz. “Obama Signals Need for a Sharp Break From the Past.” Washington Post, January 21, 2009, A15.

  21. Barack Obama: “Inaugural Address,” January 20, 2009. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=44.

  22. “29 Million Watch President Obama Declare End of Iraq War,” September 1, 2010. http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/29-million-watch-president-obama-declare-end-of-iraq-war/.

  23. Barack Obama: “Remarks in Des Moines, Iowa: ‘Our Moment Is Now’,” December 27, 2007. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=77026.

  24. Barack Obama: “Remarks Following the Wisconsin Primary,” February 19, 2008. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=76558.

  25. Barack Obama: “Remarks in St. Paul, Minnesota Claiming the Democratic Presidential Nomination Following the Montana and South Dakota Primaries,” June 3, 2008. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=77409.

  26. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Presidents Creating the Presidency (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2008).

  27. Barack Obama: “Remarks at a Memorial Service for Victims of the Shootings in Tucson, Arizona,” January 12, 2011. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=88893.

  28. Jennifer Epstein, “Gingrich Praises Obama.” Politico, January 18, 2011.

  29. Michael D. Shear, “Praise for Obama, From the Right and Left.” The Caucus, The Politics and Government Blog of the Times. January 13, 2011. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/praise-for-obama-from-the-right-and-left/.

  30. Helene Cooper and Jeff Zeleny, “Obama Calls for a New Era of Civility in US Politics.” The New York Times, January 12, 2011.

  31. Barack Obama remarks: Remarks at a Memorial Service for Victims of the Shootings in Tucson, Arizona. January 12 2011.

  32. Ken Sweet, “Dow Plunges After S&P Downgrade,” CNN Money, August 8, 2011. http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/08/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm.

  33. Nikola Swann, et al. “United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered to ‘AA+’ Due To Political Risks, Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative,” August 5, 2011, Standard and Poors online. http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings/articles/en/us/?assetID=1245316529563.

  34. Graeme Wearden, “Debt crisis sends financial market into turmoil” August 8, 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/08/stock-market-turmoil-us-downgrade-eurozone-crisis.

  35. Adam Rosner, “Stock Market Today: Update—August 8, 2011,” ValueLine.com. http://www.valueline.com/Markets/Market_Detail.aspx?id=11415.

  36. Nikola Swann et al. “United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered to ‘AA+’ Due To Political Risks, Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative,” August 5, 2011.

  37. Barack Obama: “Remarks on the National Economy,” August 8, 2011. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=90703.

  38. David Gregory, Meet the Press, August 7, 2011. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44050464/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/t/meet-press-transcript-august/#.UBmVPmGe6p1.

  39. Bob Schieffer, Face the Nation, August 7, 2011. http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-3460_162-20089222.html.

  40. Sean Hannity, Hannity, August 9, 2011. http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2011/08/10/sen-paul-blaming-tea-party-debt-blaming-firemen-fire.

  41. Linda Feldman, “Obama Tries to Calm Jittery Investors.” Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 2011. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0808/Obama-tries-to-calm-jittery-investors.

  42. http://www.forbes.com/2011/08/08daily-market-wrap-august-8-2011-marketnewsvideo_print.html.

  43. Dana Milbank, “The Most Powerful Man on Earth?” Washington Post, August 9, 2011, A10.

  44. Ibid.

  45. “Past Time for a New Agenda: The Moment Calls for a President More Interested in Job Growth than Curbing Debt.” The New York Times, August 9, 2011, 22.

  46. Joe Nocera, “While the Markets Swoon … .” The New York Times, August 8, 2011, 23.

  47. Barack Obama: “Remarks at a Town Hall Meeting and a Question-and-Answer Session on Health Care Reform in Wheaton, Maryland,” June 8, 2010. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=88057.

  48. Barack Obama: “The President's Weekly Address,” July 18, 2009. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=86435.

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Jamieson, K. How Well Has President Barack Obama Chosen from Among the Available Means of Persuasion?. Polity 45, 153–168 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/pol.2012.24

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