The Rhetorical Presidency

by Jeffrey K. Tulis

Book Overview

Modern presidents regularly appeal over the heads of Congress to the people at large to generate support for public policies. The Rhetorical Presidency makes the case that this development, born at... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 069102295X
• ISBN13: 9780691022956
• Release Date: September 1988
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent -- an absolute must-have.

Tulis has written a brilliant account of the changing styles of presidential rhetoric. His essential argument is that the Framers intended the President to use rhetoric only to speak directly to Congress, rarely if ever to the masses, and always to put his ideas in a constitutional framework. But post-Woodrow Wilson, presidents speak directly to the public, even when ostensibly speaking to Congress, and have tried to overcome the constitutional barriers on their power. This book is well-written and is compact enough to be read quickly, but these features take nothing away from the superlative scholarship (in fact, many dense books could use some judicious editing down to this size). A must-have for all scholars of the presidency, and for the casual reader who wants to learn more about presidential rhetoric.