An exhaustive analysis of the public speaking of modern-day
presidents from Truman to Reagan, by Hart (Communication/Univ. of
Texas, Austin), author of Public Communications, The Political
Pulpit, and Verbal Style and the Presidency. For most of us, it
began with the Kennedy-Nixon Debates, when an entire election
seemed to hinge on poor makeup. Down the years it continued: Carter
donning a cozy sweater for his version of a fireside chat, or
Reagan's christening as "the Great Communicator." Suddenly, it
seemed that what was said wasn't as important as how or where it
was said or how the speaker looked saying it. Hart has analyzed
over 10,000 presidential speeches in an effort to demonstrate that
in the age of media glitz, public speech has replaced public
action. Presidents, he suggests, have trained the public to feel
that as long as the President is talking, much is being done. In a
dizzying display of research, Hart argues that ritual is
predominant over thought, that communication has become tarnished,
and that all depends upon image. He provides a training guide, in a
sense, to instruct citizens on just what to listen for and how to
be selective. Besides the effect on the public of this verbal
saturation, Hart shows the squalid effect on presidents as well, as
they forfeit all "hiding places." Presidents must discuss with the
public "why they sleep as often as they do, why they converse with
their adolescent children about foreign policy, and what they say
to their wives when settling down for the evening." Despite a
tendency to be overly analytical ("the simplest speech act - say, a
street-corner greeting - is a primitive power move"), Hart's
research is solid, non-biased, awesome - and a good preparation for
avoiding the next campaign's assault of words. (Kirkus Reviews)
Why did Gerald Ford speak in public once every six hours during
1976? Why did no president spreak in Massachusetts during one
ten-year period? Why did Jimmy Carter conduct public ceremonies
four times more often than Harry Truman? Why are television viewers
two-and-a-half times more likely to see a president speak on the
nightly news than to hear him speak?
"The Sound of Leadership" answers these questions and many more.
Based on analysis of nearly 10,000 presidential speeches delivered
between 1945 and 1985, this book is the first comprehensive
examination of the ways in which presidents Truman through Reagan
have used the powers of communication to advance their political
goals. This communication revolution has produced, Roderick P. Hart
argues, a new form of governance, one in which public speech has
come to be taken as political action. Using a rhetorical appraoch,
Hart details the features of this new American presidency by
carefully examining when and where presidents spoke in public
during the last four decades and what they said. Even though
presidents have been speaking more and more, Hart reveals, they
have been saying less and less. Rather than leading the nation, the
modern president usually offers only the hollow "sound" of
leadership. Written with great flair and acuteness, "The Sound of
Leadership" will become a standard guide to the voices of modern
presidential politics.
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