This book examines the political oratory, rhetoric and persona of Margaret Thatcher as a means of understanding her justifications for 'Thatcherism'. The main arenas for consideration are set piece speeches to conference, media engagements, and Parliamentary orations. Thatcher's rhetorical style is analysed through the lens of the Aristotelian modes of persuasion (ethos, pathos, logos). Furthermore, the classical methods of oratorical engagement (deliberative, epidictic, judicial) are employed to consider her style of delivery. The authors place her styles of communication into their respective political contexts over a series of noteworthy issues, such as industrial relations, foreign policy, economic reform, and party management. By doing so, this distinctive book shines new light on Thatcher and her political career.

How do leading Democratic Party figures strive to communicate with and influence their audience? Why have some proven more successful than others in advancing their ideological arguments? How do orators seek to connect with different audiences in different settings such as the Senate, conventions and through the media? This thoroughly researched and highly readable collection comprehensively evaluates these questions as well as providing an extensive interrogation of the political and intellectual significance of oratory and rhetoric in the Democratic Party. Using the Aristotelian modes of persuasion ethos, pathos and logos it draws out commonalties and differences in how the rhetoric of Democratic Party politics has shifted since the 1960s. More broadly it evaluates the impact of leading orators upon American politics and argues that effective oratory remains a vital party of American political discourse.

This is the first thorough and systematic interrogation of Republican Party oratory and rhetoric that examines a series of leading figures in American conservative politics. It asks: How do leading Republican Party figures communicate with and influence their audiences?; What makes a successful speech, and why do some speeches fail to resonate? Most importantly, it also investigates why orators use different styles of communication with different audiences, such as the Senate, party conventions, public meetings, and through the media. By doing so it shines important new light into conservative politics from the era of Eisenhower to the more brutal politics of Donald Trump. The book will appeal to students and scholars across the fields of US politics, contemporary US history, and rhetoric and communication studies.

How do leading Democratic Party figures strive to communicate with and influence their audience? Why have some proven more successful than others in advancing their ideological arguments? How do orators seek to connect with different audiences in different settings such as the Senate, conventions and through the media? This thoroughly researched and highly readable collection comprehensively evaluates these questions as well as providing an extensive interrogation of the political and intellectual significance of oratory and rhetoric in the Democratic Party. Using the Aristotelian modes of persuasion ethos, pathos and logos it draws out commonalties and differences in how the rhetoric of Democratic Party politics has shifted since the 1960s. More broadly it evaluates the impact of leading orators upon American politics and argues that effective oratory remains a vital party of American political discourse.