The Bully Pulpit, Presidential Speeches, and the Shaping of Public Policy

Issue framing is the way that people, especially politicians, get other people to view a particular problem or issue. By framing the issue in a particular way, the goal is to get people to think about the issue, to believe that an action is required and, most importantly, to believe that a particular action (the one being proposed by the framer) is the right one. The use of language and imagery is an essential part of issue framing and has been an integral part of the presidency since our nation's founding, but it has become particularly important since Theodore Roosevelt began to take his message directly to the people. This work examines a selected speech delivered by every president from Roosevelt through Barack Obama to show how language has been instrumental in directing policy. Each chapter will examine the situation or background for the problem, include a transcript of the speech the president delivered, and conclude with an analysis of the speech in terms of the particular frame that the speech utilized and the eventual outcome, or policy direction, inspired by the speech. --Zachary Smith, Northern Arizona University Contents 9 Introduction 11 1 Theodore Roosevelt 17 2 William Howard Taft and the Conservation of the Republican Party in 1912 31 3 Woodrow Wilson 43 4 Warren G. Harding 57 5 Calvin Coolidge 69 6 Herbert Clark Hoover 83 7 Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Inauguration of the New Deal 97 8 Harry S. Truman 109 9 Dwight Eisenhower 119 10 John F. Kennedy 131 11 Lyndon Baines Johnson 141 12 Richard Nixon and American Indian Policy 157 13 Gerald Ford 169 14 Jimmy Carter 183 15 Ronald Reagan and American Drug Policy 195 16 George H. W. Bush and the Persian Gulf War 207 17 Bill Clinton 219 18 George W. Bush 233 19 Barack Obama and Hate Crime Legislation 249 Bibliography 261 Index 271 About the Editors and Contributors 279 The Bully Pulpit, Presidential Speeches, and the Shaping of Public Policy explores how presidents use speeches to shape and influence public policy. Coming from a wide range of disciplines, each chapter in this edited collection examines a selected speech delivered by every president from Roosevelt through Barack Obama to show how language has been instrumental in directing policy This book explores how presidents use speeches to shape and influence public policy. Each chapter examines a selected speech delivered by every president from Roosevelt through Barack Obama to show how language has been instrumental in directing policy.