Political Argumentation in the United States : Historical and contemporary studies. Selected essays by David Zarefsky.

Political Argumentation in the United States -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Dedication page -- Table of contents -- Permissions -- Introduction: The field of political argumentation -- Plan of the book -- Acknowledgments -- Reference -- Part I. Early American political argumentation -- 1. From "conflict" to "Constitutional question": Transformations in early American public discourse -- Introduction -- The evolution of the text -- The case studies -- The Alien and Sedition Acts -- The Nullification Dispute -- The Secession Controversy -- Constitutional conflicts and public discourse -- References -- 2. John Tyler and the rhetoric of the accidental presidency -- Introduction -- Tyler's rhetorical constraints -- Establishing the legitimacy of presidential succession -- Resolving a diplomatic impasse -- Achieving the annexation of Texas -- The path to annexation -- The persuasive campaign -- Tyler's message -- Failure followed by success -- Conclusion -- References -- 3. Debating slavery by proxy: The Texas annexation controversy -- The historical background -- The annexation treaty debate, Spring 1844 -- The joint resolution debate, Winter 1844-45 -- Conclusion -- References -- 4. Henry Clay and the election of 1844: The limits of a rhetoric of compromise -- Clay and his times -- Clay's rhetorical situation in 1844 -- The Raleigh letter -- The Alabama letters -- Clay's subsequent letters -- Conclusion -- References -- Part II. Abraham Lincoln's political argumentation -- 5. Consistency and change in Lincoln's rhetoric about equality -- Introduction -- Antecedents -- 1857: The Springfield speech -- Attenuating the meaning of "equality" -- Equality as an abstract ideal -- Defending against the charge of extremism -- Defining Douglas as extremist -- 1858: The Lincoln-Douglas debates -- Maintaining the dissociation -- Hedging devices.

Into the presidency -- Conclusions and implications -- References -- 6. "Public sentiment is everything": Lincoln's view of political persuasion -- Lincoln at Ottawa -- The attack against Douglas -- The defense of Lincoln -- Assumptions and implications -- References -- 7. Lincoln and the House Divided: Launching a national political career -- Introduction -- The political context -- Analysis of the speech -- The "House Divided" opening section -- Body of the speech: The conspiracy argument -- The "Living Dog" conclusion -- Outcomes and implications -- References -- 8. The Lincoln-Douglas debates revisited: The evolution of public argument -- Introduction -- The rhetorical situation -- The Senatorial campaign -- The conspiracy argument -- The plot against the Whig party -- The plot to forge the platform -- The plot to extend slavery nationwide -- The plot to exploit patronage -- The plot to deny Kansas a referendum -- The legal argument -- What was the status of a Supreme Court decision? -- What did the Dred Scott decision really establish? -- Who owned the territories? -- What was the "tendency" of each candidate's position? -- The interrogatories -- The historical argument -- The appeal to the founders -- The appeal to Henry Clay -- The moral argument -- Conclusion -- References -- 9. Philosophy and rhetoric in Lincoln's First Inaugural Address -- The historical context -- Preparation of the speech -- The speech purpose: Conciliation? Of whom? -- Lincoln's theory of secession -- Textual omissions -- The cause of the trouble -- Lincoln's policy -- Rhetorical timing -- The peroration -- Reactions and reflections -- References -- Part III. Argumentation and American foreign policy -- 10. The self-sealing rhetoric of John Foster Dulles -- Attribution theory and the self-sealing argument -- Dulles and the self-sealing argument.

The Soviet peace offensive -- Disarmament -- Brinkmanship -- Conclusions and implications -- References -- 11. Foreign policy as persuasion: Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam -- War as persuasion -- The primary message -- The secondary message -- Implications for domestic dissent -- Conclusion -- References -- 12. George W. Bush discovers rhetoric: September 20, 2001 and the U.S. response to terrorism -- Introduction -- Bush's rhetorical situation -- The war metaphor -- The September 20 speech -- Unintended consequences -- Reconsidering the ethos of rhetoric -- References -- 13. Making the case for war: Colin Powell at the United Nations -- Introduction -- Context -- Structure -- Reasoning -- Evidence -- Outcomes -- Conclusion -- References -- 14. The U.S. and the world: The rhetorical dimensions of Obama's foreign policy -- The trajectory of American exceptionalism -- Exceptionalism at the end of the line -- Barack Obama's foreign policy discourse -- The Berlin speech -- The Inaugural Address -- The Prague speech -- The Cairo speech -- The United Nations speech -- The Tokyo speech -- The Oslo speech -- Summary -- Complicating the rhetorical problem -- References -- Part IV. American political argumentation since the 1960s -- 15. The Great Society as a rhetorical proposition -- Development of the idea -- The central themes -- Rhetorical problems and choices -- Conservative themes -- The moral imperative -- Critical distinctions -- Conclusions -- References -- 16. Lyndon Johnson redefines "equal opportunity": The beginnings of affirmative action -- Understandings of "equal opportunity" -- The rhetorical situation -- Dissociation in the Howard University address -- Other examples of dissociation -- The impact of Johnson's dissociation -- References -- 17. Civil rights and civil conflict: Presidential communication in crisis -- Johnson's valuative appeals.

The pragmatic failure of valuative appeals -- References -- 18. Martin Luther King, the American Dream, and Vietnam: A collision of rhetorical trajectories -- Introduction -- Rhetorical trajectories -- Setting the context -- "A time to break silence" -- The necessity of protest -- The Vietnamese perspective -- The moral revolution -- A collision of trajectories -- Conclusions -- References -- 19. Reagan's safety net for the truly needy: The rhetorical uses of definition -- The initial dissociation -- Successive redefinitions -- Congressional Budget Office report -- Omnibus Reconciliation Act -- Proposing further reductions -- State of the Union Address, 1982 -- Effectiveness of the redefinitions -- References -- 20. Obama's Lincoln: Uses of the argument from historical analogy -- The Obama/Lincoln comparisons -- Uses of historical analogy -- The a fortiori argument: A case study -- Epilogue -- References -- Index.

Especially during Barack Obama's first campaign for the presidency, commentators and Obama himself noted several similarities between him and Abraham Lincoln. These comparisons became the premises for arguments from historical analogy. Such arguments can have several purposes, including making a direct comparison, using the past as a new frame of reference for the present, and suggesting teleology. Each of these uses has pitfalls as well as promises. Obama, however, used analogies to make a fortiori arguments, indicating that if Lincoln could surmount greater obstacles, we should be able to surmount lesser ones. This is a message of challenge and hope, not hubris.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.