Presidential Rhetoric of Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, and Calvin Coolidge

Ben Voth is professor of rhetoric and director of debate and speech at Southern Methodist University in the Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Understanding Presidential RhetoricChapter 1: The Modern American President—Tulis’ ArgumentChapter 2: A Rhetorical Biography of Woodrow WilsonChapter 3: The Presidential Rhetoric of Woodrow Wilson 1912-1916—The First TermChapter 4: The Presidential Rhetoric of Woodrow Wilson 1916-1920- The Second TermChapter 5: A Rhetorical Biography of Warren HardingChapter 6: The Presidential Rhetoric of Warren Harding 1920-1923Chapter 7: A Rhetorical Biography of Calvin CoolidgeChapter 8: Coolidge’s Vice-Presidential Rhetoric to Presidential Rhetoric 1920-1924Chapter 9: The Presidential Rhetoric of Calvin Coolidge 1925-1929Chapter 10: The Rhetorical Composites of Wilson, Harding and Coolidge 1912-1929Chapter 11: The Implications for Presidential Rhetorical Studies in the 21st CenturyChapter 12: Blue Privilege and the Presidential Rhetoric of Wilson, Harding and CoolidgeBibliographyAbout the Author

This work crucially expands knowledge on how the construction of the presidency can be understood as a rhetorical enterprise. The communication of Presidents Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge is examined on its own terms, but Voth’s investigation contributes so much more. The words of each president are shown to both affect and be affected by the situational factors that required presidential navigation. Especially compelling is how Voth’s work makes the book current. The book interrogates how presidents are assessed with an eye towards issues like gender, race, and class. Additionally, this monograph challenges many assumptions that have been made in presidential assessments and invites the reader to consider context and the rhetorical contributions of Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge that may have been overlooked historically. This sense of relevant and urgent discovery pervades the entire work and compels the reader to reconsider both the leaders and the times that made them. It is a vital text that deserves consideration from scholars from multiple fields and from broader publics concerned with understanding the intersection of man and moment that rhetorically defined these presidencies.