Crisis rhetoric and the tradition of the jeremiad in 21st century U.S. American presidential speechmaking
Analysis of President George W. Bush’s and President Barack Obama’s speeches
Article outline
3.19/11 as new American jeremiad?: Analysis of President George W. Bush’s speeches following the September 11 terrorist attacks
3.1.1Contextualization of the events
3.1.1.1Media, 9/11, and war
War rhetoric vs. war propaganda
Selection of speeches and empirical data
3.1.2Analysis of George W. Bush’s speeches following the September 11 attacks
3.1.2.1G. W. Bush: Remarks at Emma E. Booker Elementary School on September 11, 2001, 9:30 a.m. and 9/11 Remarks at Barksdale Air Force Base on September 11, 2001, 1:04 p.m.
Bush as crisis manager in chief
Stigmatization of the enemy: Gender stereotypes and dehumanization
Terrorist attacks as crime
Unity and freedom
Crisis as test
Conclusions
3.1.2.2G. W. Bush: Address to the Nation, Oval Office, White House, Washington D. C., September 11, 8:30 p.m.
9/11 as attack on the American “we”
President Bush as crisis manager in chief
From terrorism as crime to terrorism as war
Bush’s rhetoric of Othering
Religious Othering and post 9/11 Islamophobia
The Bush doctrine
The “war on terror”
A rhetoric of fear and hope
Consumerism as patriotic duty
Conclusions
3.1.2.3G. W. Bush: Speech at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance Ceremony, National Cathedral, September 14, 2001
Healing and uniting
From priestly to prophetic rhetoric
Religion and war
Religion, America, and Bush
National unity
The American character
Metaphors and war
Bush’s freedom
The Bullhorn moment
Conclusions
3.1.2.4G. W. Bush: Address to a Joint Session of Congress following the 9/11 attacks, Washington D.C., September 20, 2001
Coalition building
The “strong” state of the union – A patriotic narrative
The myth of American exceptionalism and Bush’s “mission”
Defining the enemy: The evil Other
War as fait accompli and Bush’s call for renewal
A clash of civilizations
The fear of the barbaric other
Historical framing
Conclusions
3.1.2.5G. W. Bush: Presidential Address to the Nation, Treaty Room, White House, Washington D.C., October 7, 2001
“Crusades” for “infinite justice” and “freedom” – Bush’s war as a “mission”
The U.S. as alleged liberator – Responsibility to Protect
The global dimension of the “war on terror”
The evil barbarians: Religion and Othering
Fear and hope: Necessity of war and ultimate victory
Conclusions
3.1.2.6G. W. Bush: State of the Union Address, U.S. Congress, Washington D.C., January 29, 2002
Bush’s vision of America’s post 9/11 identity
Renewal
Bush’s outbound jeremiad
Bush’s cautiously self-reflective rhetoric – Traits of an inbound jeremiad
“Unprecedented danger”
Bush’s Manichean style
Moral absolutism
The demonic evil Other
“Axis of evil”
Liberation from tyranny
Conclusions
3.1.2.7G. W. Bush: Presidential Address to the Nation, Oval Office, White House, Washington D.C., March 19, 2003
Preemption as defense
The global dimension of the Iraq war
Missionary and humanitarian rhetoric
Of tyrants and heroes – The demonization of Saddam Hussein
“Just” war narratives: Fait accompli, lesser evil, and victimhood
Identity constructions: In- and out-group Othering and the angel-devil melodrama
Hope rhetoric and American exceptionalism
Bush’s construction of the Iraq crisis – A modern outbound jeremiad
Conclusions
3.1.3Conclusions on President George W. Bush’s post 9/11 crisis rhetoric
Characteristics of Bush’s post 9/11 crisis rhetoric
The evolution of Bush’s crisis rhetoric
George W. Bush’s post 9/11 crisis discourse – Adapting and continuing jeremiadic traditions
3.2Presidential speeches in times of environmental disaster: Analysis of President George W. Bush’s and Barack Obama’s environmental crisis speeches
3.2.1Contextualization of the events
3.2.1.1Environmental jeremiads in the United States
Selection of speeches and empirical data
3.2.2Analysis of President George W. Bush’s speeches on Hurricane Katrina
3.2.2.1G. W. Bush: President outlines Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Rose Garden, White House, August 31, 2005
The media framing – Two sides of a coin
The environmental disasters as a presidential affair
Handling an “unprecedented” disaster
Oil, help, and hope
Conclusions
3.2.2.2G. W. Bush: Weekly Radio Address: Katrina’s aftermath, Cabinet Room, White House, September 3, 2005
Disaster update from the crisis manger in chief
A not-so “natural” disaster
Katrina and racial inequality
Federal involvement and hope
Katrina in Iraq’s shadow
Emotions and myths in times of crisis
Conclusions
3.2.2.3G. W. Bush: Address to the Nation on Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, Louisiana, September 15, 2005
Rebuilding New Orleans – A message of hope and healing in a time of crisis
Managing an “unprecedented” disaster: Mother nature vs. human nature
American myths and religious rhetoric
Inequalities in America
Conclusions
3.2.3Analysis of President Barack Obama’s speeches on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
Background of the events
3.2.3.1B. Obama: Remarks by President on the oil spill, Venice, Louisiana, May 2, 2010
Changing facts and informative speech
Obama as crisis manager
A “potentially unprecedented” disaster
Hope und unity
The question of blame and responsibility
Conclusions
3.2.3.2B. Obama: Remarks by the President after briefing on BP oil spill, U.S. Coast Guard Station Grande Isle, Louisiana, May 28, 2010
The media
Updates from the crisis manager in chief
Framing a supposedly unique event
Blame and responsibility
Solidarity
Metaphors, myths, and the audience
Conclusions
3.2.3.3B. Obama: Remarks by the President to the Nation on the BP oil spill, Oval Office, White House, Washington D.C., June 15, 2010
Response to a deepening crisis
Obama’s narrative: Capable leadership in times of “unprecedented” crisis
The “battle plan”
The blame game: BP as the guilty other
Constructing social identity
Civil religious rhetoric and community renewal
The deliberative function of the speech – An ecological jeremiad?
Conclusions
3.2.4Comparisons of and conclusions on President Bush’s and President Obama’s environmental crisis rhetoric
Chronological evolution of Bush’s and Obama’s environmental crisis speeches
Characteristics of Bush’s and Obama’s environmental crisis oratory
Environmental crisis rhetoric – A modern apocalypse?
3.3Framing the global economic downturn: Analysis of President G. W. Bush’s and B. Obama’s speeches on the financial crisis
3.3.1Contextualization of the events
Audience and media
3.3.1.1Puritans and the economy
Selection of speeches and empirical data
3.3.2Analysis of President George W. Bush’s speeches on the financial and economic crisis
3.3.2.1G. W. Bush: President Bush discusses economy, Oval Colonnade, White House, Washington, D.C., September 18, 2008 and Address on the economy, Rose Garden, White House, Washington, D.C., September 19, 2008
Informing and managing
“A pivotal moment for America’s economy”
Uniting words, metaphors, and motifs
Conclusions
3.3.2.2G. W. Bush: Primetime Address to the Nation, East Room, White House, Washington D. C., September 24, 2008
“A serious financial crisis”
The bailout plan as lesser evil
“How did we reach this point?”: A capitalism-affirming narrative
Who is to blame?
Myths, metaphors, and deliberative discourse
Conclusions
3.3.3Analysis of President Barack Obama’s speeches on the financial and economic crisis
3.3.3.1B. Obama: First Weekly Address to the Nation, Briefing Room, White House, Washington D.C., January 24, 2009 and Push for a Stimulus: Primetime Press Conference, East Room, White House, Washington D.C., February 9, 2009
Defining crisis
The plan
Blaming and unifying
Change, optimism, and the jeremiad
Conclusions
3.3.3.2B. Obama: Weekly Address to the Nation, Briefing Room, White House, Washington D.C., February 14, 2009 and Remarks upon signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Denver, Colorado, February 17, 2009
The ARRA as “the beginning of the end”
From blame to change
Unity and bipartisanism
Conclusions
3.3.4Comparisons and conclusions on President Bush’s and President Obama’s economic crisis rhetoric
Comparisons of Bush’s and Obama’s economic crisis rhetoric
Characteristic of Bush’s and Obama’s economic crisis rhetoric