Article published In:
Journal of Language and PoliticsVol. 12:3 (2013) ► pp.357–377
Strategic maneuvering in the political rhetoric of Barack Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama’s rhetoric lends itself well as a highly interesting case study for exploring the possibilities of contemporary political rhetoric of being both successful on the one hand and rational, according to normative standards of argumentative discourse, on the other. Taking up the concept of “strategic maneuvering” as developed within Pragma-Dialectics (cf. van Eemeren 2010), a corpus of Obama’s speeches and books is analyzed in order to assess both its rationality and efficiency. The analysis shows that Obama not only knows extremely well how to use the classical inventory of (political) rhetoric, but also tries to overcome the standard strategic maneuvering of political rhetoric which is often polarizing and destructive. Obama tries to change this traditional style of political rhetoric by his orientation towards consensus and universal values and by his willingness to practice self-criticism. The evaluation of Obama’s political rhetoric has also shown, however, that Obama is sometimes forced to abandon his high ethical and rhetorical standards in order not to lose a substantial section of the U.S. voters. In some of these cases, it might be argued that his strategic maneuvering “derails”. All in all, however, Obama has shown us that a leading contemporary politician can overcome traditional party rhetoric by following new types of strategic maneuvering which, at least sometimes, successfully reconcile normative standards of rational discussion with rhetorical principles of efficient persuasion. Keywords: Barack Obama; political rhetoric; democracy; Pragma-Dialectics; strategic maneuvering; fallacy; pragmatic argument; irony; self-criticism
References (61)
Aristotle
1965 Poetics, ed. by Rudolf Kassel. Oxford: Clarendon.
1991 On Rhetoric, Transl. by George A. Kennedy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Atwater, Deborah F
2007 “Senator Barack Obama. The Rhetoric of Hope and the American Dream.” Journal of Black Studies 38 (2): 121–129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0021934707305431
Chomsky, Noam
2008 “What Next? The Elections, the Economy, and the World.” Transcription of a lecture at Boston, Democracy Now!, 24 November 2008. Available online at: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/24/noam_chomsky_what_next_the_elections [last accessed 2 September 2011].
2010a “Noam Chomsky on Obama’s Foreign Policy, His Own History of Activism, and the Importance of Speaking Out.” Democracy Now!, 15 March 2010. Transcription of an Interview at the Harvard Memorial Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Available at: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/15/noam_chomsky_on_obamas_foreign_policy [last accessed 2 September 2011].
2010b “Presidential “Peacemaking” in Latin America.” These Times, 5 January 2010. Available at: http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20100105/htm [last accessed 29 June 2011].
Crystal, David
2008 “On Obama’s Victory Style.” DC Blog, 9 November 2008. Available at: http://david-crystal.blogspot.com/2008/11/on-obamas-victory-style.html [last accessed 2 September 2011].
Danblon, Emanuelle
2003 “Perelman’s Universal Audience: Between Norms and Facts.” In Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation, ed. by Frans H. van Eemeren et al.. 233–235. Amsterdam: SicSat.
Downs, Anthony
(1957) An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper & Brothers.
van Eemeren, Frans H
(ed.) 2008 “Special Issue: Strategic Maneuvering in Institutional Contexts. Dedicated to Peter Houtlosser (1956–2008).” Argumentation 22 (3).
(2010) Strategic Maneuvering in Argumentative Discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
van Eemeren, Frans H., and Rob Grootendorst
(1984) Speech Acts in Argumentative Discussions. Dordrecht: Foris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110846089
(1992) Argumentation, Communication, and Fallacies. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
(2004) A Systematic Theory of Argumentation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
van Eemeren, Frans H., and Peter Houtlosser
2002 “Strategic Maneuvering with the Burden of Proof.” In Advances in Pragma-Dialectics, 13–28. Amsterdam: SicSat.
2006 “Strategic Maneuvering with the Burden of Proof.” Argumentation 20 (4): 381–392. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10503-007-9037-z
Garssen, Bart
(1997) Argumentatieschema’s in pragma-dialectisch perspectief. Amsterdam: IFOTT.
Gössler, Stefan
(2009) Barack Obama. Seine Sprache. Seine Stärke. Sein Charisma. Norderstedt: Books on Demand GmbH.
Habermas, Jürgen
(1988) Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp.
Hirschhorn, Jean
2011 “Brain Dead Obama.” Dandelion Salad, 14 August 2011. Available at: http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/brain-dead-obama-by-joel-s-hirschhorn/ [last accessed 2 september 2011].
Kienpointner, Manfred
(1992) Alltagslogik. Stuttgart: Frommann und Holzboog.
(1996) Vernünftig Argumentieren. Reinbek: Rowohlt.
2003 “Ideologie und Argumentation in TV-Wahldebatten.” In Argumentieren im Alltag, ed. by Arnulf Deppermann, and Martin Hartung (Hg.), 64–87. Tübingen: Narr.
2005 “Racist Manipulation within Austrian, German, Dutch, French and Italian Right-Wing Populism.” In: Manipulation and Ideologies in the Twentieth Century, ed. by Louis de Saussure, and Peter Schulz, 213–235. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
2010 “Zur Rhetorik von Barack Obama.” In Diskurs – Politik – Identität / Discourse – Politics – Identity, ed. by Rudolf de Cillia et al.. 105–114. Tübingen: Stauffenburg.
Kienpointner, Manfred, and Anna Orlandini
2005 “La doxa de la justice à travers les langues et les époques.” Revue Internationale des droits de l’antiquité 521: 181–206.
Klein, Josef
1996 “Dialogblockaden. Dysfunktionale Wirkungen von Sprachstrategien auf dem Markt der politischen Kommunikation.” In Sprachstrategien und Dialogblockaden, ed. by Josef Klein, and Hans-Joachim Diekmannshenke, 3–29. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Kopperschmidt, Josef
1989 “Öffentliche Rede in Deutschland.” Muttersprache 99 (3): 213–230.
1990 “Gibt es Kriterien politischer Rhetorik? Versuch einer Antwort.” Diskussion Deutsch 1151: 479–501.
2003 “War Hitler ein großer Redner? Eine redekritischer Versuch.” In Hitler der Redner, ed. by Josef Kopperschmidt, 181–204. München: Fink.
2006 “Die Idee des “universalen Publikums”.” In Die Neue Rhetorik. Studien zu Chaim Perelman, ed. by Josef Kopperschmidt, 211–226. München: Fink.
Kyrala, Cadmus
2010 “A Systemic Linguistic Analysis of Samples from Economic Speeches by Barack Obama and John McCain.” Journal of Language and Politics 9 (1): 74–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jlp.9.1.04kyr
Lakoff, George
(1987) Women, Fire and Dangerous Things. Chicago: Chicago Univ. Press.
1996 “The Metaphor System of Morality.” In Conceptual Structure, Discourse and Language, ed. by Adele E. Goldberg, 249–266. Stanford: CSLI Publications.
(2005) Don’t Think of an Elephant! White River Junction: Chelsea Green.
Mill, John Stuart
(1946) On Liberty and Considerations on Representative Government. Oxford: Blackwell.
Mohammed, Dima, and David Zarefsky
2011 “Pragma-Dialectic Analysis of Rhetorical Texts: The Case of Barack Obama in Cairo.” In Keeping in Touch with Pragma-Dialectics, ed. by Evelin Feteris et al.. 89–102. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Perelman, Chaim, and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca
(1983) Traité de l’argumentation. La nouvelle rhétorique. Bruxelles: Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles.
Plato
1983 Lysis. Symposium. Gorgias, Transl. by Walter R.M. Lamb. Cambridge/Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Posch, Claudia
(2006) “This World He Created is of Moral Design”. The Reinforcement of American Core Values in the Rhetoric of George W. Bush. Wien: Edition Praesens.
Reisigl, Martin, and Ruth Wodak
(2001) Discourse and Discrimination. London: Routledge.
Schellens, Peter J
(1985) Redelijke argumenten. Utrecht: ICG Printing.
Schmidt, Manfred G
(2010) Demokratietheorien. Eine Einführung. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-92066-5
Tannen, Deborah
(2004) Laß uns richtig streiten. Warum Frauen immer widersprechen und Männer nur sich selbst zuhören. München: Goldmann.
Walton, Douglas N
(1997) Appeal to Pity. Argumentum Ad Misericordiam. New York: SUNY Press.
(1998) Ad Hominem Arguments. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
(1999) Appeal to Popular Opinion. University Park, PA.: PennState University Press.
(2000) Scare Tactics. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Walton, Douglas N., Chris Reed, and Fabrizio Macagno
(2008) Argumentation Schemes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511802034
Westen, Drew
2011 “What Happened to Obama?” The New York Times Sunday Review, 6 August 2011. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/what-happened-to-obamas-passion.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 [last accessed 2 September 2011].
Wodak, Ruth
2011 “Critical Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis.” In Discoursive Pragmatics, ed. by Jan Zienkowski et al.. 50–70. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Obama, Barack
(2004) Dreams from my Father. New York: Three Rivers Press (Orig. Times Books: New York 1995).
2008a The Audacity of Hope. New York: Vintage Books (Orig. Crown Publishers: New York 2006).
Obama for America = Obama
2008b Change We Can Believe in. Barack Obama’s Plan to Renew America’s Promise. Includes 7 Key Speeches from 2008. Campaign. New York: Three Rivers Press.
Obama, Barack
2010a Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to my Daughters. New York: Random House.
2009b Remarks by the President on a New Beginning. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, June 4, 2009. Speech delivered at Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Cairo-University-6-04-09; last time visited: September 2, 2011].
2009c Remarks by the President to a joint Session of Congress on Health Care. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, September 9, 2009. Speech delivered at U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-to-a-Joint-Session-of-Congress-on-Health-Care; last time visited: September 2, 2011].
2009d Remarks by the President at the Acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, December 10, 2009. Speech delivered at Oslo, City Hall. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-to-a-Joint-Session-of-Congress-on-Health-Care; last time visited: September 2, 2011].
2010b Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, January 27, 2010. Speech delivered at U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-state-union-address; last time visited: September 2, 2011].
2011a Remarks by the President at a Memorial Service for the Victims of the Shooting in Tucson, Arizona. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, January 12, 2011. Speech Delivered at McKale Memorial Center, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/1/12/remarks-president-barack-obama-memorial-service-victims-shooting-tucson; last time visited September 2, 2011].
2011b Remarks by the President on America’s Energy Security. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, March 30, 2011. Speech delivered at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/30/remarks-president-americas-energy-security; last time visited September 2, 2011]
Cited by (18)
Cited by 18 other publications
Svačinová, Iva
2021. Demosthenes’ strategic maneuvering in theFirst Olynthiac. Journal of Argumentation in Context 10:3 ► pp. 315 ff. 
Khajavi, Yaser, Alireza Rasti & Krisda Chaemsaithong
2020. A discourse analytic investigation into politicians’ use of rhetorical and persuasive strategies: The case of US election speeches. Cogent Arts & Humanities 7:1 ► pp. 1740051 ff.
Kice, Brent
2020. Obama’s Attempted Reconstitution of the Cuban People. Western Journal of Communication 84:5 ► pp. 660 ff.
Theodoropoulou, Irene
2020. Speech style as political capital: Barack Obama’s Athens speech. Journal of Multicultural Discourses 15:3 ► pp. 325 ff.
Mirhosseini, Seyyed-Abdolhamid & Mahdieh Noori
2019. Discursive portrayal of Islam as “a part of America’s story” in Obama’s presidential speeches. Journal of Language and Politics 18:6 ► pp. 915 ff.
Neville-Shepard, Meredith
2019. Disciplining the Female Student Body: Consequential Transference in Arguments for School Dress Codes. Women's Studies in Communication 42:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Wu, Peng
2019. Chapter 4. Dissociation as strategic maneuvering in spokespersons’ argumentative replies at Chinese diplomatic press conferences. In Argumentation in Actual Practice [Argumentation in Context, 17], ► pp. 61 ff.
Wu, Peng
2019. Confrontational Maneuvering by Dissociation in Spokespersons’ Argumentative Replies at the Press Conferences of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Argumentation 33:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Crespo-Fernández, Eliecer
2018. Euphemism as a discursive strategy in US local and state politics. Journal of Language and Politics 17:6 ► pp. 789 ff.
Feng, Dezheng (William) & Shuo Zhang
Hansson, Sten
2018. Analysing opposition–government blame games: argument models and strategic maneuvering. Critical Discourse Studies 15:3 ► pp. 228 ff.
Ilie, Cornelia
2018. Pragmatics vs rhetoric. In Pragmatics and its Interfaces [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 294], ► pp. 85 ff.
Mirhosseini, Seyyed-Abdolhamid
2017. Discursive double-legitimation of (avoiding) another war in Obama’s 2013 address on Syria. Journal of Language and Politics 16:5 ► pp. 706 ff.
Gerodimos, Roman & Jákup Justinussen
2015. Obama’s 2012 Facebook Campaign: Political Communication in the Age of the Like Button. Journal of Information Technology & Politics 12:2 ► pp. 113 ff.
Kienpointner, Manfred
2014. La liberté ou la mort. Les arguments émotionnels dans les Philippiques de Cicéron. Argumentation et analyse du discours :13
Kienpointner, Manfred
2017. Chapter 5. Reason and passion in political rhetoric. In Argumentation across Communities of Practice [Argumentation in Context, 10], ► pp. 99 ff.
Kienpointner, Manfred
2021. The pen is mightier than the sword. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 9:2 ► pp. 215 ff.
[no author supplied]
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.