Martin J. Medhurst

Political cartoons as rhetorical form: A taxonomy of graphic discourse

This essay is a taxonomic study of the available means of graphic persuasion as manifested in the art of political cartooning. The authors argue that the neo‐classical canons of rhetoric, slightly modified, provide an adequate superstructure for the production and criticism of graphic discourse. It is further argued that the specific techniques which grow out of the application of the canons reveal significant differences between the means of persuasion available to the graphic artist and those available to the oral persuader. These differences of technique arise from the nature of the medium and force a reconceptualization of the canons of memory and delivery as applied to non‐oratorical forms in general and graphic persuasion in particular.

Eisenhower's ‘atoms for peace’ speech: A case study in the strategic use of language

This article examines the speech “Atoms for Peace,”; delivered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 8, 1953. The author demonstrates how a complex rhetorical situation resulted in the crafting and exploitation of a public policy address. Far from serving as a precursor to nuclear disarmament, the speech functioned to bolster the international image of the United States as a peacemaker, to warn the Soviets against a preemptive nuclear strike, and to alert the American public to the dangers of a nuclear exchange.

Atoms for Peace and Nuclear Hegemony: The Rhetorical Structure of a Cold War Campaign:

Dwight Eisenhowers Atoms for Peace program, far from being idealistic, propaganda for the sake of propaganda, or an inconsistent and contradictory part of arms control policy, was, instead, a carefully designed-and highly successful-component of the basic defense and foreign policy stance of the Eisenhower administration. As part of a coordinated campaign to achieve national security goals, Atoms for Peace can be seen as the rhetorical counterpart to the New Look doctrine. By diverting audience attention, paving the way for the nuclearization of NATO forces, and serving as the rationale for export of nuclear technologies, Atoms for Peace was a central component of the administrations national security strategy.

The rhetorical structure of Oliver stone's JFK

Oliver Stones JFK is a mythopoetic discourse that functions as cinematic rhetoric. Through the lens of the Adamic Myth, the author examines the film as a metaphoric interpretation or parable of the human condition. Members of the viewing audience are invited to participate in this mythic structure by emulating the actions of the protagonist, thus becoming instruments of sociopolitical change.

The City: The rhetoric of rhythm

This article is a case study of Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dykes classic documentary, The City. The critical and aesthetic principles of Sergei Eisenstein and Rudolph Arnheim demonstrate how rhythm functions formally and rhetorically to create cinematic knowledge.

The first amendment vs. human rights: A case study in community sentiment and argument from definition

This case study analyzes the rhetorical strategy and arguments of a counter‐campaign against gay rights. A four part strategy featuring appeal to community sentiment and argument from definition is offered as an explanatory framework for one particular campaign and as a corrective to recent pronouncements about the “generic”; characteristics of conservative resistance rhetoric.

Hiroshima, Mon Amour: From iconography to rhetoric

This essay is an iconographic study of Alain Resnais’ classic film, Hiroshima, Mon Amour. The author argues that the meaning of the film can best be discerned by understanding the language and logic of cinematic form as that form becomes manifest through the introduction and development of specific iconic motifs. It is further argued that any construction of an overall meaning or interpretation must necessarily go beyond the confines of iconography proper to include consideration of the entire compositional process; that is, interpretation requires that one move from iconography to rhetoric.

Rhetorical Leadership and the Presidency: A Situational Taxonomy

There are as many different ways to study the American presidency as there are organizational and human disciplines, for the presidency is both an institution and a person. Unlike some other governmental systems, the American presidency is difficult, if not impossible, to separate from the person holding the title, for the president is granted certain powers, both specified and implied, by which to exercise the prerogatives of the office. Different presidents have exercised those powers differently—so much so that at various points in our history we have had a constitutional presidency, an administrative presidency, a managerial presidency, an imperial presidency, and a rhetorical presidency. In point of fact, it is the same presidency, operating under the same Constitution, but one that different occupants, in different historical eras, using different means, have been able to shape in different ways through the interpretations they have adopted, the choices they have made, and the actions they have taken. And it is precisely interpretation, choice, and action—as well as the beliefs and values from which these behaviors derive—that I want to focus on as I set forth a situational taxonomy for rhetorical leadership in the presidency.

Truman's rhetorical reticence, 1945–1947: An interpretive essay

Harry S. Trumans speaking on the subject of Soviet‐American relations from the inception of his presidency on April 12, 1945 until the enunciation of the Truman Doctrine on March 12, 1947, failed at one of the central tasks of the rhetorical presidency: atmospheric definition and regulation. To understand the reasons for this failure, one must explore both the philosophical and psychological factors underlying Trumans reticence to speak out on the deteriorating state of U.S.‐U.S.S.R. relations.

George W. Bush at Goree Island: American Slavery and the Rhetoric of Redemption

On July 8, 2003, at Goree Island, Senegal, George W. Bush delivered the most important speech on American slavery since Abraham Lincoln. As an example of rhetorical artistry, the speech is a masterpiece, putting the brutality of slavery into historical, political, and theological perspective. Although the speech had deliberative effects—it grew out of, and contributed to, the Millennium Challenge as well as the administrations African AIDS initiative—it was primarily an epideictic speech that envisioned Providential history as its audience. By adopting the God of history as audience, Bush was able to confess the nations original sin and to begin to make amends by directing billions of dollars to African development as well as treatment of AIDS and malaria. While largely successful with Africans, the speech left many African Americans both puzzled and angry. The Bush administration could have built on the initial success of the Goree Island speech by extending the internal logic of the address to the material conditions of African Americans, but it did not.