Overview

In this book, Ben Voth argues that the centennial of the modern presidency embodied in the rhetoric of presidents Wilson, Harding and Coolidge provides an opportunity to re-examine our conventional understanding of U.S. presidents and presidential rankings. In particular, this book focuses on Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge’s rhetoric surrounding women’s suffrage and the political treatment of Black Americans. Voth demonstrates that ideological considerations elevated Wilson too high in presidential rankings and sabotaged Harding to an unwarranted ethical floor. Scholars of communication, rhetoric, and American history will find this book of particular interest.

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9781666917956

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Reviews

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.

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. --Bond Benton, Montclair State University

Author Information

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

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