This article explores the multiple challenges President Bill Clinton faced when he spoke in Selma, Alabama, at the thirty‐fifth anniversary commemoration of Bloody Sunday. Given the symbolic weight of Selma within public memory, its centrality within U.S. nationalistic narratives about equality and Clinton's own personal and political persona, the president had to operate within narrow rhetorical parameters on this occasion. His response was to both observe and depart from norms of presidents' commemorative discourse. An analysis of the speech suggests Clinton commemorated Bloody Sunday less than he memorialized the U.S. presidency, invigorating memories of its past and future power.
Research suggests that modern U.S. presidents increasingly use the local address to speak to voters where they live, both literally and figuratively. Yet most explanations of these speeches suggest that their political efficacy is limited to winning votes. Here I call for a reconsideration of the local address as part of rhetorical presidents' responses to U.S. citizens' diversity. Specifically, I provide a historical-critical account of why presidents may have been able to use the local address to manage American pluralism and then offer a reading of how they might have done so, using examples from 1885-1992.
Communication scholars interested in presidential rhetoric on public policy are very familiar with the rhetorical presidency, but there is another paradigm worth our consideration: the unitary executive. This model emphasizes the institutional reasons why presidents might not use public discourse to promote their policies, relying instead on the expanding powers of the executive branch. Although there is relatively little discussion of one model within scholarship dedicated to the other, this essay argues for the benefits of considering both models simultaneously. As changes occur within the executive office's capacity for creating and enforcing public policy, so too must our critical orientation to the study of presidential rhetoric.
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