Obama in Words and Deeds*

Abstract

Objective We assess how President Barack Obama acted as chief legislator using the rhetoric contained in his initial joint address to Congress and his three subsequent State of the Union addresses (SUAs). Method Using content analysis, we analyze how Obama conveyed policy substance (both credit claiming and position taking) and used symbolism as he carried out the constitutional requirements of reporting and recommending measures to Congress. Results Obama's first‐term SUA rhetoric is consistent in regard to credit claiming; he devotes about 17 percent of his speeches to this activity. His SUAs typically contain about 35 legislative requests, and these are frequently requests for fairly large‐scale actions. His use of symbolic rhetoric is unique. Obama uses individuals and historical examples to highlight the instrumental and effective role government has played in supporting the pursuit of the American Dream. His legislative requests, for his first three full years in office, have been fully or partially successful at a median rate of almost 45 percent, placing him slightly above the median yearly rate since 1965. Conclusions Obama's rhetorical choices in the SUA portray him as an unusual chief legislator in many ways. He is deferential to Congress on legislative detail, tending to focus his SUA requests on large‐scale items and leaving the details of legislation to Congress. If Congress failed to act, he occasionally sought to accomplish his policy goals through executive actions if he could. He was then able to use the rhetoric of the SUA to portray himself as an active and effective president, something that would aid his reelection and legacy goals. Furthermore, Obama often had to confront unreasonably high expectations, and this strategy helped him position himself against the unpopular institution of Congress as he sought reelection.

Barack Obama and the Rhetoric of Electoral Logic

“…Yet, throughout these speeches, while Obama argued that the people had voted against old ideas, he generally refrained from specifying the content of new ones. In his February 4 remarks on the national economy, for example, Obama dismissed critics of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, attributing to them “the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can ignore fundamental challenges like energy independence and the high cost of health care; that we can somehow deal with this in a piecemeal fashion and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.” Placing his refutation of these ideas within the context of his mandate narrative, Obama went on to say, “I reject those theories, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change.” But the rest of the remarks neglected to offer an alternate theory; rather than offer criticisms of the behavior of the financial industry, Obama instead provided assurances to the audience that Americans do not “disparage wealth.” Indeed, as Hoffman and Howard () show in their analysis of this speech (along with his three subsequent State of the Union Addresses), Obama largely focused on large if general ideas, preferring to leave the policy details to others in the legislative branch. Further, Obama's 2009 contribution to this genre marked his least substantive of the four during his first term, as evidenced by notably fewer specific policy requests than any other year (Hoffman and Howard, :1326–28).…”

“…But the rest of the remarks neglected to offer an alternate theory; rather than offer criticisms of the behavior of the financial industry, Obama instead provided assurances to the audience that Americans do not "disparage wealth." Indeed, as Hoffman and Howard (2012) show in their analysis of this speech (along with his three subsequent State of the Union Addresses), Obama largely focused on large if general ideas, preferring to leave the policy details to others in the legislative branch. Further, Obama's 2009 contribution to this genre marked his least substantive of the four during his first term, as evidenced by notably fewer specific policy requests than any other year (Hoffman andHoward, 2012:1326-28).…”