Presidentialism, Political Fiction, and the Complex Presidencies ofFox's24

Abstract

This article explores how the Fox television network program 24 offers a compelling yet oddly ambivalent vision of the U.S. presidency. Specifically, I examine 24's articulation of presidentialism in depictions of the nation's chief executive and reveal how those depictions are actually quite complex and layered. Ultimately, I suggest that as 24 continues to circulate as a meaningful popular culture text, it may also continue to influence how Americans see the presidency, offering its audiences a sense of the presidency that is conflicted and complicated, yet strangely reassuring in its vision of presidentialism and presidential authority.

When Does a Presidential Candidate Seem Presidential and Trustworthy? Campaign Messages Through the Lens of Language Expectancy Theory

“…A successful presidential aspirant's rhetoric tends to remain consistent from the campaign trail to the Oval Office (Olson, Ouyang, Poe, Trantham, and Waterman ). Yet a president does not automatically exude presidentiality once ensconced in the office (Parry‐Giles ). Our results suggest that future research could further elucidate how language makes a president seem more presidential when he or she effectively employs strategies cognizant of the situation.…”

“…Presidentiality can include anything from physical height to an optimistic attitude (Herman ). Presidentialism includes the pragmatic attainment of power on Pennsylvania Avenue, as well as illogical, unconscious feelings toward the President (Nelson , see also Parry‐Giles ).…”

Imagining Madam President: a critical typology of fictional female presidents and intersectional presidentiality in U.S. politainment

“…Overall, the melding of entertainment and the fictional with our actual politicsa mutual interconnection that Newsome (2015) shorthands as the "reel-to-real"has served to further blur the lines between political reality and national imagination, thus increasing the urgency for scholars to carefully consider not only how politics is portrayed via entertainment media, but also the larger sociocultural and rhetorical implications of such portrayals. To date, social scientific and humanistic scholars alike have studied the content, impact, and merit of politainment (Hoewe & Sherrill, 2019;Jackson, 2009;Parry-Giles, 2014b;van Zoonen, 2005), as well as the production and cultural features of entertainment media's political texts and artifacts (Coyne, 2008;Frame, 2014;Rollins & O'Connor, 2003;Scott, 2011). Much has been and continues to be learned about entertainment media's role in political socialization with accompanying knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.…”