Before the Rhetorical Presidency (review)

Before the Rhetorical Presidency, a collection of essays from the 2002 Texas A&M Conference on Presidential Rhetoric, should be on the shelf of any presidential, public address, or rhetorical scholar. Interrogating Jeffrey Tulis's concept of the rhetorical president principally through historically situated rhetorical criticism of presidential rhetoric from the nineteenth century, this latest edition of the Presidential Rhetoric Series is a well-wrought bookend to the nine volumes that began with Beyond the Rhetorical Presidency. The book cogently defends its thesis that "there was a rhetorical presidency—perhaps several different rhetorical presidencies—long before Roosevelt and Wilson" (3) with essays that not only explore presidential rhetoric of the nineteenth century but also provide varied and nuanced examples of readings from a range of presidential discourse that has been relatively ignored by historians, political scientists, and rhetorical critics (3).

Before the Rhetorical Presidency falls into two general categories of essays: conceptual discussions on the accuracy of Tulis's arguments about the rhetorical presidency and contextually responsive analyses of rhetoric from 11 presidents in the nineteenth century. The conceptual discussions showcase a lively exchange between Mel Laracey, whose 2002 The People and the Presidency directly challenged Tulis's work, and Tulis, who gives little ground to Larceny's assault. Writing in a mode that has produced some of his most lasting work, Stephen Lucas judiciously parses and moderates the claims of Laracey and Tulis, leavening the discussion with insight from his work on George Washington. Medhurst's introduction and afterword give a clear bird's eye view of the controversy and the academic history of the issue, argue his own point on the rhetorical presidency, and highlight the stasis points relevant to further criticism. The framing discussion to the individual essays serves its purpose well; the conceptual arguments provoke rather than close further commentary, stirring the readers' curiosity for the individual essays.

Each of the 11 independent essays on presidential rhetoric of the nineteenth century examines a particular president, beginning with Martin Van Buren. The rhetoric of Abraham Lincoln, because it is so often analyzed, and of presidents who did not sit a full term, such as Millard Fillmore, are not considered. The addition of an essay on Andrew Jackson's rhetoric—because he casts such a heavy shadow on so many of the presidents analyzed in the volume—and an overview of the rhetorical trends of the presidential rhetoric in the volume may have rounded out the edition more fully. However, Medhurst has nowhere claimed this volume should be considered exhaustive or conclusive; in fact, it is perhaps best thought of as an end that is a beginning. Medhurst has chosen to arrange the essays chronologically rather than thematically or topically, which gives the reader a sense of the historical and rhetorical cycles as presidents add or alter the traditions they have inherited. And all of the essays do address the question of the rhetorical presidency, detailing, amending, or challenging Laracey's and Tulis's more sweeping claims about the period: some directly address the issue, such as Michael Leff's on Grover Cleveland; some more obliquely, such as Stephen Browne's on Andrew Johnson.

Although almost all of the essays would be considered traditional public address criticism, generally tracing the broader lines of goals, strategies, and tactics, there is an engaging range of scholarly voices and personalities. With the exception of Tulis, Laracey, and George Goethals, the authors in Before the Rhetorical Presidency are well-known public address scholars in sundry stages of their careers, and they showcase distinctive critical abilities. For example, Susan Zaeske focuses on the shifting rhetorical situation facing a maladroit Van Buren. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell traces the imperialistic strains in James Polk's rhetoric. Stephen Hartnett grafts his thorough rhetorical history of Franklin Pierce onto the metaphor of a musical movement and within a rich array of contextual contemporary discourse. William Harpine concludes the analyses by tracking the evolution of William McKinley's public address from elliptical allusions...