The Great Silent Majority: Nixon's 1969 Speech on Vietnamization

4. Nixon’s Rhetorical Critics

chapter  Nixon’s฀Rhetorical฀Critics This฀chapter฀is฀framed฀by฀disciplinary฀history.฀The฀development฀of฀rhetorical ฀criticism฀is฀a฀story฀of฀efforts฀to฀free฀critics฀from฀the฀constraints฀ of฀formulas,฀usually฀drawn฀from฀Greco-Roman฀principles,฀in฀order฀ to฀foster฀critical฀practices฀adapted฀to฀the฀distinctive฀character฀of฀the฀ works฀being฀analyzed.฀Rhetorical฀criticism฀as฀we฀now฀know฀it฀began฀ in฀earnest฀in฀the฀1960s.฀Prior฀to฀that฀time,฀criticism฀took฀the฀form฀of฀ the฀essays฀in฀the฀three฀volumes฀of฀A History and Criticism of American Public Address,฀which฀were฀studies฀of฀prominent฀US฀speakers฀in฀the฀ fields฀of฀law,฀politics,฀and฀religion฀emphasizing฀their฀biographies฀and฀ historical฀influence,฀studies฀similar฀to฀the฀earlier฀work฀of฀Chauncey฀ Goodrich฀on฀great฀British฀parliamentary฀speakers.1 ฀ The฀general฀approach฀to฀criticism฀found฀in฀those฀volumes฀had฀its฀ origins฀in฀a฀1925฀essay฀in฀which฀Herbert฀A.฀Wichelns฀identified฀the฀ distinctiveness฀that฀justified฀the฀study฀of฀public฀address฀and฀defined฀the฀ character฀of฀rhetorical฀scholarship.฀He฀argued฀that฀“the฀conditions฀of฀ democracy฀necessitate฀.฀.฀.฀the฀study฀of฀the฀[oratorical]฀art”฀(4),฀which,฀ he฀argued,฀is฀“the฀art฀of฀influencing฀men฀[sic]฀in฀some฀concrete฀situation ,”฀and฀the฀orator฀is฀“a฀public฀man฀whose฀function฀it฀is฀to฀exert฀ influence฀by฀speech”฀(21).฀Accordingly,฀he฀asserted,฀rhetorical฀criticism฀ “is฀not฀concerned฀with฀permanence,฀nor฀yet฀with฀beauty.฀It฀is฀concerned฀ with฀effect.฀It฀regards฀a฀speech฀as฀a฀communication฀to฀a฀specific฀audience ,฀and฀holds฀its฀business฀to฀be฀the฀analysis฀and฀appreciation฀of฀the฀ [] nixon's rhetorical critics orator’s฀method฀of฀imparting฀his฀ideas฀to฀his฀hearers”฀(22).฀Thus,฀he฀ concluded,฀the฀study฀of฀oratory฀or฀public฀rhetoric฀lay฀“at฀the฀boundary฀ of฀politics฀(in฀the฀broadest฀sense)฀and฀literature;฀its฀atmosphere฀is฀that฀ of฀the฀public฀life,฀its฀tools฀are฀those฀of฀literature,฀its฀concern฀is฀with฀ the฀ideas฀of฀the฀people฀as฀influenced฀by฀their฀leaders”฀(26).฀His฀essay฀ did฀not฀prescribe฀an฀application฀of฀the฀rhetorical฀principles฀developed฀ by฀Aristotle,฀Cicero,฀and฀Quintilian,฀among฀others,฀but฀these฀became฀ standard฀and฀were฀elaborated฀in฀Speech Criticism: The Development of Standards for Critical Appraisal.2 ฀ Already฀in฀1944,฀Loren฀Reid฀had฀begun฀to฀question฀whether฀such฀ studies฀constituted฀critical฀analysis,฀and฀in฀1965,฀Edwin฀Black฀issued฀a฀ sustained฀critique฀of฀the฀dominant฀critical฀paradigm฀based฀on฀analysis฀ of฀the฀essays฀in฀the฀volumes฀edited฀by฀William฀Brigance฀and฀Marie฀ Kathryn฀Hochmuth.3 ฀Black฀noted฀that฀these฀essays฀typically฀identified ฀speeches฀by฀genre,฀as฀deliberative,฀or฀engaged฀in฀political฀decision฀ making;฀forensic,฀or฀the฀rhetoric฀of฀law฀courts฀and฀legal฀decisions;฀ or฀epideictic;฀or฀ceremonial฀and฀commemorative฀discourse.฀Critics฀ also฀parsed฀speeches฀in฀terms฀of฀four฀basic฀standards฀or฀principles฀ developed฀by฀the฀ancients:฀invention,฀or฀the฀apt฀selection฀and฀use฀of฀ available฀materials;฀organization,฀or฀effective฀arrangement฀of฀materials ;฀appropriate฀style฀or฀use฀of฀language;฀and฀suitable฀presentation฀or฀ delivery.฀In฀addition,฀critics฀focused฀attention฀on฀logos,฀defined฀as฀the฀ use฀of฀argument฀and฀evidence;฀pathos,฀defined฀as฀emotional฀appeals฀ to฀values฀and฀beliefs฀held฀by฀the฀audience;฀and฀ethos, understood as the฀creation฀of฀an฀attractive฀persona฀by฀the฀speaker.฀Despite฀protestations ฀to฀the฀contrary,฀the฀ultimate฀criterion฀of฀evaluation฀was฀whether฀ a฀speech฀produced฀the฀desired฀effects฀on฀the฀immediate฀audience(s). ฀ As฀a฀basis฀for฀enlarging฀the฀critical฀perspective,฀Black฀used฀an฀unusual฀ example,฀John฀Chapman’s฀address฀at฀Coatesville,฀Pennsylvania,฀in฀1912,฀ a฀speech฀heard฀possibly฀by฀three฀people฀and฀that฀produced฀no฀immediate ฀effects฀but,฀he฀argued,฀still฀has฀the฀power฀to฀speak฀to฀contemporary฀ audiences.฀He฀wished฀to฀identify฀works฀that฀had฀enduring฀power฀that฀ illustrated฀what฀was฀possible฀in฀public฀discourse.฀He฀also฀urged฀the฀ study฀of฀types฀or฀genres฀of฀discourse฀in฀addition฀to฀the฀three฀described฀ above.฀In฀response฀to฀the฀dynamic฀events฀of฀the฀1960s,฀critical฀essays฀ [] chapter 4 appeared฀analyzing฀the฀rhetoric฀of฀social฀movements;฀the฀rhetoric฀of฀ Black฀Power฀and฀of฀woman’s฀rights฀activists;฀the฀civil฀rights฀rhetoric฀of฀ key฀figures,฀such฀as฀the฀Rev.฀Dr.฀Martin฀Luther฀King,฀Malcolm฀X,฀and฀ Stokely฀Carmichael,฀among฀others;฀and฀other฀protest฀discourse. ฀ Black’s฀book฀appeared฀at฀an฀apt฀moment.฀Alternative฀approaches฀ to฀criticism฀were฀imperative฀in฀a฀period฀of฀social฀upheaval฀created฀ by฀dissent฀from฀the฀Vietnam฀War฀policies;฀the฀resistance฀to฀segregation ,฀disenfranchisement,฀and฀discrimination฀by฀African฀Americans;฀ second-wave฀feminist฀demands฀for฀equal฀opportunity;฀and฀protests฀ against฀discrimination฀by฀those฀seeking฀rights฀for฀gay฀citizens...