George W. Bush and the Unrhetorical Rhetorical Presidency

This essay applies Tulis's work on the rhetorical presidency to one modern example—George W. Bush and his tax cut plan of 2001. In his book The Rhetorical Presidency, Tulis examines Woodrow Wilson's reinterpretation of presidential leadership, examining how Wilson reimagined the presidency as an office dedicated primarily to popular leadership through rhetoric. Since prior to the events of 9/11 George W. Bush's reputation was not that of a brilliant rhetorician, does that mean Tulis's construct did not apply to him? In fact, no—for the rhetorical presidency is at heart a constitutional problem, not a problem of oratorical skill. The modern presidency-centered system requires the president to be a policy activist and to resist compromise as he sets rhetorical markers of success. Yet the other branches of government still retain all of their traditional institutional weapons to fight presidential success. Even though Bush was not known for being a rhetorically gifted popular leader in his first months in office, he still found himself operating according to the rules of Wilson's rhetorical presidency. Thus, Bush experienced every potential weakness of the rhetorical presidency identified by Tulis.