The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency

Contents

contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xvii Chapter 1. Barack Obama and the Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations 1 Jennifer R. Mercieca and Justin S. Vaughn Chapter 2. A Lighthouse at the Crossroads: Barack Obama’s Call for Agonistic Democracy 30 Jay P. Childers Chapter 3. The “We” in “Yes, We Can”: Obama’s Audience, the Audience ’s Obama, and Consubstantiality 50 Eric Dieter Chapter 4. Overcoming Institutional Burdens: President Obama’s Rhetorical Leadership in His First Year 67 Brandon Rottinghaus Chapter 5. Where’s the Media? President Obama, the Public, and News Coverage 90 Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha Chapter 6. The United States and the World: The Rhetorical Dimensions of Obama’s Foreign Policy 109 David Zarefsky Chapter 7. Resetting America’s Role in the World: President Obama’s Rhetoric of (Re)Conciliation and Partnership 130 Jason A. Edwards Chapter 8. Obama’s Two Bodies: A Study in American Economic Theology 151 James Arnt Aune Chapter 9. The Secular Messianic Style in Barack Obama’s “Call to Renewal” Speech 170 Catherine L. Langford Chapter 10. The Exodus as Burden: Obama, Agency, and the Containment Thesis 191 Dave Tell Chapter 11. Picturing the Presidents: Obama and the Visual Politics of White House Art 209 Cara Finnegan Chapter 12. Michelle Obama,“Mom-in-Chief”: Gender, Race, and Familialism in Media Representations of the First Lady 235 Bonnie J. Dow Epilogue: Carrying the Burden: How Barack Obama Both Embraced and Diminished Heroic Expectations 257 Jennifer R. Mercieca and Justin S. Vaughn Contributor Biographies 265 Index 269 viii : contents ...