Elvin T. Lim is Associate Professor of Government at Wesleyan University and author of The Anti-intellectual Presidency: The Decline of Presidential Rhetoric from George Washington to George W. Bush.In 2008 he named a five best list of books on presidential rhetoric for the Wall Street Journal. One title on the list:
The Rhetorical PresidencyRead about another title on Lim's list.
by Jeffrey Tulis
It is not unusual today for presidents to appeal for public support in the face of an intransigent Congress. Jeffrey Tulis explains the ways in which such efforts have provoked resentment in Congress and even helped to end careers. President Andrew Johnson -- anextreme example of the bull-in-a-china-shop approach -- used the occasion of his speech to a rowdy crowd in St. Louis in 1866 to taunt the most prominent leaders of his own party. "If I have played the Judas, who has been my Christ that I have played the Judas with?" Johnson asked, naming a handful of congressmen who "compare themselves with the Savior." It is not surprising, then, that the 10th article of impeachment against Andrew Johnson concerned his intemperate, inflammatory and scandalous harangues against Congress, all made, as the article of impeachment claims, "with a loud voice." With "The Rhetorical Presidency," Tulis offers a fascinating compendium of lore on the multiple perils and occasional promises of presidential persuasion.
The Page 99 Test: Elvin T. Lim's The Anti-Intellectual Presidency: The Decline of Presidential Rhetoric from George Washington to George W. Bush.
--Marshal Zeringue
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