The president as god, the recession as evil
Actus, status , and the president's rhetorical bind in the 1992 election
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9236405 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Rountree (0000-0002-4097-5385, University of Alabama in Huntsville, corresponding author), J Clarke Rountree |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 81 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 325-352 |
| Publication date | 1995-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Quarterly Journal of Speech (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-5630 • E-ISSN: 1479-5779 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00335639509384119 |
| OpenAlex | W2066423671 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 8 |
This essay uses theodicy to analyze political discourse concerning President Bush's relationship to the “evil” (recessionary) economy during his 1992 reelection campaign. It shows that Bush, Clinton, and the news media struggled over the issues of the President's knowledge, benevolence, and power concerning the economic evil and whether a Democrat‐controlled White House would be worse. Unable to overcome the charge that he was out of touch, Bush admitted his lack of power (blaming the “gridlock” Congress), lost his status as a force for changing the economic situation, and retreated to the negative strategy of claiming “things could be worse.”
Economics · Gilded Age · Gridlock · Management · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Presidency · Recession · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Theodicy · Theology · Vice president · White (mutation) · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Philosophy · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Rhetoric and Communication Studies
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,25 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2021 (4) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |