Writing JFK: Presidential Rhetoric and the Press in the Bay of Pigs Crisis (Library of Presidential Rhetoric) - Softcover

Benson, Thomas W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 158544281X ISBN 13: 9781585442812

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Following the dramatic Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961, President John F. Kennedy moved to repair the damage the invasion had done to his image and to his relations with the press. Thomas W. Benson examines two speeches and a press conference held by JFK in the days after the crisis, shedding light on how the structures of speech writing influence the texts of the speeches and policy formation, as well as the ways the press mediates and even helps to formulate presidential rhetoric. Writing JFK provides the full text of both speeches and the press conference, as well as Benson's analysis of what would come to be known as ""spin control."" He demonstrates how the speeches display the implicit collaboration of Kennedy with his speech writers and the press to create a depiction of Kennedy as a political and moral agent. A central feature of the book is Benson's exploration of ""the enormous power of the presidency to compel press restraint and to command the powers of publicity."" The resulting insight into the relationship among the press, politics, and public policy will appeal to all those interested in political communication, the power of the American president, and the legacy of JFK.

About this title

About the Author

Thomas W. Benson, the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Rhetoric at Pennsylvania State University, holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University. A rhetorical critic and theorist, he is the editor of the series in Rhetoric/Communication of the University of South Carolina Press and has won a number of awards from communication associations.

Edition details

• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 158544281X
• ISBN 13: 9781585442812
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128