Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1996

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Hahn, Dan F.

Abstract

The image of Bill Clinton in the popular press is that of a President who is unable to commit to a course of action, a man with tenuous credibility, and the reputation of being able to slide his way out of compromising situations. However, these characterizations reflect a limited perspective of the complex contradictions that characterize the Clinton presidency. This analysis attempts to address the paradox of a President who is perceived as being chameleon in nature, and yet who is widely recognized as being highly competent in his grasp of substantive and complex policy questions. Clinton's rhetoric, which has been negatively exploited by his opposition, has so many fundamental strategic advantages that it is also partly responsible for his political successes, for his ability to be the "Comeback Kid." A dynamic configuration of seven rhetorical strategies is proposed and discussed as forming the initial criteria of what I call a "rhetoric of caution." Clinton's rhetorical leadership, demonstrated through his televised addresses to the nation, is analyzed through the critical framework of a rhetoric of caution. When viewed from this angle of the critical prism, what the President's opponents portray as "slick" can justifiably be characterized as "flexible." Implications and limitations of this analysis are examined.

Extent

161 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1996.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT15309

Format

pdf

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