Words of Crisis as Words of Power: The Jeremiad in American Presidential Speeches

415 Pages·2018·8.532 MB·English

by  Marta Neüff (Editor)

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JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY
Words of Crisis as Words of Power
Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society
and Culture (DAPSAC)
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Stellenbosch University University of Sydney University of Neuchâtel
Michael Billig Jacob L. Mey Hailong Tian
Loughborough University University of Southern Denmark Tianjin Foreign Studies
Piotr Cap Greg Myers University
University of Łódź Lancaster University Joanna Thornborrow
Paul Chilton John Richardson Cardiff University
University of Warwick Loughborough University Ruth Wodak
Teun A. van Dijk Luisa Martín Rojo Lancaster University/
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid University of Vienna
Barcelona Sue Wright
Christina Schäffner
Konrad Ehlich Aston University University of Portsmouth
Free University, Berlin
Volume 77
Words of Crisis as Words of Power. The jeremiad in American presidential speeches
by Marta Neüff
Words of Crisis as Words of Power
The jeremiad in American presidential speeches
Marta Neüff
Humboldt University of Berlin
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
8
the American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
doi 10.1075/dapsac.77
Cataloging-in-Publication Data available from Library of Congress:
lccn 2017056556 (print) / 2018000413 (e-book)
isbn 978 90 272 0050 1 (Hb)
isbn 978 90 272 6426 8 (e-book)
© 2018 – John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Company · https://benjamins.com
Table of contents
Acknowledgements vii
List of tables ix
List of figures xi
chapter 1
Introduction 1
chapter 2
The rhetorical presidency, presidential crisis rhetoric, and the
American jeremiad 17
2.1  The rhetorical presidency  17
2.1.1  Presidential power to persuade  17
2.1.2  Traditional and modern presidency  19
2.2  Presidential crisis rhetoric  22
2.2.1  Presidential crisis rhetoric as a genre  25
2.2.2  Narrating crisis: Metaphors, myths, and intertextuality  29
2.2.3  Metaphor and crisis: How do metaphors function?  31
2.2.4  Othering  35
2.3  The American jeremiad  36
2.3.1  The American jeremiad: America’s first distinct genre  38
2.3.2  Biblical vs. American jeremiad: The mythology of mission  40
2.3.3  The myth of American exceptionalism as root of the
civil-religious jeremiad  42
2.3.4  Civil religion and presidential rhetoric in times of crisis  46
2.3.5  How do jeremiads function? Constructing a narrative between
hope and fear  47
2.3.6  Conclusions and working definitions: Modern jeremiads and
jeremiadic speech  49
chapter 3
Crisis rhetoric and the tradition of the jeremiad in 21st century U.S. Ameri-
can presidential speechmaking: Analysis of President George W. Bush’s and
President Barack Obama’s speeches 53
3.1  9/11 as new American jeremiad?: Analysis of President George W. Bush’s
speeches following the September 11 terrorist attacks  53
vi Words of Crisis as Words of Power
3.1.1  Contextualization of the events  53
3.1.2  Analysis of George W. Bush’s speeches following the September 11
attacks  67
3.1.3  C  onclusions on President George W. Bush’s post 9/11 crisis
rhetoric  170
3.2  Presidential speeches in times of environmental disaster: Analysis of
President George W. Bush’s and Barack Obama’s environmental crisis
speeches  175
3.2.1  Contextualization of the events  175
3.2.2  A  nalysis of President George W. Bush’s speeches on Hurricane
Katrina  186
3.2.3  Analysis of President Barack Obama’s speeches on the oil spill in
the Gulf of Mexico  217
3.2.4  Comparisons of and conclusions on President Bush’s and President
Obama’s environmental crisis rhetoric  258
3.3  F  raming the global economic downturn: Analysis of President G. W. Bush’s
and B. Obama’s speeches on the financial crisis  261
3.3.1  Contextualization of the events  262
3.3.2  Analysis of President George W. Bush’s speeches on the financial
and economic crisis  274
3.3.3  Analysis of President Barack Obama’s speeches on the financial and
economic crisis  297
3.3.4  Comparisons and conclusions on President Bush’s and President
Obama’s economic crisis rhetoric  322
chapter 4
Comparisons, conclusions, and implications 327
Bibliography 339
Appendix 375
Index 399
Acknowledgements
This book started off as a dissertation and therefore my foremost thanks go to
my PhD advisor Martin Klepper, whose guidance, expertise, and encouragement
helped me endure all the “crises” related to this project. I would also like to express
my gratitude to the Department of American Studies at Humboldt University
and especially Reinhard Isensee as well Eva Boesenberg and all members of the
research colloquium for their valuable insights and suggestions.
While American presidents have come and gone, many colleagues and friends
stayed and took the time to proofread and comment on different chapters of this
book. In particular, I would like to thank Sarah Bäumchen, Katharina Christ, Anu
Koski-Rickmann, and Sabine Kray for their support.
Cynthia Whissell from Laurentian University was kind enough to provide me
with a copy of her Dictionary of Affect in Language and Florian Tatzky developed
a digital version thereof, which I greatly appreciate. I am also grateful to ANU
Press for their image copyrights and the Marshall McLuhan Salon for providing
an inspiring work environment. My special thanks go to the wonderful team of
reviewers and editors at John Benjamins for helping me publish this book as part
of the DAPSAC series.
Finally, I thank my family and friends for always encouraging me to pursue
my interests and the one and only Martin Teller for putting up with these jeremi-
ads without lamentation.

List of tables
Table 1 President Bush’s post 9/11 speeches: Word count and D.A.L.
pleasantness score 60
Table 2 President Bush’s and President Obama’s speeches on environmental
crisis: Word count and D.A.L. pleasantness scores 180
Table 3 President Bush’s and President Obama’s speeches on the economic
downturn: Word count and D.A.L. pleasantness scores 268