In the Public Domain : Presidents and the Challenges of Public Leadership

by Han, Lori Cox; Heith, Diane J.

• ISBN13: 9780791465752
• ISBN10: 0791465756
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-11-15
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

The "public presidency"-how presidents rely on the mass media, public opinion, and various communication strategies-has become an increasingly important aspect of presidential governance and leadership during the past two decades. In the Public Domain gathers together noted presidency and communication scholars to explore the relationship between the president and the American public, the current state of the "public presidency," and the challenges that recent presidents have faced in developing an effective means of communicating and maintaining a strong presidential image. Specific topics include: how presidents use public leadership to pursue their policy goals and objectives; the importance of public opinion, rhetorical strategies, and public activities; external factors such as party politics and news media coverage; the cultivation of presidential legacy; and access to documents in presidential libraries.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction: The President and the Public Revisited	1	(12)
Doris A. Graber
Part I The Challenge of Perception
Celebrity in Chief: The President As a Pop Culture Icon	13	(16)
Michael A. Genovese
Party Labels in Presidential Acceptance Addresses: 1948--2000	29	(20)
Sharon E. Jarvis
Emily Balanoff Jones
What Gets Covered? How Media Coverage of Elite Debate Drives the Rally-'Round-the-Flag Phenomenon: 1979--1998	49	(26)
Matthew A. Baum
Tim Groeling
Part II The Challenge of Policy Management
The White House Public Opinion Apparatus Meets the Anti-Polling President	75	(14)
Diane J. Heith
Presidential Leverage and the Presidential Agenda: 1967--1996	89	(24)
Daniel E. Ponder
Second-Term Presidents: Free Birds or Lame Ducks?	113	(28)
William Cunion
Part III The Challenge of Presentation
Presidential Ideology and the Public Mood: 1956--1994	141	(22)
Jeffrey E. Cohen
John A. Hamman
The Rose Garden Strategy Revisited: How Presidents Use Public Activities	163	(16)
Lori Cox Han
Doing Diversity across the Partisan Divide: George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and the American National Identity	179	(28)
Mary E. Stuckey
A President Transformed: Bush's Pre- and Post-September 11 Rhetoric and Image	207	(20)
Jeremy D. Mayer
Mark J. Rozell
Part IV The Challenge After the White House
Life after the White House: The Public Post-Presidency and the Development of Presidential Legacies	227	(28)
Lori Cox Han
Matthew J. Krov
Not Going Public: George W. Bush and the Presidential Records Act	255	(24)
Nancy Kassop
Contributors	279	(4)
Index	283