Friedenberg examines William Henry Harrison's first ever speech by an American presidential candidate on behalf of his own candidacy as a prelude to the detailed examination of notable contemporary campaign speeches. Key speeches by John F. Kennedy, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and George W. Bush are analyzed.Are Americans entitled to a Manifest Destiny? How did Lewis and Clark's expedition open the door to the West? How should Americans have handled Indian and Mexican land claims in their march across the West to the Pacific? What was the effect of western expansion on the institution of slavery? What arguments fueled the issue of importing Chinese laborers to help build the transcontinental railroad? Why were government leaders opposed to Mormons settling in the West? These are among the 13 key issues of Western expansion covering the period from the early 1800s through the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Students will be able to debate these issues and apply critical thinking skills using this rich resource of expert commentary and 73 primary documents, contemporary to the time, that represent a variety of views on each issue. Documents include presidential letters and speeches, first-person accounts and letters, newspaper and magazine opinion pieces, court decisions, and congressional debates. Voices range from those of presidents to ordinary people caught up in the events of the time. Other issues covered are Indian removal, Texas annexation and the war with Mexico, the Homestead Act, the Sand Creek massacre, the battle of Little Big Horn, the creation of Yellowstone National Park, and Wounded Knee 1890. A narrative overview of each event, the text of carefully selected primary source documents representing a variety of opposing views on each issue, and ready reference materials will help students to understand the conflicting issues behind these events. The documents provide insight into the views of people involved in the decisions, actions, and criticisms of each event covered. A helpful annotated bibliography following each event and a timeline of key events will aid the student researcher.
Though many studies of contemporary campaigns focus on brief political advertisments and the growing impact of technology on contemporary campaigns, the definitive statements of most candidates are still made in public addresses. Friedenberg examines the first public address made by an American presidential candidate on his own behalf. The circumstances giving rise to William Henry Harrison's 1840 address, and the themes that he developed in that address are strikingly contemporary, serving as an appropriate prelude to the examinations of contemporary political speaking that follow. Those examinations focus on notable campaign speeches by John F. Kennedy, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and George W. Bush.
Each study examines a key event that foreshadowed the speech studied. Each study presents a rhetorical biography of the speaker including a discussion of the speechwriting team and preparation techniques utilized by the speaker. Each study presents a thorough study of the campaign context in which the speeches were presented. Each also presents a close reading and rhetorical analysis of the speech itself and observations on the impact of the speech. Cumulatively, Friedenberg's studies help to illustrate how, even in today's high-tech political environment of 30-second ads and candidate Web sites, public speeches continue to play a crucial role in political campaigning. Of particular interest to scholars and students involved with political communication and political American campaigning.
