Synopses & Reviews
The first of its kind in the field of rhetoric, this book examines important speech encounters in the political life of twentieth-century America. The essays focus on significant speakers who have delivered political accusations against their opponents and on the orators who, in turn, have delivered apologies in order to protect their political standing. The essays treat these speech encounters as oratorical confrontations. Both accusatory and defending speeches are used to illuminate one another and to provide unique insight into the outcome of the encounters themselves. Each essay concludes with a bibliography of research materials, sources, and locations of speech texts.
Review
In an era when too many believe that theory building is the essential business of rhetorical criticism, this group of theory-based traditional (in the best sense of the word) historical studies is welcome. More so than in many collections, however, the quality of the individual essays is mixed. The majority of the studies are solid and workmanlike, and Craig Allen Smith on Watergate is outstanding.Choice
Synopsis
The first of its kind in the field of rhetoric, this book examines important speech encounters in the political life of twentieth-century America. The essays focus on significant speakers who have delivered political accusations against their opponents and on the orators who, in turn, have delivered apologies in order to protect their political standing. The essays treat these speech encounters as oratorical confrontations. Both accusatory and defending speeches are used to illuminate one another and to provide unique insight into the outcome of the encounters themselves. Each essay concludes with a bibliography of research materials, sources, and locations of speech texts.The first of its kind in the field of rhetoric, this book examines important speech encounters in the political life of twentieth-century America. The essays focus on significant speakers who have delivered political accusations against their opponents and on the orators who, in turn, have delivered apologies in order to protect their political standing. The essays treat these speech encounters as oratorical confrontations. Both accusatory and defending speeches are used to illuminate one another and to provide unique insight into the outcome of the encounters themselves. Each essay concludes with a bibliography of research materials, sources, and locations of speech texts.
About the Author
HALFORD ROSS RYAN is Professor of Public Speaking at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Edward P. J. Corbett
Preface
Introduction
Oratorical Encounters
Apology as Attack: Senators La Follette vs. Robinson on Freedom of Speech by Carl R. Burgchardt
The Scopes Trial: "Darrow vs. Bryan" vs. "Bryan vs. Darrow" by Thomas M. Lessl
Accusations and Apologies from a General, a Senator, and a Priest by Susan Schultz Huxman and Wil A. Linkugel
Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin vs. King Edward VIII by Halford Ross Ryan
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the "Purge" by G. Jack Gravlee
President Harry S. Truman and General Douglas MacArthur: A Study of Rhetorical Confrontation by Bernard K. Duffy
Senator Richard M. Nixon's Apology for the "The Fund" by Halford Ross Ryan
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Rachel L. Holloway
Nikita S. Krushchev vs. Dwight D. Eisenhower by Lawrence W. Haapanen
Senator John F. Kennedy Encounters the Religious Question: "I Am Not the Catholic Candidate for President" by David Henry
Eight Alabama Clergy vs. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Ronald K. Burke
Senator Edward M. Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick Tragedy by William L. Benoit
President Richard M. Nixon and the Watergate Scandal by Craig Allen Smith
Gerald R. Ford Encounters Richard Nixon's Legacy: On Amnesty and the Pardon by Bernard L. Brock
CBS vs. Mobil Oil: Charges of Creative Bookeeping in 1979 by George N. Dionisopoulos and Steven L. Vibbert
The Media and the Catholic Church vs. Geraldine Ferraro by Richard J. Jensen
Elie Wiesel vs. President Ronald Reagan: The Visit to Bitburg by Robert V. Friedenberg
President Ronald Reagan's Apologia on the Iran-Contra Affair by D. Ray. Heisey
Glossary of Rhetorical Terms
Speaker and Speech Index
Subject Index