A critical assessment of the impact of the administration of President Ronald Reagan on public discourse in the United States
The authors show that more than any president since John F. Kennedy, Reagan’s influence flowed from his rhetorical practices. And he is remembered as having reversed certain trends and cast the U.S. on a new course. The contributors to this insightful collection of essays show that Reagan’s rhetorical tactics were matters of primary concern to his administration’s chief political strategists.
Michael Weiler is an associate professor in the department of communication studies at Emerson College. An expert in argument, rhetoric, and political communication, he is the author of research that has appeared in Argumentation and Advocacy, Informal Logic, and the Quarterly Journal of Speech. He is director of Emerson Community Debate, a program that promotes debating activities at Boston elementary and secondary schools.