Pre-Intervention War Rhetoric: Woodrow Wilson, 1914-1917
Date
1994-05
Authors
Felker, Ross O.
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Abstract
This study reveals that presidential war rhetoric is comprised of much more than the typical war declaration or pro-war speech, which has been the focus of most previous studies on this subject. Using generic methodology and classic Aristotelian precepts, this study closely examines presidential rhetoric which precedes intervention, and finds the existence of three functional stages: acknowledgment, threat, and declaration. The acknowledgment speeches are found to rely primarily on epideictic strategies, whereas the threat speeches are distinguished by the prevalence of deliberative characteristics. However, declaration speeches contain a wide variety of strategies employed to unite the nation in favor of belligerency. This study builds on the findings of Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall Jamieson's generic piece on war rhetoric, and also draws on the conclusions of Celeste M. Condit and Bonnie J. Dow to reveal the characteristics of pre-intervention rhetoric, using Woodrow Wilson as an exemplar.
Description
Keywords
rhetoric, politics, World War I, United States, political rhetoric
Citation
Felker, R.O. (1994). Pre-intervention war rhetoric: Woodrow Wilson, 1914-1917 (Unpublished thesis). Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.