Rhetorical presidency

[3] Lincoln, who took over the presidential role in 1861,[4] tried to be careful with what he said, but he still made an average of over 19 speeches a year that addressed political matters in that time.

[3] The term "rhetorical presidency" was introduced by political scientists James Ceaser, Glen E. Thurow, Jeffrey Tulis, and Joseph Bessette in 1981.

Many progressive presidential candidates campaigned on the rhetoric of righteousness to motivate their Protestant supporters, especially Theodore Roosevelt, Robert La Follette and William Jennings Bryan.

Certain wealthy men of this stamp, whose conduct should be abhorrent to every man of ordinarily decent conscience, and who commit the hideous wrong of teaching our young men that phenomenal business success must ordinarily be based on dishonesty, have during the last few months made it apparent that they have banded together to work for a reaction.

Their endeavor is to overthrow and discredit all who honestly administer the law, to prevent any additional legislation which would check and restrain them, and to secure if possible a freedom from all restraint which will permit every unscrupulous wrongdoer to do what he wishes unchecked provided he has enough money....The methods by which the Standard Oil people and those engaged in the other combinations of which I have spoken above have achieved great fortunes can only be justified by the advocacy of a system of morality which would also justify every form of criminality on the part of a labor union, and every form of violence, corruption, and fraud, from murder to bribery and ballot box stuffing in politics.

[7] Since the dawn of the new media of communication, such as radio and television, the president and his staff have utilized them to address the American audience.

[13] Tulis argued that changes in the rhetorical style of the presidency were a symptom of a shift in Americans' underlying conceptions regarding how government should function.

It draws from political science, history and communication studies,[15] and primarily results from a modern doctrine of presidential leadership.

[2] The Middle Way (1900–1913) marks a hybrid between internal and external appeals on important matters epitomized by the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.

[2] William McKinley's 1898 speaking tour was an integral part of developing the "Middle Way" that Theodore Roosevelt is mainly credited for.

The use of the State of the Union Address is an example of presidents explaining and defending their own policies to gain the support of the public directly.