James C. Humes

My Fellow Americans (eBook, PDF)

Presidential Addresses That Shaped History

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

The presidency, in Theodore Roosevelt's famous words, is a Bully Pulpit. No one has studied the presidency from this vantage point. This book, in a sense, is a study of American political history seen through the prism of selected presidential addresses. It reveals how presidents used major addresses to create a theme for their administrations, to introduce history-making legislation or programs, or to rally successfully a majority of the nation behind their policies. No other book has examined the major presidential addresses--their construction and their impact--as history. No other book examines, in such detail, the background of the speechwriters who drafted the addresses. James C. Humes, a former White House speechwriter, has a unique understanding of the process of presidential speech-drafting. A single speech can be a defining point in American history, such as the Kennedy inaugural (Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country), or a rallying cry, such as Franklin Roosevelt's inaugural (The only thing we have to fear is fear itself). It can become an American creed as did the Gettysburg Address or a prophecy like the Reagan address to the Houses of Parliament in 1982. Washington's Farewell Address would prescribe our conduct in foreign policy for a century, as did the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. Sometimes the message is a declaration for war, such as Wilson's speech in 1917, or a war against an economic elite like Jackson's Bank veto in 1832 or Cleveland's Tariff message in 1887. This book is of great interest not only to historians and political scientists but also to students of the presidency and government.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
• Seitenzahl: 312
• Altersempfehlung: ab 7 Jahre
• Erscheinungstermin: 23. März 1992
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780313065743
• Artikelnr.: 37832452

Autorenporträt

JAMES C. HUMES is Senior Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School--Fels Center of Government. He is an accomplished professional speaker, a speechwriter for three presidents, an actor, a playwright, and an author. Among his books are My Fellow Americans (Praeger, 1992), Churchill, Instant Eloquence, The Sir Winston Method, and The Benjamin Franklin Factor. He was Editorial Advisor for President Ford's memoirs, A Time to Heal. He has written and performed two plays, Blood, Sweat, and Tears (a one-man Churchill show) produced by PBS in 1985, and What's Happening at the Convention, Dr. Franklin? for the U.S. Constitution Bicentennial Commission in 1987.

Inhaltsangabe

Foreword by Senator Sam Nunn Preface The Farewell Address: Washington's
Declaration of Independence in Foreign Policy Jefferson's First Inaugural:
The Revolutionary as Reconciler The Monroe Doctrine: The Whispered Warning
The Jackson Bank Veto: The First War against the Eastern Establishment
Polk's Inaugural: Action as Eloquence The Gettysburg Address: The Great
American Poem The Cleveland Tariff Message: The Battle Against Big Business
The Big Stick: Monroe Doctrine à la Theodore Roosevelt Wilson's Declaration
of War: A Latter-Day Paul on Mars Hill The Sesquicentennial Address: The
Sermon at the Shrine Franklin Roosevelt's First Inaugural: The Rhetoric of
Recovery Harry Truman's Acceptance: The Turnip Day Talk Eisenhower's
Farewell Address: An Old Soldier's Warning The Kennedy Inaugural: A Young
Warrior's Call to Arms President Nixon's Toast to Chairman Mao: The Beijing
Breakthrough The Reagan Address at the Palace of Westminster: A Prophecy
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