"Stuckey's perceptive study of presidential rhetoric shows how technological changes have emptied presidential discourse of political substance, weakening American democracy. Her fascinating, widely ranging book is essential reading for presidency watchers, media scholars, and everyone who cares about the quality of American politics."

– Doris A. Graber
University of Illinois at Chicago

Introduction: The President as Interpreter-in-Chief
Presidential Speech as a Category for Study
Televised Communication
Conclusion

1. Political Rhetoric in the Premodern United States
Public Speech and Public Politics
Rhetoric in the Colonial Period
Rhetoric during the Revolutionary Period
Rhetoric in Jacksonian America
Rhetoric during the Civil War Era
Rhetoric in Post-Civil War America
Rhetoric during the Early Twentieth Century
Summary and Conclusions

2. The Development of Mass-Mediated Politics: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman
The Presidency Goes Public
Radio and Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman: Old Politics and New Technology
Conclusions

3. The Birth of Televised Politics: Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy
The Potential of Televised Politics
Dwight D. Eisenhower and teh Politics of Nonpartisanship
John F. Kennedy and the Power of Words
Conclusions

4. Television and Personality: Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon
The Imperial Presidency and Television
Lyndon B. Johnson and the Rhetoric of Consensus
Richard M. Nixon and the Rhetoric of Conflict
Conclusions

5. The Issue of Control: Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter
The New Hostility of Television
Gerald R. Ford and the Rhetoric of Decency
Jimmy Carter and the Rhetoric of Morality
Conclusions

6. Mastering Televised Politics: Ronald Wilson Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush
New Television Strategies
Ronald Reagan and the Rhetoric of Revolution
George Bush and the Rhetoric of Succession
Conclusions

7. (Almost) "Everything Old Is New" Again: The Consequences of Television Politics
The Political Context of Presidential Speech
The Content of Presidential Speech
The Composition of Presidential Speech
Old Politics, New Technologies

Notes
Bibliography
Index