Speakers' Vision About Political Action in Their Rhetorical Strategy Flashcards
“I have no sympathy with the professional economists who insist that things must run their course and that human agencies can have no influence on economic ills.” (F.D. Roosevelt)
FDR’s statement clearly demonstrates his resistance to the economic strategy of his predecessor, Herbert Hoover. FDR was faced with the Great Depression and decided to pump money into the economy rather than let the recession solve itself.
“Let’s talk sense to the American people.” (Adlai Stevenson II)
Stevenson was a philosophical liberal running against a pragmatic candidate, Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower’s campaign lacked substance ( such as the “everybody likes Ike” video). Stevenson was fed up with what he perceived to be childish campaigns and policies, and desired to be straightforward with the US.
“This is the first time in our history that this ceremony has been held, as you’ve been told, on this West Front of the Capitol. Standing here, one faces a magnificent vista, opening up on this city’s special beauty and history. At the end of this open mall are those shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we stand.” (Ronald Reagan’s First Inaugural Address)
Reagan, using visual rhetoric, was alluding to the graves of American soldiers. Reagan’s aggressive foreign policy is foreshadowed, here. Under Reagan, the US would fight against Communism for freedom with more vigor than ever before. This is highlighted by the fact that Reagan was mentioning the dead soldiers who gave their lives for American freedom, which was directly opposed to Communism.
“I speak as simple as possible because the issue is too great to be obscured by eloquence.” (Margaret Chase Smith)
Sen. Smith was the first female representative of Maine, and the first woman to serve in both the House and the Senate. In such a time, Smith received a lot of skepticism for being a woman in government. Smith had to be focused on doing the best job possible, which to her, was straightforward, not elegant.
“Some days when life seems hard and we reach out for values to sustain us or a friend to help us, we find a person who reminds us what it means to be Americans. Sergeant Stephen Trujillo, a medic in the 2d Ranger Battalion, 75th Infantry, was in the first helicopter to land at the compound held by Cuban forces in Grenada. (…)Sergeant Trujillo, you and your fellow service men and women not only saved innocent lives; you set a nation free.” (Ronald Reagan)
Reagan, and the Reagan Revolution, was a return to conservatism in America. A large part of the culture under the Reagan Administration was restoring America to values. Here, Reagan used individuals in the military to serve as manifestations of American ideals.
“But what we have to consider here to-day while time remains, is the permanent prevention of war and the establishment of conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries. (…) If all British moral and material forces and convictions are joined with your own in fraternal association, the high-roads of the future will be clear, not only for us but for all, not only for our time, but for a century to come.” (Winston Churchill)
Here, Churchill called upon Americans to fight against the rising USSR and the spread of communism. This call foreshadowed the Cold War which would characterize the rest of the century.
“For if we are dealing with civil law, with the rights of individual persons, or with lasting instruction and determination of people’s minds to an accurate knowledge and a conscientious observance of their duty, it is unworthy of so important a business to allow a trace of any luxuriance of wit and imagination to appear, still less any trace of talking people over and of captivating them for the advantage of any chance person.” (Immanuel Kant)
Kant’s view on the subjectivity of persuasion techniques clearly stems from his worldview of subjectivity. Kant did not subscribe to objective truth.
