Abstract

In 1972, vice presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton revealed to the American public that he had been hospitalized for depression on three occasions. The revelation seriously damaged the campaign of his running mate, George McGovern, and eventually led to Eagleton's dismissal from the ticket. This article seeks to understand the Eagleton Affair by showing how the stigma of mental illness functions as a form of rhetorical disability. Using a reading of stigma in ancient Greece and the work of Erving Goffman, this article argues that stigma can be viewed as a constitutive rhetorical act that also produces a disabling rhetorical effect: kakoethos, or bad character.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2010-11-15
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2010.517234
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (16)

  1. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  2. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  3. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  4. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
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  1. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
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  3. Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
  4. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  6. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  7. Rhetoric Review
  8. Technical Communication Quarterly
  9. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  10. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  11. Rhetoric Review

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