Abstract

Abstract While scholars have studied Ronald Reagan’s relationship with Israel from a diplomatic, strategic, or political lobbying perspective, few have examined this relationship rhetorically. I argue that despite Reagan’s private disagreements with Israel, his public rhetoric consistently depicted Israel within the mythic terms of the Cold War as a heroic democracy like the United States. Drawing on discourses of American exceptionalism, terrorism, and Holocaust remembrance, Reagan’s rhetoric constrained his diplomatic ability to deal with Israeli aggression and continues to shape American presidential discourse.

Journal
Rhetoric & Public Affairs
Published
2020-09-01
DOI
10.14321/rhetpublaffa.23.3.0455
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (175) · 3 in this index

  1. 1. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks to Captive Nations Conference Participants,” American Presidency Project, July 24,…
  2. 2. Michael T. Benson, Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997), 189.
  3. 3. Shimon Shamir, “The Collapse of Project Alpha,” in Suez 1956: The Crisis and Its Consequences, ed. William…
  4. 4. John F. Kennedy was the first to use this label to describe the United States' relationship with Israel. S…
  5. Warren Bass, Support Any Friend: Kennedy's Middle East and the Making of the U.S-Israel Alliance (Oxford, UK:…
Show all 175 →
  1. and Abraham Ben-Zvi, John F. Kennedy and the Politics of Arms Sales to Israel (London, UK: Frank Cass, 2002), 1-3.
  2. 5. Steven L. Spiegel, The Other Arab-Israeli Conflict: Making America’s Middle East Policy, from Truman to Re…
  3. 6. Richard M. Nixon, "Question-and-Answer Session at the Executives' Club of Chicago," American Presidency Pr…
  4. and National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Kissinger Office Files, Box 75, Country Files…
  5. 7. For one analysis of this type, see Dennis Ross, Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truma…
  6. and Oswald Johnston and Don Irwin, "Carter Pledges Israel 'Total Commitment,'" Los Angeles Times, May 2, 1978, 1.
  7. 8. Reagan claimed 39 percent of the votes of American Jews compared to 45 percent who voted for Carter, the c…
  8. 9. Carter called Israel “our major ally in the Middle East” in his October 6 debate with Ford. Jimmy Carter, …
  9. 10. Under the Reagan administration’s supervision, total military aid to Israel rose $400 million in 1981, an…
  10. 11. See Michael Thomas, American Policy toward Israel: The Power and Limits of Beliefs (London, UK: Routledge…
  11. 12. David S. Birdsell, "Ronald Reagan on Lebanon and Grenada: Flexibility and Interpretation in the Applicati…
  12. and Bonnie J. Dow, "The Function of Epideictic and Deliberative Strategies in Presidential Crisis Rhetoric," …
  13. 13. Robert C. Rowland and David A. Frank, Shared Land/Conflicting Identity: Trajectories of Israeli and Pales…
  14. 14. Bernard L. Brock and Sharon Howell, “The Evolution of the PLO: Rhetoric of Terrorism,” Central States Spe…
  15. 15. Jason McKahan, “The Delta Force: The Conventions of Hollywood Counterterrorism in the Reagan Era,” paper …
  16. 16. Robert C. Rowland and David A. Frank, "Mythic Rhetoric and Rectification in the Israeli-Palestinian Confl…
  17. Amos Kiewe, "Theodore Herzl's The Jewish State: Prophetic Rhetoric in the Service of Political Objectives," J…
  18. Rhetoric & Public Affairs
  19. Ray Heisey, Mary Ann Brockett, and Kim S. Phipps, "Contextual Dimensions in the Rhetoric of the Arab-Israeli …
  20. Michael Griffin and Simon Kagan, "Picturing Culture in Political Spots: 1992 Campaigns in Israel and the Unit…
  21. Argumentation
  22. Ilan Manor and Rhys Crilley, "Visually Framing the Gaza War of 2014: The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs o…
  23. Ori Tenenboim, "Reporting War in 140 Characters: How Journalists Used Twitter During the 2014 Gaza-Israel Con…
  24. Iain Scobbie, "Regarding/Disregarding: The Judicial Rhetoric of President Barak and the International Court o…
  25. Ronald R. Krebs and Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, "Twisting Tongues and Twisting Arms: The Power of Political Rhe…
  26. and Mohamad Hamas Elmasry, Alaa El Shamy, Peter Manning, Andrew Mills, and Philip J. Auter, "Al-Jazeera and A…
  27. 17. As Fleshler notes, "the conventional Israel lobby makes noise" to pass its agenda. Dan Fleshler, Transfor…
  28. and Amy Kaplan, Our American Israel: The Story of an Entangled Alliance (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Pr…
  29. 18. On neoconservative support for Reagan regarding Israel, see Norman Podhoretz, “The Neo-Conservative Angui…
  30. 19. Lyndon B. Johnson, “Remarks at the 125th Anniversary Meeting of B’nai B’rith,” American Presidency Projec…
  31. 20. Ross, Doomed to Succeed, 183.
  32. 21. Curtis Carey and Kesha Morant, “2004 Presidential Campaign Rhetoric: George W. Bush as a Sojourner Cowboy…
  33. 22. Darren Kelsey, “Hero Mythology and Right-Wing Populism: A Discourse-Mythological Case Study of Nigel Fara…
  34. 23. Jack Lule, Daily News, Eternal Stories: The Mythological Role of Journalism (New York: Guilford Press, 20…
  35. 24. Lynne M. Sallot, “The Man on a White Horse: The Presidency, Persuasion, and Myth,” Florida Communication …
  36. 25. Sallot, "The Man on a White Horse," 3. See also David T. Byrne, Ronald Reagan: An Intellectual Biography …
  37. and Robert L. Ivie, "Cold War Motives and the Rhetorical Metaphor: A Framework for Criticism," in Cold War Rh…
  38. 26. Ronald Reagan, “Inaugural Address,” The Public Papers of President Ronald W. Reagan, January 20, 1981, Ro…
  39. 27. Ronald Reagan, “Address to Members of the British Parliament,” The Public Papers of President Ronald W. R…
  40. 28. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, …
  41. 29. Georgi Arbatov in Pravda, quoted in Paul Kengor, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism (N…
  42. 30. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Republican National Convention in Da…
  43. 31. Walter R. Fisher, Human Communication as Narration: Towards a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action (Co…
  44. 32. Reagan, “Inaugural Address,” 1981.
  45. 33. Walter R. Fisher, “Romantic Democracy, Ronald Reagan, and Presidential Heroes,” Western Journal of Commun…
  46. 34. James M. Scott, Deciding to Intervene: The Reagan Doctrine and American Foreign Policy (Durham, N.C.: Duk…
  47. Hugh Heclo, "The Mixed Legacies of Ronald Reagan," Presidential Studies Quarterly 38 (2008): 564-65
  48. and Carol K. Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism: Presidents on Political Violence in the Post-World War II Era…
  49. 35. Richard M. Weaver, The Ethics of Rhetoric (Davis, CA: Hermagoras Press, 1985), 212.
  50. 36. Stephen J. Heidt, “Presidential Rhetoric, Metaphor, and the Emergence of the Democracy Promotion Industry…
  51. 37. Robert C. Rowland and John M. Jones, Reagan at Westminster: Foreshadowing the End of the Cold War (Colleg…
  52. 38. Rowland and Jones, Reagan at Westminster, 28.
  53. 39. Ronald Reagan and Menahem Begin, “Remarks at the Welcoming Ceremony for Prime Minister Menahem Begin of I…
  54. 40. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks of the President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres of Israel Following Their Meetin…
  55. 41. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks to Supporters of Israel at a White House Briefing on United States Foreign Policy…
  56. 42. Quoted in Fred John Khouri, Arab-Israeli Dilemma, 3rd ed. (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 198…
  57. 43. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a Fund-Raising Dinner for the Nicaragua Refugee Fund,” American Presidency Pro…
  58. 44. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks to Jewish Leaders during a White House Briefing on United States Assistance for t…
  59. 45. Jonathan Rynhold, The Arab-Israeli Conflict in American Popular Culture (Cambridge: Cambridge University …
  60. 46. Andreea Mingiuc, “Key Concepts of Puritanism and the Shaping of American Cultural Identity,” Philologica …
  61. 47. Abraham Lincoln, “Address to the New Jersey State Senate,” Abraham Lincoln Online, February 21, 1861, htt…
  62. 48. Woodrow Wilson, “Inaugural Address,” American Presidency Project, March 4, 1913, https://www.presidency.u…
  63. 49. Lyndon Baines Johnson, “Inaugural Address,” The Avalon Project, January 20, 1965, http://avalon.law.yale.…
  64. 50. William Martin, With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America (New York: Broadway Book…
  65. and Daniel K. Williams, "Reagan's Religious Right: The Unlikely Alliance between Southern Evangelicals and a …
  66. 51. Quoted in Jeffrey Goldberg, “Is Israel America’s Ultimate Ally?” Atlantic, April 26, 2011, https://www.th…
  67. 52. Quoted in Thomas, American Policy toward Israel, 127; and George P. Shultz, “The Challenge to the Democra…
  68. 53. James Chace, “How America ‘Lost the Peace’: Review of No More Vietnams by Richard Nixon,” New York Times,…
  69. 54. In 1941, Dixon Wecter wrote, “Along with touchstones like the Declaration of Independence and the Constit…
  70. 55. Shawn J. Parry-Giles and David S. Kaufer, Memories of Lincoln and the Splintering of American Political T…
  71. 56. Ross, Doomed to Succeed, 180-81.
  72. 57. Allison M. Prasch, “Ronald Reagan, ’Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Norma…
  73. 58. Ronald Reagan, “Brezhnev,” April 13, 1977, in Reagan, In His Own Hand: The Writings of Ronald Reagan That…
  74. 59. Ronald Reagan, "No Pay, No Vote," April 3, 1978, in Reagan, In His Own Hand, 172
  75. Ronald Reagan, "Indochina #2," April 1975, Reagan, In His Own Hand, 48-49
  76. Ronald Reagan, "Guantánamo," August 7, 1978, Reagan, In His Own Hand, 209-10
  77. and Ronald Reagan, "Treaties," October 18, 1977, Reagan, In His Own Hand, 52.
  78. 60. Ronald Reagan, “Rostow II,” October 10, 1978, Reagan, In His Own Hand, 94.
  79. 61. Capitalization and italics in original. Ronald Reagan, “Soviet Visas,” November 30, 1976, Reagan, In His …
  80. 62. Ronald Reagan, “Recognizing the Israeli Asset,” Washington Post, August 15, 1979, A25. On Reagan’s view o…
  81. 63. Quoted in Seth Anziska, Preventing Palestine: A Political History from Camp David to Oslo (Princeton, N.J…
  82. 64. Ronald Reagan, “Election Eve Address A Vision for America,” The Public Papers of President Ronald W. Reag…
  83. 65. Jimmy Carter, “Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Remarks at a Democratic National Committee Fundraising Receptio…
  84. 66. Lawrence Wright, Thirteen Days in September: The Dramatic Story of the Struggle for Peace (New York: Vint…
  85. 67. Jimmy Carter, “Hollywood, Florida Remarks at a Democratic National Committee Fundraising Dinner,” America…
  86. 68. Jimmy Carter, “Toledo, Ohio Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session at a Town Meeting,” American Presid…
  87. 69. Jimmy Carter, “New York, New York Remarks at a Meeting with Civic and Community Leaders,” American Presid…
  88. Rhetoric & Public Affairs
  89. 71. Burt Richard, “Reagan’s Foreign Policy—From Someone who Knows,” New York Times, June 29, 1980, A5.
  90. 72. Quoted in Thomas, American Policy toward Israel, 61.
  91. 73. “1980 Ronald Reagan/Jimmy Carter Presidential Debate,” The Public Papers of President Ronald W. Reagan, O…
  92. 74. Ronald Reagan, “‘State of the Union’ Speech,” Reagan, In His Own Hand, 478.
  93. 75. Ronald Reagan, “Republican National Convention Acceptance Speech,” The Public Papers of President Ronald …
  94. 76. Ronald Reagan, An American Life: The Autobiography (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990), 410.
  95. 77. Ross, Doomed to Succeed, 189; James A. Baker III, The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War and Peace, 1…
  96. 78. Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, “The United States and Israel Since 1948: A ‘Special Relationship‘?” Diplomatic His…
  97. 79. “Arab World Reacts Angrily to Reagan’s Defense of Israel,” June 18, 1981, Los Angeles Times,B8.
  98. 80. See Nicholas Laham, Crossing the Rubicon: Ronald Reagan and US Policy in the Middle East (Burlington, VT:…
  99. Clyde Mark, "The Golan Heights," in Israel: Current Issues and Background, ed. Edgar S. Marshall (New York: N…
  100. and Randall Fowler, "Art of the Arms Deal: Reagan, AWACS, and the Rhetorical Presidency," Quarterly Journal o…
  101. 81. Quoted in Laurence T. Barrett, Gambling with History: Reagan in the White House (New York: Doubleday, 198…
  102. 82. “Israel-United States: Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Cooperation,” International Legal Materia…
  103. 83. Edmund Morris, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan (New York: Modern Library, 1999), 215-16. Reagan even men…
  104. 84. Wolf Blitzer, Between Washington and Jerusalem: A Reporter’s Notebook (New York: Oxford University Press,…
  105. 85. Rynhold, The Arab-Israeli Conflict, 41.
  106. 86. Nechama Tec, Resistance: Jews and Christians Who Defied the Nazi Terror (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Pr…
  107. 87. See H. W. Brands, Reagan: The Life (New York: Anchor Books, 2015), 477-83.
  108. 88. Ronald Reagan, “Proclamation 4838—Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust,” American Presidency P…
  109. 89. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a White House Ceremony Commemorating the Day of Remembrance of Victims of the …
  110. 90. Rowland and Frank, Shared Land/Conflicting Identity, 153.
  111. 91. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Awards Presentation Ceremony in Los Angeles, Calif…
  112. 92. The pamphlet inviting students to the first meeting asked, “Just as we, as human beings and as Jews, are …
  113. 93. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a White House Meeting with Jewish Leaders,” American Presidency Project, Febru…
  114. 94. Ronald Reagan, “Proclamation 5798—Jewish Heritage Week, 1988,” American Presidency Project, April 20, 198…
  115. 95. Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, 65.
  116. 96. Ronald Reagan, “Address Before a Joint Session of the Irish National Parliament,” American Presidency Pro…
  117. 97. Ronald Reagan, “Interview with Marvin Stone and Joseph Fromm of U.S. News and World Report,” American Pre…
  118. 98. Ronald Reagan, “Televised Address by Governor Ronald Reagan A Strategy for Peace in the 80s,” The Public …
  119. 99. Ronald Reagan, “The President’s News Conference,” American Presidency Project, June 18, 1985, https://www…
  120. 100. Ronald Reagan, “Address to the Nation on Events in Lebanon and Grenada,” American Presidency Project, Oc…
  121. 101. Kathleen Christison, “Bound by a Frame of Reference, Part II: U.S. Policy and the Palestinians, 1948-88,…
  122. 102. Ronald Reagan, “Interview with Representatives of Independent Radio Networks,” American Presidency Proje…
  123. 103. William T. Cavanaugh, The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict …
  124. 104. Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, 73.
  125. 105. Louis Harris and Associates. Harris Survey, October 1985 (survey question). USHARRIS.111285.R04. Louis H…
  126. 106. Robert Tomlinson, Covering the Shi’a: English Press Representation of the Lebanese Shi’a 1975-1985 (Lanh…
  127. 107. Quoted in Quandt, Peace Process, 250.
  128. 108. Quoted in Quandt, Peace Process, 252.
  129. 109. Quoted in Kaplan, Our American Israel, 136.
  130. 110. Kaplan, Our American Israel, 137-38; and Phlebas, “Lebanon Has Too Many Friends,” New York Times, July 1…
  131. 111. Ronald Reagan, “Statement Issued at the Conclusion of the Versailles Economic Summit Conference in Franc…
  132. 112. Ronald Reagan, Remarks Following a Meeting with Pope John Paul II in Vatican City,” American Presidency …
  133. 113. Ronald Reagan, “Statement on the Conflict in Lebanon,” American Presidency Project, June 9, 1982, https:…
  134. 114. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks of the President and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel Following Their Mee…
  135. 115. Azriel Bermant, Margaret Thatcher and the Middle East (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016), 90.
  136. 116. Ronald Reagan, “Interview with Paul Duke of WETA-TV on the President’s Relations with Congress,” America…
  137. 117. Ronald Reagan, “The President’s News Conference,” American Presidency Project, June 30, 1982, https://ww…
  138. 118. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session with Reporters on Federal Tax Legislation and …
  139. 119. Ronald Reagan, “Exchange with Reporters on the Situation in Lebanon,” American Presidency Project, Augus…
  140. 120. The figure is disputed, with lower estimates putting the number of Palestinians killed at around 500 and…
  141. 121. Mark Whitaker, Ray Wilkinson, and Scott Sullivan, “The Making of a Massacre,” Newsweek, October 4, 1982,…
  142. 122. Meeting Transcript, September 17, 1982, 40. Taken from “Declassified Documents Shed Light on a 1982 Mass…
  143. 123. Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout, Sabra and Shatila: September 1982 (London, UK: Pluto Press, 2004), 3.
  144. 124. Ronald Reagan, “Statement on the Murder of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon,” American Presidency Project…
  145. 125. Birdsell, “Ronald Reagan on Lebanon and Grenada,” 268.
  146. 126. Mary E. Stuckey, The President as Interpreter-in-Chief(Chatham, N.J.: Chatham House, 1991).
  147. 127. Diplomatic Cable, September 18, 1982, 45-47. Taken from “Declassified Documents Shed Light on a 1982 Mas…
  148. 128. al-Hout, Sabra and Shatila, 300-301.
  149. 129. Zvi Harry Hurwitz, Begin: His Life, Words and Deeds (Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing, 2004), 185.
  150. 130. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks to Reporters on Lebanon and the Middle East,” American Presidency Project, Septe…
  151. 131. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session at a Los Angeles World Affairs Council Luncheo…
  152. 132. Ronald Reagan, “The President’s News Conference,” American Presidency Project, February 24, 1988, https:…
  153. 133. Ronald Reagan, “Address to the Nation on United States Policy for Peace in the Middle East,” American Pr…
  154. 134. Christison, Perceptions of Palestine, 212, 238.
  155. 135. Bruce W. Jentleson, “The Reagan Administration and Coercive Diplomacy: Restraining More Than Remaking Go…
  156. 136. William J. Clinton, “Inaugural Address,” American Presidency Project, January 20, 1997, https://www.pres…
  157. 137. John McCain, “Why Israel,” Reader’s Digest, December 2003, 126-27.
  158. 138. Walter Russell Mead, “The New Israel and the Old: Why Gentile Americans Back the Jewish State,” Foreign …
  159. 139. “Why a Pro-Israel Group Moved Its Benefit to Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Resort,” Jerusalem Post, November 7, 201…
  160. 140. Terry L. Deibel, “Reagan’s Mixed Legacy,” Foreign Policy 75 (1989): 48.
  161. 141. That total was one-third of his vote share in 1988. See Thomas, American Policy toward Israel, 139, 149
  162. Ron Kampeas, "George H. W. Bush, a President with a Complicated Jewish Legacy, Dies at 94," Jewish Telegraphi…
  163. 142. Martín Carcasson, “Unveiling the Oslo Narrative: The Rhetorical Transformation of Israeli-Palestinian Di…
  164. 143. Rob Kroes, “The Power of Rhetoric and the Rhetoric of Power: Exploring a Tension within the Obama Presid…
  165. 144. Marilyn J. Young, “Of Allies and Enemies: Old Wine in New Bottles or New Wine in an Old Jug,” in The Pro…
  166. 145. George W. Bush, “Interview with Foreign Journalists,” American Presidency Project, July 17, 2001, https:…
  167. 146. George W. Bush, “Remarks in El Paso, Texas,” American Presidency Project, March 21, 2002, https://www.pr…
  168. 147. Donald J. Trump, “Remarks at AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC,” American Presidency Project, Ma…
  169. 148. Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President at Cairo University,” White House Archives, June 4, 2009, https:…
  170. 149. Ross, Doomed to Succeed, 181.