Abstract We discuss the role of critics in rhetorical studies. Working from different, yet often synchronous, perspectives, we try to thrash out the relationships of critics to texts, the responsibilities of critics in their current context, the ways that critics craft authority, and more.

AbstractMayor Hubert Humphrey’s “Sunshine of Human Rights” address, delivered to the 1948 Democratic Convention, is universally acknowledged to be a great speech. Historians and biographers credit it as the major reason why the party adopted a strong civil rights plank and committed itself to the struggle from that point forward. Yet rhetorical critics have generally ignored the speech. In this essay, I argue the rhetorical force of the address is best explained through the concept of copia, or an abundant style. Humphrey’s rhetorical extravagance, in turn, suggests that critics ought to develop a new appreciation for this ancient rhetorical concept.

1960: LB J vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies. By David Pietrusza. New York: Union Square Press, 2008; pp. 523. $24.95 cloth; $17.95 paper. Kennedy v. Nixon: The Presidential Election of 1960. By Edmund F. Kallina, Jr. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2010; pp. 289. $29.95 paper. The Making of a Catholic President : Kennedy vs. Nixon 1960. By Shaun A. Casey. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009; pp. 261. $27.95 cloth. A New World To Be Won: John Kennedy, Richard Nixon , and the Tumultuous Year of 1 960. By G. Scott Thomas. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 201 1; pp. 407. $58.00 cloth. The Real Making of the President: Kennedy , Nixon , and the 1 960 Election. By W. J. Rorabaugh. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2009; pp. 250. $34.95 cloth.

Introduction| September 01 2010 Introduction Cara A. Finnegan; Cara A. Finnegan Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google John M. Murphy John M. Murphy Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Rhetoric and Public Affairs (2010) 13 (3): 343–347. https://doi.org/10.2307/41936457 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Cara A. Finnegan, John M. Murphy; Introduction. Rhetoric and Public Affairs 1 September 2010; 13 (3): 343–347. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/41936457 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveMichigan State University PressRhetoric and Public Affairs Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2010 Michigan State University Board of Trustees2010 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Abstract Aeschines and Athenian Politics by Edward M. Harris. New York: Oxford U P, 1995. Pp. x + 233. The Presidency and the Rhetoric of Foreign Crisis by Denise M. Bostdorff. Columbia, University of South Carolina Press, 1994. Preface vii, 306 pp. The Fate of Eloquence in the Age of Hume by Adam Potkay. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1994; pp. 253. Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire by Peter Brown. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992. 182 pages. Composition in Context: Essays in Honor of Donald C. Stewart. ed. W. Ross Winterowd and Vincent Gillespie. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois U P, 1994; xxxi; 266.