Abstract President Barack Obama faced very difficult electoral prospects in the summer of 2011. A slow economic recovery, along with Republican efforts to block his agenda, had undercut his message of hope and change. Obama's speech in Osawatomie, Kansas has been widely recognized as a crucial moment in his successful 2012 campaign. Obama's speech was important not because he supported new policies but because it corrected a major flaw in the community-oriented narrative at the core of his message. Obama reenergized his retelling of the American Dream by shifting the villain in his narrative from partisanship to the greedy rich.

Abstract Donald Trump’s campaign violated every rule of presidential campaigns, and few commentators thought that he had a chance to win the presidency. His success can be traced to the strong affective connection that he created with core supporters. Trump used a rhetoric of nationalist populism with a charismatic outsider persona, a rhetorical pattern that functioned as an affective genre, to create this connection. This pattern is evident in campaign rallies, his speech at the Republican National Convention, and his inaugural address. Trump’s successful use of a rhetoric of nationalist populism has important implications for the status of American democracy.

Abstract This essay argues that President Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Address used a perfected and condensed form of ultimate definition consisting of an ideological argument, an underlying mythic narrative, and a value system. These three components served to redefine the American Dream and to reinforce the limited role of government, placing the responsibility for curing America’s ills on the individual rather than the federal government.

Abstract This essay examines Ronald Reagan’s 1983 speech to the National Association of Evangelicals, along with speeches and foundational documents leading up to the address. We argue that Reagan utilized a rhetorical approach consistent with what Martin and Annelise Anderson have termed a “grand strategy” for winning the Cold War. This “strategy” consisted of three components. First, Reagan labeled the Soviet system evil and a failure. Second, Reagan argued that the path to victory required an arms buildup that would leave the Soviets with no choice but to negotiate arms reduction. Finally, Reagan’s rhetoric contained a defense of liberal democracy and the prediction that such a system eventually would triumph over Soviet communism.

Abstract This essay examines Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address. In this speech, Reagan used a strategy of “ultimate definition,” consisting of three components. First, the inaugural articulated a broad ideological worldview that prescribed a very limited role for government as the solution to the economic crisis. Second, it appealed to a value system that co-opted the progressive values of contemporary liberalism. Finally, it contained a powerful narration of that worldview in the form of an individualist story of the American Dream.