The End of the Rhetorical Presidency?: Public Leadership in the Trump Era

The End of the Rhetorical Presidency? Public Leadership in the Trump Era explores one of the most disruptive aspects of the Trump presidency.

Since the FDR administration, presidents developed the capacity and skill to use the public to influence the legislative arena, gain reelection, survive scandal and secure their legacy. Consequently, presidential rhetorical leadership has its own norms and expectations. Comparing President Trump’s communications apparatus as well as rhetoric (including Twitter) to previous presidents, Diane Heith demonstrates how Trump exercises leadership by adhering to some of these norms and expectations, but rejects, abandons and undermines most. Heith argues that his individual, rather than institutional, approach to leadership represents a change in tone, language and style. She concludes that the loss of skill and capacity represents a devolution of the White House institution dedicated to public leadership, especially in the legislative arena. More significantly, the individual approach emphasizes weakening the ability of the press and other political elites to hold the president accountable.

This book will appeal to students and scholars of the presidency as well as general readers who quest for a deeper understanding of the Trump White House.

Diane J. Heith is Professor of Government and Politics at St. John’s University. She is the author of several works on the presidency, public opinion, campaigns and elections, and the media including, The Presidential Road Show: Public Leadership in an Era of Party Polarization and Media Fragmentation (2013), and Polling to Govern: Public Opinion and Presidential Leadership (2004). She is co-author of Presidents and the American Presidency (2018) and the 2016 Presidential Election Guide (2016) and co-editor of In the Public Domain: Presidents and the Challenges of Public Leadership (2005). Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Public Opinion Quarterly, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Political Science Quarterly, The Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, The Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, White House Studies and Congress and the Presidency.