The Style and Rhetoric of Elizabeth Dole: Public Persona and Political Discourse

Friedman, Rachel B./ Lee, Ronald Emery

ISBN 10: 0739182374 / ISBN 13: 9780739182376

Published by Lexington Books, 2013

About this Item

131 pages. 9.00x6.00x0.75 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # x-0739182374

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Style and Rhetoric of Elizabeth Dole: Public Persona and Political Discourse
• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0739182374
• ISBN 13: 9780739182376
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.39 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

This book analyses the public discourse of Elizabeth Dole. It explores the way in which this trail-blazing public figure navigated the double binds that confront women who obtain and exercise political power. The text argues that Dole crafted a conservative, feminine persona in which she depicted herself as a selfless public servant. This sense of servant was defined through Dole’s appeal to the transcendent moral purposes of Christianity. She used this image to great effect in her most noteworthy public addresses, especially her 1996 Republican National Convention speech in support of her husband’s presidential campaign. In her 2008 unsuccessful North Carolina U.S. Senate reelection campaign Elizabeth Dole’s political style unraveled in the face of a series of effective attacks by her opponent, Kay Hagan, and her own desperate rhetorical appeals to stave off defeat.

About the Author

Rachel Friedman is assistant professor of communication studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Ronald Lee is professor of communication studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.