Truman's Rhetoric During the Cold War

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how President Truman's rhetorical style and manner of outlining the objectives and direction of American politics, brought a radical change to the rhetoric of American politics especially during the Cold War. The paper examines the phases that Truman's rhetorical context follows, focusing on his rhetoric in the first years of the Cold War just after World War II and the following years.

Outline:
Introduction
Propaganda during the Cold War
a) Period of Naivete
b) Period of Hysteria
Evaluation

From the Paper:

"According to Medhurst (1988), between 1945 to 1947, Truman exhibited rhetorical failures by choosing the rhetorically "inappropriate strategy of silence and noncommitment" (p.54) when confronted with the inflexible and deceitful politics of the Soviet Union. Medhurst states that the President's rhetoric during this period, was reticent and one which failed to inform the Americans about the arising problems of Soviet "expansionism, intimidation and support for indigenous armed minorities" (p. 55). In fact, Medhurst defines Truman's rhetoric as a "rather laudatory of the Soviet Union" (p. 55) and points out that it was due to his forthright, clear and authoritarian rhetorical manner that lead to the perception that the Soviet-American relations were mildly positive. However, even though this authoritarian style attempted to portray the Soviet Union in a mildly positive light in the eyes of the American public, "rhetoric had not mirrored reality" (Medhurst, 1988, p. 56). Vague assertions such as "we shall refuse to recognize any government imposed upon any nation by the force of any foreign power" (as cited in Medhurst 1988, p. 56), stated by the President in a foreign policy address in 1945, "were as close as he would come to overt criticism of the Soviet regime" (Medhurst, 1988, p.56). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ivie, R.L. (1986).Literalizing the metaphor of Soviet savagery: President Truman's plain style. Southern Speech Communication Journal, 51, 91-105.
• Medhurst, M.J. (1988). Truman's rhetorical reticence, 1954-1947: An interpretive essay. The Quarterly Journal of Speech, 74, 52-70.
• Parry-Giles, S.J. (1993). The rhetorical tension between propaganda and democracy: Blending competing conceptions of ideology and theory. Communication Studies, 44, 117-128.
• Parry-Giles, S.J. (1994). Rhetorical experimentation and the Cold War, 1947-1953: The development of an internationalist approach to propaganda. The Quarterly Journal of Speech, 80, 448-467.
• Ryan, H.R. (1993). Harry S. Truman: Presidential rhetoric. Westport, CT: Greenwood.

More papers on Truman's Rhetoric During the Cold War:

• Article Review # 122091 : "Review of "The Cold War: What do we Now Know?"
• Book Review # 124367 : "The Cold War"
• Analytical Essay # 66991 : "The Cold War"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: