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The End of the Rhetorical Presidency?

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No one will look at the output of the West Wing in the last four years for words of inspiration.

I’ll leave it to others to sort out the politics of our disheveled presidential campaign.  But we already have more than enough evidence to examine the ruins of something called “the Rhetorical Presidency.” The idea loosely encompasses the norms and traditions that have usually governed the occupants of the White House, at least since the Presidency of FDR. The Rhetorical Presidency includes the public statements and direct addresses made by the figure we used to call the “leader of the western world.” There may have always been a bit of hubris in that name.  But it suggests that the communications coming from the White House were often meant to represent the ideals of governance in a democracy.

We acquired some wonderful traditions from occupants who came in the last century, including Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. All are part of a tradition of using the office to urge the nation to focus on issues beyond their own personal interests. Think of inaugurals, state of the union address, oval office addresses, responses in times of tragedy, and formulations of progressive actions that could be effectively interpreted to the nation.

Generally, the Rhetorical Presidency represents a desire to weave the nation together as a national community sharing common goals, and it has fulfilled that ideal by leaving a legacy of public rhetoric that is more inclusive than divisive, more focused on shared ideals rather than divided loyalties, and usually resolute in not using the “bully pulpit” to demonize or denigrate other Americans.

Trump has used his office to demonize enemies and exercise his voracious appetite for fantasy over policy.

You can see where I’m going with this. If the condition of the physical structure of the White House could represent the current state of the Rhetorical Presidency, we would have to imagine a building ready to be condemned. Its columns facing Lafayette Park would be buttressed by metal scaffolding. Some of the tall windows would be broken and covered with bare plywood. Raw plaster would cover expanses well beyond the porticos. And badly fitted blue tarps covering leaks in the West Wing’s roof would also contribute to the look of an institution that has seen better days. This is the Trump legacy. More than any other modern leader of this republic he has used his rhetorical power mostly to demonize enemies and exercise his voracious appetite for fantasy over policy. The United States Printing Office issues a nicely-bound annual Public Papers of the Presidents for libraries. But no one will look at the output of the West Wing in the last four years for inspiration. If the best presidential rhetoric suggested fair-minded and moral leadership, the recent inability of the current holder to even condemn white supremacy groups speaks to how diminished this vital feature of the Presidency has become.

Not long ago a President was the first mental construct children had of their government. It was safe to allow them to listen to his (and someday her) words. To be sure presidents could have bouts of temper. Harry Truman wrote angry letters, and then never mailed them. John Kennedy mostly confined his public anger to a hapless steel industry trying to raise prices in the midst of high inflation. And Richard Nixon said a lot in private but taped that “decent” family papers in the 1970s couldn’t print. But to a person, they tended to use their public utterances to speak to the shared aspirations of the nation.  Even in the already hopeless early years of the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson could still rise to the occasion and scold his Southern mentors hesitating on legislating for true racial parity. On the evening of March 15, 1965, Johnson told a special meeting of Congress the time had long passed to approve a Voting Rights Act with teeth. It was a long speech that was a national lesson in tolerance, ending with a phrase associated with Martin Luther King:

What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life. Their cause must be our cause too. Because it’s not just Negroes, but really it’s all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.

And we shall overcome.

This was a very imperfect man still able to find the right words  to push an imperfect nation to do the right thing. That is what the Rhetorical Presidency could be about.

I miss those days.

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Help Them Turn if Off

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We have good evidence from studies that show that heavy news consumption results in higher levels of generalized anxiety.  It the logical outcome of being fed the day’s most dismaying events in a cycle that never stops.

There has been a noticeable increase in mental health problems that have sprung up from the stresses of the long quarantine created by the Covid-19 virus.  It’s understandable that frontline workers, students and parents are facing challenges few would have anticipated less than a year ago. But it is also true that instances of depression have increased dramatically among the old, who would seem to have the means to ride out the effects of the pandemic with fewer daily challenges. In fact, it’s the lack of variety that has affected many seniors, especially those living in facilities which have converted their caution into long periods of virtual lockdowns.  At many senior facilities activities have been cancelled, meals are served only to individuals in their rooms, and chances to mingle with others–including family members–are non-existent or limited.

In the absence of these activities, many consume hours of cable television news: often channels that are easily found on their limited cable services.  This fact makes it important to repeat a central conclusion: heavy doses of cable news can be harmful to an individual’s sense of wellbeing. The world through a cable lens is one wracked with problems, crimes, horrible governmental actions or inactions, and the inevitable screw-ups that have occurred because of the virus. I’m told that many are also worried about the instability of the President.

The obvious antidote is to spend more time in the real rather than the mediated world. 

Seniors are natural consumers of news.  They grew up in an era when newspapers and the nightly newscasts from the three main television networks were on the daily docket. Nearly everyone read a paper and watched Walter Cronkite or David Brinkley. But news then did not sell itself as a 24/7 business. Now, by contrast, the “Breaking News” slides show up every hour as the cable networks compete for ratings against their rivals. Their formula always includes the premise that there is something new and usually shocking to report.  Watch these outlets long enough and all of us are capable of showing symptoms of PTSD.

The obvious antidote is to spend more time in the real rather than the mediated world.  Because national events are pressing in on all of us, it seems like common sense to acknowledge the challenges, but also to frequently step away from the endless news cycle to find alternative evidence of the good and hopeful that is happening around us. If you are regularly in contact with someone in some form of a lockdown, you can help them break out of the limited horizons of their television set.  Some suggestions:

  • Help them get a library card with e-book loan privilege’s.  They can make choices at home using their library’s website, usually keeping a book without cost for two weeks.
  • Give them an Mp3 player loaded with music they might like.  If in doubt, ask them what they would like to hear.
  • Point out the podcasts that are available on their laptop or computer.  In addition to these useful programs that have caught on with millions of listeners, their computer can also access a wealth of video content through YouTube. Give them suggestions of music or videos they would enjoy.  Also, old radio and tv shows of Jack Benny or Bob Hope can be fun. And there are many more.
  • Audible and some libraries provide recorded books. Amazon.com is not the only source, but it is a good place to start to look for materials.
  • Cable channels that carry current and classic films are available on most cable systems. The range of choices and benefits may be worth the modest monthly fee.
  • Ask a senior facility’s activities staff to help your senior set up cable or computer access, if needed. Some may have more time to help, since they are often restricted from organizing group activities.

In the end, the goal should be to help seniors get around the corrosive monoculture of television news.  There are times when we all want to tune in, but surely not all of the time.