The Rhetoric of Presidential Leadership in American Foreign Affairs: Richard Nixon the Cold War Negotiator

Year 2017, Issue: 47, 49 - 67, 01.10.2017

Marta Rzepecka

Abstract

This article focuses on President Richard Nixon’s handling of US-Soviet relations in the first three years of his presidency. Set within a framework of US foreign policy for the 1970s, the article traces the development of Nixon’s approach to the Soviet leaders and their Communist ideology and identifies characteristic rhetorical devices around which the president structured his discourse concerning American-Soviet relations. The article argues that through his rhetorical choices Nixon indicated that he paid attention to conditions which could bring the US and the Soviet Union closer together and dared to pursue policies that could improve bilateral relations

Keywords

Richard Nixon, Presidential Rhetoric, Political Discourse, US-Soviet Relations, Cold War

Amerikan Dış İlişkilerinde Başkanlık Retoriği: Soğuk Savaş Müzakerecisi Richard Nixon

Abstract

Bu makale, Richard Nixon’ın başkanlığının ilk üç yılında, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri ile Sovyet Rusya ilişkilerini ele alışına odaklanmaktadır. Makale 1970’lerin Amerikan dış politikası çerçevesinde, Nixon’ın Sovyet liderlere ve onların komünist ideolojilerine yaklaşımının izini sürmekte ve başkanın AmerikanSovyet ilişkileriyle ilgili söylemlerini yapılandıran retorik araçların kendilerine has özelliklerini tanımlamaktadır. Bu makale, Nixon’ın retorik tercihlerinin onun Amerika Birleşik Devletleri ve Sovyet Rusya’yı bir araya getirebilecek koşullara önem verdiğini ve ikili ilişkileri iyileştirecek politikalar yürütmeye çalıştığını gösterdiğini öne sürmektedir

Keywords

Richard Nixon, Başkanlık Retoriği, Politik Söylem, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri-Sovyet Rusya İlişkileri, Soğuk Savaş

References

• “The Nation: An Interview with the President: The Jury Is Out.” Time, 3 Jan. 1972, content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879011,00.html. Chafe, William H. The Unfinished Journey. Oxford UP, 1991.
• Chesen, Eli S. President Nixon’s Psychiatric Profile. A Psychodynamic-Genetic Interpretation. Peter H. Wyden, 1973.
• Denton, Robert E., and Dan F. Hahn. Presidential Communication: Description and Analysis. Praeger, 1986.
• Dobrynin, Anatoly. In Confidence. Times Books, 1995.
• Garthoff, Raymond L. Détente and Confrontation. America-Soviet Relations from Nixon to Reagan. The Brookings Institution, 1985.
• Jentleson, Bruce W. American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century. W. W. Norton, 2000.
• Kissinger, Henry A. White House Years. Little, Brown, 1979.
• LaFeber, Walter. America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-2002. McGraw-Hill, 2002.
• Litwak, Robert S. Detente and the Nixon Doctrine: American Foreign Policy and the Pursuit of Stability, 1969-1976. Cambridge UP, 1984.
• McCormick, James M. “The Nation: An Interview with the President: The Jury Is Out.” Time, 3 Jan. 1972, content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879011,00.html. American Foreign Policy and Process. F.E. Peacock Publishers, 1992.
• Nelson, Keith L. The Making of Detente. Soviet-American Relations in the Shadow ofVietnam. Johns Hopkins UP, 1995.
• Nixon, Richard. “Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union. January 20, 1972.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency. Marta Rzepecka 63 ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=3407&st=&st1=.
• ---. “First Annual Report to the Congress on United States Foreign Policy for the 1970’s. February 18, 1970.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=2835&st=&st1=.
• ---. “Third Annual to the Congress on United States Foreign Policy. February 9, 1972.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3736&st=&st1=.
• ---. “Letter From President Nixon to Secretary of State Rogers. February 4, 1969.” Office of the Historian. history.state. gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v12/d10.
• ---. “Message to the Senate Requesting Advice and Consent to Ratification of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. February 5, 1969.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=2152&st=&st1=.
• ---. “The President’s News Conference. February 6, 1969.” The AmerThe Rhetoric of Presidential Leadership in American Foreign Affairs 62 ican Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=2208&st=&st1=.
• ---. “The President’s News Conference. March 4, 1969.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=2444&st=&st1=.
• ---. “The President’s News Conference. March 14, 1969.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=1951&st=&st1=.
• ---. “The President’s News Conference. December 8, 1969.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=2365&st=&st1=.
• ---. “The President’s News Conference. March 21, 1970.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=2918&st=&st1=.
• ---. “The President’s News Conference. October 12, 1971.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=3186&st=&st1=.
• ---. “The President’s News Conference. November 12, 1971.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=3217&st=&st1=.
• ---. “The President’s News Conference. March 24, 1972.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=3356&st=&st1=.
• ---. “Radio Address About Second Annual Foreign Policy Report to the Congress. February 25, 1971.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3322&st=&st1=.
• ---. “Remarks at the Siemens Factory, West Berlin. February 27, 1969.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/ index.php?pid=2427&st=&st1=.
• ---. “Remarks to Reporters About Forthcoming Trip to Austria, the Soviet Union, Iran, and Poland. May 19, 1972.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index. php?pid=3417&st=&st1=.
• ---. “Second Annual Report to the Congress on United States Foreign Policy. February 25, 1971.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3324&st=&st1=.