The anti-intellectual presidency : the decline of presidential rhetoric from George Washington to George W. Bush / Elvin T. Lim.

The problem of presidential rhetoric -- The linguistic simplification of presidential rhetoric -- The anti-intellectual speechwriters -- The substantive impoverishment of presidential rhetoric -- Institutionalizing the anti-intellectual presidency -- Indicting the anti-intellectual presidency -- Reforming the anti-intellectual presidency -- Appendix I : the General Inquirer (GI) -- Appendix II : definitions of General Inquirer categories used -- Appendix III : annual messages, 1790-2006 -- Appendix IV : inaugural addresses, 1789-2005 -- Appendix V : presidential speechwriters interviewed -- Appendix VI : the Flesch readability score.

"In The Anti-Intellectual Presidency, Elvin T. Lim draws on interviews with more than 40 presidential speechwriters to investigate the relentless qualitative decline, over the course of the past 200 years, in our presidents' ability to communicate with the public. Lim argues that the ever-increasing pressure for presidents to manage and massage public opinion has created a "pathology of vacuous rhetoric and imagery," in which applause-rendering platitudes and punch lines matter more than arguments and facts."--BOOK JACKET.