The Anti Intellectual Presidency PDF Download
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Author | : Elvin T. Lim |
Publisher | : OUP USA |
Total Pages | : 197 |
Release | : 2008-06-12 |
Genre | : Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN | : 019534264X |
Download The Anti-Intellectual Presidency Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
How is it that contemporary presidents talk so much and yet say so little, as H. L. Mencken once descibed, like "dogs barking idiotically through endless nights?" In The Anti-Intellectual Presidency, Elvin Lim tackles this puzzle and argues forcefully that it is because we have been too preoccupied in our search for a "Great Communicator," and have failed to take presidents to task for what they communicate to us. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, he argues, spoke in a qualitatively different style than Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt. Reagan and Clinton merely connected with us; the two Roosevelts educated us. To alert us to the gradual rot of presidential rhetoric, Lim examines two centuries of presidential speeches to demonstrate the relentless and ever-increasing simplificaton of presidential rhetoric. If these trends persist, Lim projects that the State of the Union addresses in the next century could actually read at the fifth-grade level. Lim argues that the ever-increasing tendency for presidents to crowd out argument in presidential rhetoric with applause-rendering platitudes and partisan punch-lines was concertedly implemented by the modern White House. Through a series of interviews with former presidential speechwriters, he shows that the anti-intellectual stance was a deliberate choice rather than a reflection of presidents' intellectual limitations. Only the smart, he suggests, know how to "dumb down." Because anti-intellectual rhetoric impedes, rather than facilitates communication and deliberation, Lim warns that we must do something to recondition a political culture so easily seduced by smooth-operating anti-intellectual presidents. Sharply written and incisively argued, The Anti-Intellectual Presidency sheds new light on the murky depths of presidential utterances and its consequences for American democracy.
Author | : Richard Hofstadter |
Publisher | : Vintage |
Total Pages | : 465 |
Release | : 2012-01-04 |
Genre | : Social Science |
ISBN | : 0307809676 |
Download Anti-Intellectualism in American Life Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Winner of the 1964 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction Anti-Intellectualism in American Life is a book which throws light on many features of the American character. Its concern is not merely to portray the scorners of intellect in American life, but to say something about what the intellectual is, and can be, as a force in a democratic society. "As Mr. Hofstadter unfolds the fascinating story, it is no crude battle of eggheads and fatheads. It is a rich, complex, shifting picture of the life of the mind in a society dominated by the ideal of practical success." —Robert Peel in the Christian Science Monitor
Author | : Elvin T. Lim |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 178 |
Release | : 2008 |
Genre | : Communication in politics |
ISBN | : 9780199851843 |
Download The Anti-intellectual Presidency Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Elvin Lim draws on interviews with more than 40 presidential speechwriters to investigate this relentless qualitative decline, over the course of 200 years, in our presidents' ability to communicate with the public.
Author | : Elvin T. Lim |
Publisher | : Oxford University Press |
Total Pages | : 197 |
Release | : 2012-01-01 |
Genre | : Political Science |
ISBN | : 019992709X |
Download The Anti-Intellectual Presidency Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Why has it been so long since an American president has effectively and consistently presented well-crafted, intellectually substantive arguments to the American public? Why have presidential utterances fallen from the rousing speeches of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, and FDR to a series of robotic repetitions of talking points and sixty-second soundbites, largely designed to obfuscate rather than illuminate? In The Anti-Intellectual Presidency, Elvin Lim draws on interviews with more than 40 presidential speechwriters to investigate this relentless qualitative decline, over the course of 200 years, in our presidents' ability to communicate with the public. Lim argues that the ever-increasing pressure for presidents to manage public opinion and perception has created a "pathology of vacuous rhetoric and imagery" where gesture and appearance matter more than accomplishment and fact. Lim tracks the campaign to simplify presidential discourse through presidential and speechwriting decisions made from the Truman to the present administration, explaining how and why presidents have embraced anti-intellectualism and vague platitudes as a public relations strategy. Lim sees this anti-intellectual stance as a deliberate choice rather than a reflection of presidents' intellectual limitations. Only the smart, he suggests, know how to dumb down. The result, he shows, is a dangerous debasement of our political discourse and a quality of rhetoric which has been described, charitably, as "a linguistic struggle" and, perhaps more accurately, as "dogs barking idiotically through endless nights." Sharply written and incisively argued, The Anti-Intellectual Presidency sheds new light on the murky depths of presidential oratory, illuminating both the causes and consequences of this substantive impoverishment.
Author | : Richard Hofstadter |
Publisher | : National Geographic Books |
Total Pages | : 0 |
Release | : 2020-04-21 |
Genre | : Political Science |
ISBN | : 1598536591 |
Download Richard Hofstadter: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, The Paranoid Style in American Politics, Uncollected Essays 1956-1965 (LOA #330) Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Together for the first time: two masterworks on the undercurrents of the American mind by one of our greatest historians Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life and The Paranoid Style in American Politics are two essential works that lay bare the worrying trends of irrationalism, demagoguery, destructive populism, and conspiratorial thinking that have long influenced American politics and culture. Whether underground or--as in our present moment--out in the open, these currents of resentment, suspicion, and conspiratorial delusion received their authoritative treatment from Hofstadter, among the greatest of twentieth-century American historians, at a time when many public intellectuals and scholars did not take them seriously enough. These two masterworks are joined here by Sean Wilentz's selection of Hofstadter's most trenchant uncollected writings of the postwar period: discussions of the Constitution's framers, the personality and legacy of FDR, higher education and its discontents, the relationship of fundamentalism to right-wing politics, and the advent of the modern conservative movement.
Author | : Everest Media, |
Publisher | : Everest Media LLC |
Total Pages | : 73 |
Release | : 2022-07-22T22:59:00Z |
Genre | : Education |
ISBN | : |
Download Summary of Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 During the 1950’s, anti-intellectualism became a common part of American vocabulary. The term was used to describe the fear that the critical mind was at a ruinous discount in this country. #2 During the Eisenhower administration, the country seemed to be turning away from anti-intellectualism. The launch of Sputnik by the Soviets in 1957 brought about a period of national self-reflection, and people began to realize how anti-intellectualism was affecting American life. #3 The political culture of the 1950s was not as hostile to intellectuals as it seems today. President Eisenhower had a lot of respect for intellectuals, and he recruited many talented people for his administration. #4 American anti-intellectualism is not a new phenomenon. It has been present in our country for a long time, and it is a complex of related propositions that describe a variety of unwelcome phenomena. It is not a single proposition, but a complex of related propositions.
Author | : Susan Jacoby |
Publisher | : Vintage |
Total Pages | : 386 |
Release | : 2009-02-01 |
Genre | : Philosophy |
ISBN | : 1400096383 |
Download The Age of American Unreason Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
A scathing indictment of American modern-day culture examines the current disdain for logic and evidence fostered by the mass media, religious fundamentalism, poor public education, a lack of fair-minded intellectuals, and a lazy, credulous public, condemning our addiction to infotainment, from TV to the Web, and assessing its repercussions for the country as a whole. Reprint. 75,000 first printing.
Author | : Ibram X. Kendi |
Publisher | : Penguin |
Total Pages | : 209 |
Release | : 2023-09-12 |
Genre | : Young Adult Nonfiction |
ISBN | : 0593461614 |
Download How to Be a (Young) Antiracist Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
The #1 New York Times bestseller that sparked international dialogue is now a book for young adults! Based on the adult bestseller by Ibram X. Kendi, and co-authored by bestselling author Nic Stone, How to be a (Young) Antiracist will serve as a guide for teens seeking a way forward in acknowledging, identifying, and dismantling racism and injustice. The New York Times bestseller How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi is shaping the way a generation thinks about race and racism. How to be a (Young) Antiracist is a dynamic reframing of the concepts shared in the adult book, with young adulthood front and center. Aimed at readers 12 and up, and co-authored by award-winning children's book author Nic Stone, How to be a (Young) Antiracist empowers teen readers to help create a more just society. Antiracism is a journey--and now young adults will have a map to carve their own path. Kendi and Stone have revised this work to provide anecdotes and data that speaks directly to the experiences and concerns of younger readers, encouraging them to think critically and build a more equitable world in doing so.
Author | : Jason Stanley |
Publisher | : Random House |
Total Pages | : 258 |
Release | : 2018-09-04 |
Genre | : Political Science |
ISBN | : 0525511849 |
Download How Fascism Works Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
“No single book is as relevant to the present moment.”—Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen “One of the defining books of the decade.”—Elizabeth Hinton, author of From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • With a new preface • Fascist politics are running rampant in America today—and spreading around the world. A Yale philosopher identifies the ten pillars of fascist politics, and charts their horrifying rise and deep history. As the child of refugees of World War II Europe and a renowned philosopher and scholar of propaganda, Jason Stanley has a deep understanding of how democratic societies can be vulnerable to fascism: Nations don’t have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics. In fact, fascism’s roots have been present in the United States for more than a century. Alarmed by the pervasive rise of fascist tactics both at home and around the globe, Stanley focuses here on the structures that unite them, laying out and analyzing the ten pillars of fascist politics—the language and beliefs that separate people into an “us” and a “them.” He knits together reflections on history, philosophy, sociology, and critical race theory with stories from contemporary Hungary, Poland, India, Myanmar, and the United States, among other nations. He makes clear the immense danger of underestimating the cumulative power of these tactics, which include exploiting a mythic version of a nation’s past; propaganda that twists the language of democratic ideals against themselves; anti-intellectualism directed against universities and experts; law and order politics predicated on the assumption that members of minority groups are criminals; and fierce attacks on labor groups and welfare. These mechanisms all build on one another, creating and reinforcing divisions and shaping a society vulnerable to the appeals of authoritarian leadership. By uncovering disturbing patterns that are as prevalent today as ever, Stanley reveals that the stuff of politics—charged by rhetoric and myth—can quickly become policy and reality. Only by recognizing fascists politics, he argues, may we resist its most harmful effects and return to democratic ideals. “With unsettling insight and disturbing clarity, How Fascism Works is an essential guidebook to our current national dilemma of democracy vs. authoritarianism.”—William Jelani Cobb, author of The Substance of Hope
Author | : Dane S. Claussen |
Publisher | : Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers |
Total Pages | : 300 |
Release | : 2004 |
Genre | : Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN | : |
Download Anti-intellectualism in American Media Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
In this book, Dane S. Claussen argues that the news media have fed vocationalism and self-doubt in higher education, and anti-intellectualism throughout American culture. Analyzing articles in popular national magazines since the G.I. Bill of 1944, Claussen finds that media have overwhelmingly portrayed college as a time and place for students to play sports, date and marry, drink and take drugs, protest, join fraternities and sororities, go on vacations, avoid the draft, escape their parents, and, perhaps most of all, network and find jobs - in short, do almost anything except research, study, write, think, or debate. In the tradition of Richard Hofstadter's Pulitzer Prize-winning Anti-intellectualism in American Life and Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind, Claussen illustrates the counterintuitive and underestimated - nearly overlooked - role of the news media in higher education and anti-intellectualism.