In this rather apt description of Wendell Willkie, the 1940 Republican presidential nominee, two important characteristics of the man stand out: his personal traits and energy and his strength of conviction in fighting for the principles in which he believed. Willkie cannot be regarded a politician in the usual sense; he was a businessman who, because of his convictions, waged a personal war against Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal - a war conducted outside the realm of partisan politics. His successes in the fight with the administration brough Willkie a measure of recognition and aroused the interest of certain Republicans who held similar opinions of the New Deal; his personality and continued expression of his nomination. It is the purpose of this study to analyze the conditions which enabled Willkie to rise from comparative obscurity to become the 1940 G.O.P. standard bearer, presenting in the analysis the Republican campaigns for the nomination, the G.O.P. convention, and the influence of Roosevelt's third term decision and the European war on the selection of the party’s nominee.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the arguments used by Richard Nixon relative to the key issues in the 1968 presidential campaign. The objective is to record and illustrate the persuasive appeals employed. This analysis makes an attempt to reveal what of substance was said by Mr. Nixon.

In the sprint of 1948, President Harry S. Truman's chances of being re-elected to the presidency of the United States seemed very dubious. It was uncertain that he would even secure the Democratic nomination for that office. Truman's pre-convention Western trip. In the early summer of 1948 President Truman left the Capitol on a supposedly non-political Western trip. Although his aids insisted the journey was to be non-political, the fiction deceived no one. However, it enabled the President to charge off the cost of the excursion to his $30,000 a year travel allowance instead of sending the bill to a poverty-stricken Democratic National Committee. But it was not to hear non-political speeches that forty-two newspaper and magazine writers, five radio correspondents, four newsreel men, four still photographers, and a bevy of Western Union telegraphers, for whom an entire car had been turned into a press room, were aboard. The itinerary covered more than 8,500 miles from the Capital to Seattle, to Los Angeles, and back to Washington, D. C. He was to make five major speeches and nearly fifty back platform appearances. His objective was to put his program and his personality before the voters, and his plans before the politicians. So clear was Truman's purpose that he quickly found himself unable to maintain his non-political pose. He made only one feeble attempt when his train stopped in Crestline, Ohio, but a sturdy housewife in the crowd, which had gathered to see him, interrupted, "Aw, we don't want to hear that, we're all Democrats here."1 Laughing at himself, the President declared, "On this non-partisan, bipartisan trip we are making here, I understand there are a lot of Democrats too."2 After that Truman made little effort to hide the political nature of his trip.

During the presidential contest of 1884, Republicans used singing as a campaign tactic at rallies, meetings, and parades. Their songs may be divided into several categories, such as rally songs, songs of praise for the party and its candidate, "bloody shirt" songs, mudslinging songs, and issue-based songs. Songs provide a perspective on the overall tenor of the campaign, while a lack of songs on certain topics, such as temperance, reflects the party's reluctance to alienate voters by taking a strong stand on controversial issues. Although the campaign has often been called one of the dirtiest in American history, this negativity is not reflected in the majority of the songs.

Transformational leaders have tendencies that include: 1) projecting confidence and optimism about goals and followers' ability, 2) providing a clear vision, 3) encouraging creativity through empowerment and rewarding experimentation, 4) setting high expectations and creating a supportive environment, and 5) establishing personal relationships with followers. Transactional leadership as a process in which leaders and followers decide on goals and how to achieve them through a mutual exchange. The leader provides followers with resources, rewards, and punishment in order to achieve motivation, productivity, and effective task accomplishment. Laissez-faire leadership is the process of letting followers work without direction or guidance from the leader. The laissez-faire leader avoids providing direction and support, shows a lack of active involvement in follower activity, and abdicates responsibilities by maintaining a line of separation between the leader and the followers. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the assumption that a combination of transformational and transactional leadership factors is more predictive of greater followers' job satisfaction, motivation toward extra effort, and perceived presidential effectiveness than either leadership style alone. The study investigated perceptions of the degree to which transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and laissez-faire leadership were practiced by presidents of member colleges and universities in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). In addition, the study considered whether some combination of transformational and transactional behaviors is more predictive of job satisfaction, motivation toward extra effort, and perceived presidential effectiveness than either transformational or transactional leadership alone. The independent variables in the study included the transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership behaviors of the college and university presidents and the dependent variables were job satisfaction, motivation toward extra effort, and perceived presidential effectiveness. This study points to specific behaviors that are predictive of job satisfaction, motivation toward extra effort, and perceived presidential effectiveness. By combining the behaviors identified as transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership behaviors, this study determines specifically which behaviors are predictive of the three dependent variables. By combining the transformational leadership behaviors of Attributed Charisma and Individual Consideration with the transactional leadership behavior of Contingent Reward, leaders may develop leadership styles that are more satisfying, motivating, and effective for followers than solely using the transformational model of leadership. Followers indicate that they are more satisfied and motivated by leaders who possess great energy, high levels of self-confidence, strong beliefs and ideals, are assertive, have the ability to make followers feel more confident, who create greater personal confidence within their followers, and who use positive reward systems to affirm desired behavior. This information provides empirical data to support the concept that a combination of charisma, personal consideration, and a reward system may increase follower's job satisfaction, motivation toward extra effort, and perceptions of leaders' effectiveness better than transformational leadership behaviors alone.

"It is the purpose of this study is to examine these characteristics of the delegates from Texas to the 1964 Democratic and Republican national nominating conventions, as well as to compare and contrast their characteristics. It is a basic assumption of this study that the characteristics of national convention delegates are important in the determination of the character of the convention as an institution."-- leaf 2.

"This thesis analyzes the impact of the Mexican-American voters in south Texas on the 1960 presidential election. During that election year, this ethnic minority was strong enough to merit direct appeals from the Democratic presidential candidate, and subsequently, allowed to conduct a unique campaign divorced from the direct control of the conservative state Democratic machinery...The study of the Mexican-American political behavior in 1960 proceeds in three stages. The first chapter examines the political factionalism within the state Democratic Party suggest the conservative solution to the problem of liberal splinter groups, and evaluates Lyndon Johnson's contribution to the Democratic ticket in south Texas. Chapter II probes into the importance of imagery and indentity in politics, challenges the possibility of a religiously-based bloc vote in south Texas, but postulates the probability of a sub-conscious religious identification with the Democratic candidate. The last chapter describes the Valley 'Viva Kennedy' clubs, their origin, organization, activities, and contributions. To substantiate the author's hypothesis, oral interviews, club reports, personal files, letters, and contemporary newspapers were extensively used."-- leaf 1.

This study asks whether and how the presidential inaugural address influences American audiences. The current study explores how the 2017 Presidential Inaugural Address of Donald Trump influences audiences. Two areas were studied: Candidate image and the state of the nation. I hypothesized that participants who watched the address would have different attitudes regarding candidate image and the state of the nation compared to non-viewers. I also hypothesized that viewers of the address who voted for Donald Trump would respond differently to candidate image and the state of the nation when compared with those who did not vote for Trump. With one exception, none of the findings was significant. That is, attitudes of inaugural address viewers and non-viewers were similar, and attitudes of those who voted for the president and those who did not vote for the president were also similar. The exception was noted between those who voted for the candidate and oppositional voters: Those who voted for Donald Trump reported the nation is headed "in the right direction" while dissenters disagreed.

Famine and destitution stemming from the Second World War had spread across the European continent and parts of Asia by mid-1945. Recognizing the need for recovery and survival in those regions, President Harry S. Truman at the recommendation of several Cabinet members, summoned ex-President Herbert Hoover for advice on how the United States should proceed in offering aid beyond the earlier efforts of the United Nations Rehabilitation and Relief Administration and other relief sources. After an absence from the White House and official government participation for many years, Hoover readily provided crucial advice on addressing famine relief in Europe and Asia based on his previous humanitarian leadership during and after the First World War. Recognizing that further action needed to be taken, Truman asked Hoover, as Honorary Chairman of the Famine Emergency Committee (FEC), to go to Europe and Asia to personally assess the famine relief needs. Hoover and several colleagues travelled 50,000 miles to thirty-eight different nations from March and into June 1946 to witness and evaluate famine needs in the afflicted nations, or arrange for food supply resources from various other countries; making a second trip to a struggling Germany and Austria in 1947. This thesis initially examines the narrative of the period between Hoover's reentry into public service, as requested by Truman, and the chronicle of the FEC missions. At the same time, it considers the purposes of the FEC missions, from both Hoover's and Truman's perspectives, and despite differing political viewpoints, the efforts of the two leaders to merge their activities into a common goal. The aim, amid early Cold War challenges, was to encourage both freedom and democracy in Europe and elsewhere, while sustaining free market economies and guarding against the spread of communism. As Hoover focused his efforts on American based humanitarian aid through the mechanism of food relief to promote economic prosperity, stability, and political freedoms, Truman endeavored to protect democracy as expressed in the Truman Doctrine. Both standpoints coalesced in a synthesis of anti-communism, global stability, and U.S. geopolitical interests. This thesis also will analyze the friendship that developed between Hoover and Truman during the FEC missions. This helped lead to further collaboration between the two leaders, as the President asked the ex-President to assist in the creation of the First Hoover Commission, leading to a Second Hoover Commission under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Despite ongoing political dissimilarities and occasional disagreements, the friendship of Hoover and Truman strengthened and endured for the remainder of the lives.

The purpose of this study is to examine the 1960 presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy and the 1968 presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy in order to analyze the similarities and differences that exist in their campaigns and their rhetoric. Specifically, the study examines the primary campaign rhetoric of the candidates and determines the rhetorical vision and fantasy themes that are created in three speeches from each campaign. The following research questions are proposed: What are the differences and similarities between John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, in terms of their presidential rhetoric, their presidential campaigns, and their rhetorical visions? Does Robert Kennedy's rhetoric seem to be an extension of his brother's rhetoric or does it stand as his own?The study selects three speeches from each campaign as artifacts. The first speech by each candidate was the announcement of his candidacy. The second followed soon thereafter, before primary election results were a factor. The last speech reviewed in each campaign occurred after primary election results were announced, and the candidates had achieved success and failure in their campaigns.Fantasy theme analysis is employed to determine the fantasies that exist in the rhetoric and the rhetorical vision that is presented in each campaign. The analysis finds that each vision is comprised of four fantasy themes. The findings reveal that Robert Kennedy's rhetoric and rhetorical vision act as an entity separate from John Kennedy's, with unique goals and a different focus. / Department of Speech Communication