The purpose of this study has been to determine the ways Edmund S. Muskie used identification in five speeches which he delivered during his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1971. Kenneth Burke's rhetorical concepts of identification and combustiality are used to analyze the speeches. Chapter I includes an introduction to Muskie's political life and an examination of the basic principles of Burke's rhetorical philosophy of indentification. Chapter II delves into the nature of Muskie, the man. Chapter III examines the texts of the speeches and reveals the strategies of identification which he used. Chapter IV summarizes Musikie's use of Burkeian identification in relation to himself and the times.