This study analyzed President Gerald Ford's efforts in selling his energy package in February, 1975. Six major speeches and news conferences were examined in terms of Richard Weaver's rhetorical theory. Five criteria of this theory were studied: appeals to man's good values, choice of argumentation, use of "god" and "devil" words, adaptation to the historical setting of the speech, and ethical character of the speaker.
This analysis concluded that Ford was a good Weaverian rhetorician because he appealed to good values in language well adapted to each audience, adapted well to historical settings, and
elevated his ethos considerably. However, Ford sold himself but not his program because he relied too heavily on his own ethos and circumstantial argumentation and slighted refutation arguments
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc663049 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Fuller, Ellen S. |
| Contributors | DeMougeot, William R., Dorse, Alvin C. |
| Publisher | North Texas State University |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | iii, 74 leaves, Text |
| Coverage | United States, 1975 |
| Rights | Public, Fuller, Ellen S., Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights |
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