A Rhetorical Criticism Exploring the Roles of President Gordon B. Hinckley during His Speeches on the American Response to the 9/11 Attacks and the Invasion of Iraq

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar V

Abstract

Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints (the Mormon Church), influenced 13 million members and a world audience, but is an ignored public speaker in academic literature. This paper investigates Hinckley’s rhetorical roles using Hart’s (1997) Role Criticism. Some roles during speeches about the American Response to the 9/11 attacks and the Invasion of Iraq included the use of persona, intercultural constraints, and identifying with Mormon Culture.

Author

• Tyler Thornton, University of Oklahoma