The White House Press Secretary, Presidential Health, and the Rhetoric of Full Disclosure

• In Event: Deliberative Discourse and the Challenges of Non-Conformity

Abstract

This work applies standards of successful crisis communication from an organizational standpoint to analyze the press management strategies used by Press Secretary James C. Hagerty following President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s heart attack in September 1955. Through rhetorical analysis, it examines the policy decisions behind Hagerty’s actions, their impact on Eisenhower’s decision to seek the Republican nomination in 1956, and their effect on subsequent administration strategies during presidential health crises.

Author

• Amy Leyerzapf, University of Kansas