The Clinton Scandals and the Politics of Image Restoration

(Hardback)

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Description

President Bill Clinton has been more than generous, Blaney and Benoit point out, in providing fodder for examination of image restoration in politics. His accusers have also done their part in making the public aware of the president's real and perceived shortcomings. As the authors detail, Bill Clinton has been the subject of a tremendous, if not unprecedented, amount of scrutiny by his personal and political enemies. Blaney and Benoit review the background of the various scandals that have marred the Clinton presidency. They concentrate on the techniques used to advance the various accusations and the approaches taken by the president and his supporters to deflect the attacks.

Reviews

"This book has many strengths. Foremost is the attention to detail in developing the context and details of the scandal....[T]he choice of scandals is also a strenght in the study and research design....[T]he variance of time and sucess of the examples is a testament to the balance of this book. The authors also add to our understanding of the almost uniformly successful tactic of transcendence for image restoration....[I]recommend this book for scholars interested in a very thorough case study analysis of the Clinton scandals and media coverage."-White House Studies
If you're interested in damage control, verbal strategy, and rhetorical dexterity from a master practitioner, this is a must-read book.-Public Relations Quarterly
Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above.-Choice
This book has many strengths. Foremost is the attention to detail in developing the context and details of the scandal....[T]he choice of scandals is also a strenght in the study and research design....[T]he variance of time and sucess of the examples is a testament to the balance of this book. The authors also add to our understanding of the almost uniformly successful tactic of transcendence for image restoration....[I]recommend this book for scholars interested in a very thorough case study analysis of the Clinton scandals and media coverage.-White House Studies
"If you're interested in damage control, verbal strategy, and rhetorical dexterity from a master practitioner, this is a must-read book."-Public Relations Quarterly
"Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above."-Choice

Author Bio

JOSEPH R. BLANEY is Assistant Professor of Communication at Illinois State University. He is the joint author, with W. L. Benoit and P.M. Pier, of Campaign '96: A Functional Analysis of Acclaiming, Attacking, and Defending (Praeger, 1998) and numerous articles on communication and rhetoric issues. WILLIAM L. BENOIT is Professor of Communication at the University of Missouri. The author of six earlier books and almost 100 articles and book chapters, Professor Benoit's last book publication is Seeing Spots (Praeger, 1999).