Trump and Us: What He Says and Why People Listen

Description

Why did 62 million Americans vote for Donald Trump? Trump and Us offers a fresh perspective on this question, taking seriously the depth and breadth of Trump's support. An expert in political language, Roderick P. Hart turns to Trump's words, voters' remarks, and media commentary for insight. The book offers the first systematic rhetorical analysis of Trump's 2016 campaign and early presidency, using text analysis and archives of earlier presidential campaigns to uncover deep emotional undercurrents in the country and provide historical comparison. Trump and Us pays close attention to the emotional dimensions of politics, above and beyond cognition and ideology. Hart argues it was not partisanship, policy, or economic factors that landed Trump in the Oval Office but rather how Trump made people feel.

Roderick P. Hart holds the Shivers Chair in Communication and is Professor of Government at the University of Texas, Austin. Former dean of the Moody College of Communication and founding director of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, Hart is the author or editor of fifteen books, most recently Civic Hope: How Ordinary Americans Keep Democracy Alive (2018). Hart has been named a Fellow of the International Communication Association and a Distinguished Scholar by the National Communication Association. He received the Edelman Career Award from the American Political Science Association.

'Roderick Hart casts a sharp eye on a divided America in the era of President Trump. He is unsparing in his assessment of the president but doesn't stop there. His insights into the gulf between the president's advocates and detractors, and what each could learn from the other, plus his analysis of the relationship between Trump and the media, add significantly to this work.' Dan Balz, Washington Post 'Trump and Us is a paradigm-shifting work that clearly illuminates why and how Donald Trump has been able to win over so many average Americans. Hart assembles a wide range of compelling evidence to demonstrate that Trump, with his one-of-a-kind populism, has crafted a message predicated upon stories that tap into strong emotional undercurrents. Meticulously researched, keenly argued, highly objective, and written in vivid prose, this book is a must-read for all who seek to understand the Trump phenomenon.' Diana Owen, Georgetown University 'No one writes about the role and implications of political and campaign rhetoric better than Rod Hart. Using content analysis data from the 1948 through 2016 presidential election campaigns, as well as deftly chosen examples, Hart compares the rhetoric of Donald Trump with that of the other candidates for the office. But Trump and Us is not merely a study of political rhetoric. It is a profound meditation on the role and meaning of campaign rhetoric for a democracy.' Jeffrey Cohen, Fordham University 'The vast majority of commentators as well as many academics find it difficult to analyze Donald Trump's political appeal without injecting their personal biases. Roderick Hart is the rare exception. Hart puts Trump in historical context by skillfully analyzing a host of quantitative indicators and makes the hard data come alive by juxtaposing it with the words of ordinary Americans. No political commentator should be allowed to opine about Trump in 2020 without first reading this book.' Morris P. Fiorina, Stanford University '... Trump is good at being a demagogue. That conclusion is hardly surprising, and it is to Hart's credit that he realizes that the big questions are what Trump's success reveals about the American nation and its people.' F. E. Baumann, Choice 'This book is a brilliant dissection, by a renowned communications scholar, of the political messaging that Donald Trump used to win the presidency in 2016 ... Many readers of this book will, therefore, probably come away from it feeling as if they had just witnessed a real-life autopsy: repulsed, but also awed ... a compelling, insightful examination of Trump's successful campaign rhetoric.' Mel Laracey, Congress & the Presidency