1. PRESIDENTIAL SCANDALS STRAGEGIES AND RHETORIC
Mary Moffett & Kristin Halfpenny

2. STRATEGIES IMAGE REPAIR DISCOURSE APOLOGETIC DISCOURSE STRATEGIES
WILLIAM L. BENOIT
APOLOGETIC DISCOURSE STRATEGIES
B.L. WARE & WIL A. LINKUGEL

3. IMAGE REPAIR STRATEGIES WILLIAM L. BENOIT
1)Denial
Simple Denial
Shift Blame
2)Evade Responsibility
Provocation
Defeasibility
Accident
Good Intentions
3)Reduce Offensiveness
Bolster
Minimize
Differentiate
Transcendence
Attack Accuser
Compensate
4)Corrective Action
5)Mortification
Benoit
“Human beings engage in recurrent patterns of communicative behavior designed to reduce, redress, or avoid damage to their reputation (or face or image) from perceived wrong-doings” (Benoit, vii).
“When our image is threatened, we feel compelled to offer explanations, defenses, justifications, rationalizations, apologies, or excuses for our behavior” (Benoit, 2)
Denial
Simple Denial
Did not do it, or act did not occur
Shift Blame
Someone else did it
Evade Responsibility
Provocation
Act was a response to another’s offense
Defeasibility
Lack of information or ability
Accident
Act was a mishap
Good Intentions
Act was meant well
Reduce Offensiveness
Bolster
Stress good traits
Minimize
Act was not serious
Differentiate
Act was less serious than similar ones – separate from larger context that audience (negatively) views it in
Transcend
There are more important things to consider – place in larger context that audience would view more favorably
Attack Accuser
Reduce attacker’s credibility
Compensate
Reimburse victims
Corrective Action - Plan to solve or prevent recurrence of problem
Mortification - Apology

4. APOLOGETIC DISCOURSE STRAGEGIES B.L. WARE & WILL A. LINKUGEL
Reformative Strategies
Denial
Bolstering
Transformative Strategies
Differentiation
Transcendence
Major Rhetorical Postures
Absolution
Vindicative
Explanative
Justificative
Linkugel and Ware
Reformative Strategies – “To improve by alteration, correction of error, or removal of defects; put into a better form or condition”
Denial
The simple disavowal by the speaker of any participation in, relationship to, or positive sentiment toward, whatever it is that repels the audience
Reformative because such strategies do not attempt to change the audience’s meaning or affect for whatever is in question
Bolstering
Reinforces the existence of a fact, sentiment, object or relationship – the speaker attempts to identify himself with something viewed favorably by the audience, not necessarily relevant to the issue at hand.
Reformative because the speaker does not totally invent the identification, nor does he try to change the audience’s affect toward those things with which he can identify himself.
Transformative Strategies – “Change markedly the appearance or form of; to change the nature, function, or condition of”
Differentiation
Strategies which represent a particularization of the charge at hand – Separating some fact, sentiment, object, or relationship from some larger context in which the audience presently views that attribute.
Transformative because the speaker attempts to change the meaning of some event by separating it from the larger, more homogenous context.
Transcendence
Strategies which cognitively join some fact, sentiment, object, or relationship with some larger context within which the audience does not presently view that attribute.
Transformative because such strategies affect the meaning which the audience attaches to the manipulated attribute.
* NOTE* Differentiation and Transcendence are different because differentiation separates the object from an undesirable context, while transcendence places that object into a larger or broader and more favorable context.

5. RICHARD MILHOUSE NIXON DENIAL SPEECHES - 1974
Strategies &
Effectiveness
Denial
Simple Denial
Shift Blame
Reduce Offensiveness
Minimization
Transcendence
Corrective Action
Nine points of focus, according to Benoit, “Richard M. Nixon’s Rhetorical Strategies in his Public Statements on Watergate”
~ Emphasizing Investigations – “wants to get to the bottom of this”
~ Shifting Blame – blaming his subordinates, “responsibility belongs here at the top, in this office”, but basically a guilt trip
~ Refocusing Attention – MINIMIZATION – Watergate had taken up too much time...now we must move on to the country
~ Indicting John Dean – lack of favorable comment on Dean, while praising other staff – because Dean said Nixon was involved
~ Emphasizing Confidentiality – must be able to speak to others in confidence
~ Emphasizing his “Mandate” – in November, the nation clearly showed who their choice was for President
~ Emphasizing Cooperation – make exceptions (to rules such as confidentiality) in order to cooperate with others and their requests
~ Emphasizing Executive Privilege – Only really used in regards to confidentiality
~ Using Quotations from the White House Tapes – repeated sections of the tapes that bolstered his position (so the tapes were viewed positively)
DENIAL - Simple Denial, Shift Blame
REDUCE OFFENSIVENESS – Minimization, Transcendence
CORRECTIVE ACTION

6. WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON DENIAL SPEECH – JAN. 26, 1998
Transcendence
Bolstering

7. NIXON SCANDAL PHOTOGRAPHY

8. NIXON’S RESIGNATION SPEECH
Strategies & Effectiveness
Denial
Mortification
Apology
Evade Responsibility
Good Intentions
Reduce Offensiveness
Differentiation
Bolstering
Transcendence
Linkugel and Ware – say Nixon’s speech is VINDICATIVE – Denial and Transcendence
EXPLANATIVE – bolstering and differentiation
JUSTIFICATIVE – bolstering and transcendence
~DENIAL
“denial of intent” (denied involvement not to cover-up is wrongdoings, but instead to serve the best interest of the nation)
“denial that resignation was prompted by guilt” (process of proving his innocence would be too long, too time consuming, wouldn’t be able to do his job well...resigning in the best interest of the nation)
~ Article by Richard A. Katula – “having presented himself as a victim of the national interest, Nixon continued his vindication in the farewell portion of his address by adopting transformative strategies”
~ TRANSCENDENCE – in farewell part of address, transcend the whole Watergate issue by constructing a larger context, the “legacy of peace” (talks about always wanting to work for peace...always have, always did in Presidency, always will...THAT should be how you remember me)
~ Katula – “through his vindictive apology, he hoped to persuade the American public that he was not intentionally responsible for Watergate; that Watergate was really a minor affair, blown out of proportion by political enemies, and that his real legacy was one of peace”
~ The point of this speech was to gain a sense of closure...
~ Nixon tried to use his farewell/accomplishments/legacy of peace section to transcend, and thus engulf, his resignation statement/section --- but by failing to secure or implement closure in the resignation section, itself, the audience resisted his efforts at transcendence...
~ Attempt at vindication failed – Denial of Intent in the Resignation section was the problem ---
~ Tapes released in August, just a few days before this speech, indicted Nixon has chief conspirator of the Watergate cover-up affair...
~ Article in NATION, “Richard Nixon convicted Richard Nixon. The tapes and his own statements have been primarily responsible for his downfall”
~ By placing no sense of closure in the resignation section, and by continuing to NOT admit his involvement, even though there was proof of his wrongdoings, his efforts failed.

9. CLINTON SCANDAL PHOTOGRAPHY

10. CLINTON NATIONAL ADDRESS: POST-GRAND JURY
Techniques Used in this speech
Mortification
Denial
Attacker accuser
Transcendence
Critics Comments
Private Vs. Public Duality

11. AUDIENCE AND IMAGE Audience Perceptions Number and Type of Audience
Likely Reaction of Audience
PERCEPTION
“The rhetor’s perceptions of the audience’s image of the rhetor may or may not correspond directly to the audience’s actual perceptions of the rhetor’s image”
“Damage to one’s face requires that the actor be held responsible for the occurrence of [an] reprehensible act by the relevant audience”
“The key point here, of course, is not whether in fact the actor caused the damage, but whether the relevant audience believes the actor to be the source of the reprehensible act”
NUMBER OF AUDIENCES
“There are at least two ‘audiences’ for a given image restoration attempt”
External Audience – those for whom the accused is more concerned with restoring his or her face
3 Possibilities for this external audience
1) the person who objected to the apologist’s behavior
2) the accuser and others aware of the accusation (criticized by one person but in front of group)
3) those aware of the accusation but not the accuser (care about stockholders, not protester)
* Effectiveness of speeches in restoring image – primarily concerned with this 3rd group
~ trying to get an audience to reject charges made by a 3rd party
Internal Audience – the rhetor himself; the accounts and excuses he or she verbalizes may or may not succeed in making the rhetor feel better about her or himself
LIKELY REACTION OF AUDIENCE
Determining the audience’s (or audiences’) probably reaction to a discourse is important for a rhetor
Want to fulfill expectations
Want to satisfy their inquiries
Leaving the discourse without sufficiently answering the audience’s questions will not help image restoration

12. MEDIA AND IMAGE The Fourth Estate Public Polling Ex. Clinton speech
Implications?

13. DISCUSSION:
EFFECTIVENESS
AND
OUTCOME