Ronald Reagan's inability to sway the American public and press 
with his speeches at the former site of the infamous Bergen-Belsen 
concentration camp and, later, at the U.S. Air Force base in Bitburg, 
Germany, has been marked by many as the first major failure of the 
Great Communicator's second term.

     Richard J. Jensen highlights the qualities of the speeches that 
make them, in his estimation, models of presidential discourse. But 
he also looks at the setting for the speeches—political and 
historical—that doomed them despite their eloquence. Telescoping in 
from the broadest perspective on Reagan's rhetorical career; to the 
circumstances surrounding the decision to make the speeches; to the 
drafting, delivery, and reception of the texts, Jensen contrasts these 
two speeches with two very successful ones Reagan had delivered in 
Normandy the previous year. The result is a vivid picture of a man 
and a moment in history. Students and all those interested in public 
discourse and the presidency will deeply benefit from this mature 
work by a major scholar of rhetoric.

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RICHARD J. JENSEN, an emeritus professor of communication at 
the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is the coeditor or coauthor of 
two previous books published by Texas A&M University Press, both 
on the rhetoric of César Chávez. Jensen holds a Ph.D. from Indiana 
University.


Library of Presidential Rhetoric