President Johnson's War on Poverty
Rhetoric and History

David Zarefsky (Author)

9780817352455

Paperback / softback, published 21 August 2005

304 pages
21.6 x 14.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.409 kg

Zarefsky's concentration on the struggles fought over the symbols of the antipoverty effort makes for an engrossing analysis of the War on Poverty from a fresh angle of vision... [and] provides more than a cogent analysis of the War on Poverty. It is a valuable study of rhetoric and history, focusing our attention on how symbols define political situations and how they are modified over time in the face of new events and pressures. The author's account of the Johnson administration's rhetorical moves and modifications in the face of defeats in the 'unconditional war' declared in 1964 is particularly enlightening. - American Historical Review ""Readers of this fine book will learn far more about the War on Poverty and the foibles of U.S. liberalism in the postwar period than they will about rhetoric. This is both a great service and a great mercy. Zarefsky's effort is a gem. It uses rhetorical analysis to its best advantage: as a narrative thread rather than as an explanation."" - Journal of Communication