ABSTRACT
Public relations is paramount to political power in American democracy (McKinnon, Tedesco, & Lauder, 2001). And no offi ce in the U.S. government better exemplifi es political public relations than the offi ce of the presidency. Presidential power is the power to persuade (Neustadt, 1990), just as public relations is geared fundamentally toward persuasion (Miller, 1989). In the contemporary age, moreover, presidents do not bargain with legislators as Neustadt observed years ago, but presidential persuasion now involves communicating through public speaking and engaging in media relations to reach various target audiences to achieve their policy agendas (Kernell, 1997). In many ways, this is a strategic enterprise; presidents and their staff target policies and publics so as to maximize their opportunities for infl uence (Edwards, 2009).
