ABSTRACT
Communications provide an important opportunity for presidents to "go public" in a highly discretionary policy area. This chapter begins with a detailed discussion of specific policy statements within public communications by Ronald Reagan and George Bush as found in Public Papers of the Presidents. It assesses the policy statements of modem presidents individually and by political party and also examines the calls for legislative and judicial action. Whether Bush perpetuated the Reagan rhetoric examines the two presidents' specific policy statements from Public Papers of the Presidents. These excerpts are centered on particular target groups and by issue areas. This analysis allows a preliminary comparison of Reagan-Bush public communications. The chapter offers a comparative perspective on presidents' public communications on civil rights on the dimensions of attention, support, and symbolism. Presidential statements were located by using key words on civil rights selected from the extensive index included in the annual editions of Public Papers.
