George W. Bush: Policy Selling and Agenda-Setting After 9/11

Rubin, Gabriel

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30167-5_2

Gabriel Rubin²

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Abstract

George W. Bush successfully set the agenda for an expansive, global war against terrorists after the 9/11 attacks. This agenda was not inevitable, it arose from an interpretation of events and of America’s adversaries that leaned on global conflict, cultural differences, and the presumption of evil intent. Bush’s speech-making successfully led to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, civil liberty-reducing legislation, and a large institutional edifice dedicated to counterterrorism. The themes Bush’s speeches evoked and the agendas and policies that these speeches set are covered in this chapter.

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Notes

1.
Winkler, Carol K., In the Name of Terrorism: Presidents on Political Violence in the Post-World War II Era (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2006), p. 1.
2.
Ivie, Robert, “Fighting Terror by Rite of Redemption and Reconciliation,” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 10: 2 (2007), p. 224, in Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 189.
3.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 2.
4.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, chapter 2.
5.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 65.
6.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 71.
7.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 72.
8.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 73.
9.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 81.
10.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 82.
11.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 84.
12.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 86.
13.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, pp. 86–91.
14.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 93.
15.
It is important to note here that despite Reagan’s assertions, an investigation by Italy and Austria concluded at the time that Syria was in fact the state sponsor behind the bombings in question, which had taken place in Rome and Vienna (Winkler, Carol, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric: Reagan on Libya, Bush 43 on Iraq,” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 10: 2 (Summer 2007), p. 316).
16.
Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” pp. 309–311.
17.
Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” pp. 311, 318.
18.
Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” p. 314.
19.
Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” p. 320.
20.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, pp. 127–131.
21.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 130–132.
22.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 134.
23.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 135.
24.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 139.
25.
See, for instance, Esposito, John, “Islam and Political Violence,” Religions 6: 3, pp. 1067–1081.
26.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 154.
27.
See Rubin, Gabriel, Freedom and Order: How Democratic Governments Restrict Civil Liberties After Terrorist Attacks—and Why Sometimes They Don’t (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2011), chapter 7, and Widmaier, Wesley W., Presidential Rhetoric from Wilson to Obama: Constructing Crises, Fast and Slow (New York, NY: Routledge, 2015).
28.
Widmaier, Presidential Rhetoric from Wilson to Obama, p. 105, and Rubin, Gabriel and Christopher Salvatore, “Spitting Bullets: Anger’s Long-Ignored Role in Reactions to Terror: An Examination of College Students’ Fear and Anger Responses to Terrorism,” International Social Science Review 95: 2 (September 2019).
29.
Simon, Jeffrey, The Terrorist Trap: America’s Experience with Terrorism, 2nd edition (Bloomington, IN: University of Indiana Press, 2001) in Ivie, Robert L., Democracy and America’s War on Terror (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2005), p. 127.
30.
Widmaier, Presidential Rhetoric from Wilson to Obama, p. 106.
31.
DiMaggio, Anthony R., Selling War, Selling Hope: Presidential Rhetoric, the News Media, and U.S. Foreign Policy Since 9/11 (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2015), p. 18.
32.
Widmaier, Presidential Rhetoric from Wilson to Obama, pp. 106–107.
33.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, pp. 18–19. Speech by George W. Bush on September 20, 2001.
34.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 156.
35.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 159.
36.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 162.
37.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 162.
38.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 19. Speech by George W. Bush on September 20, 2001.
39.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 25.
40.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 166.
41.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 168.
42.
Hodges, Adam, The “War on Terror” Narrative: Discourse and Intertextuality in the Construction and Contestation of Sociopolitical Reality (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 23.
43.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, p. 53.
44.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, p. 55.
45.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, p. 184.
46.
Huntington, Samuel, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011).
47.
Winkler, In the Name of Terrorism, pp. 186–187.
48.
Tulis, Jeffrey, The Rhetorical Presidency (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017), p. 218.
49.
Tulis, The Rhetorical Presidency, p. 219.
50.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, pp. 72–73.
51.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, pp. 75–76.
52.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, p. 74.
53.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, p. 35.
54.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, p. 38.
55.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, p. 77.
56.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, p. 79.
57.
Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” p. 315.
58.
Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” pp. 317–318.
59.
Cirincione, Joseph, Jessica T. Mathews, and George Perkovich, WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2004), pp. 7–8, in Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” p. 320.
60.
Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” pp. 323–324.
61.
Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” p. 325.
62.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, pp. 90–91.
63.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, p. 100.
64.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, p. 93.
65.
Hodges, The “War on Terror” Narrative, p. 101.
66.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, pp. 128–130.
67.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, p. 129.
68.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, pp. 132–136.
69.
Ivie, Robert, “Fighting Terror by Rite of Redemption and Reconciliation,” Rhetoric and Public Affairs 10: 2 (Summer 2007), pp. 230–232. Quote cites George W. Bush speeches from 2004 to 2006.
70.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, p. 136; Juergensmeyer, Mark, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000).
71.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, p. 137.
72.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, p. 154.
73.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, p. 163.
74.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, p. 167.
75.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, p. 159.
76.
Kelley, Colleen Elizabeth, Post-9/11 American Presidential Rhetoric: A Study of Protofascist Discourse (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007), p. 56.
77.
Kelley, Post-9/11 American Presidential Rhetoric, p. 7.
78.
Characteristics of fascism were identified by Lawrence Britt in “Fascism Anyone?,” Free Inquiry 23:2 (Spring 2003).
79.
Kelley, Post-9/11 American Presidential Rhetoric, pp. 80–81.
80.
Kelley, Post-9/11 American Presidential Rhetoric, p. 160.
81.
Kelley, Post-9/11 American Presidential Rhetoric, chapter 6.
82.
Kelley, Post-9/11 American Presidential Rhetoric, p. 252.
83.
Kelley, Post-9/11 American Presidential Rhetoric, p. 302.
84.
Hartnett, Stephen John and Jennifer Rose Mercieca, “‘A Discovered Dissembler Can Achieve Nothing Great’; Or, Four Theses on the Death of Presidential Rhetoric in the Age of Empire,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 37: 4 (December 2007): pp. 599–621.
85.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, p. 127.
86.
Kellner, Douglas, “Bushspeak and the Politics of Lying: Presidential Rhetoric in the War on Terror.” Presidential Studies Quarterly, 37: 4 (Dec 2007), pp. 622–645.
87.
For an account of how George W. Bush passed (and re-passed) the Patriot Act by employing fear-inducing rhetoric, see Rubin, Freedom and Order.
88.
Goldsmith, Jack, The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment Inside the Bush Administration (New York, NY: WW Norton, 2007), p. 89.
89.
Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency, p. 95.
90.
Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency, p. 96.
91.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, pp. 95–98.
92.
Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” p. 320.
93.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 221.
94.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, pp. 220–221.
95.
Ivie, Democracy and America’s War on Terror, p. 167.
96.
Kelley, Post-9/11 American Presidential Rhetoric, p. 302.
97.
Zarefsky, David, “Making the Case for War: Colin Powell at the United Nations,” Rhetoric & Public Affairs 10: 2 (2007), p. 292.
98.
Zarefsky, “Making the Case for War”; Rovner, Joshua, Fixing the Facts: National Security and the Politics of Intelligence (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2015).
99.
Widmaier, Presidential Rhetoric from Wilson to Obama, p. 104.
100.
Widmaier, Presidential Rhetoric from Wilson to Obama, p. 110.
101.
Widmaier, Presidential Rhetoric from Wilson to Obama, pp. 110–111.
102.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 60. George W. Bush speech made in October 2002.
103.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 61.
104.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 63.
105.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 62. George W. Bush’s 2002 State of the Union speech.
106.
This figure does not include the number of times he calls the Taliban such a regime as they have their own category.
107.
It is important to note here that the term “terrorist” was the most heavily used by all Presidents covered since by nature of the way this study gathered speeches, each speech contained some derivation of the word “terrorist” (“terror,” “terrorism,” for instance) at least three times.
108.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 66.
109.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, pp. 65, 67; Rovner, Fixing Facts; Zarefsky, “Making the Case for War.”
110.
Blix, Hans, Disarming Iraq (New York: Pantheon Books, 2004) cited in Kelley, Post-9/11 American Presidential Rhetoric, p. 301.
111.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 69; Frick, Ali, “Bush on al Qaeda not Existing in Iraq before Invasion: ‘So What?,’” Think Progress, 15 December 2008, https://thinkprogress.org/bush-on-al-qaeda-not-existing-in-iraq-before-invasion-so-what-7ee247bdf220/.
112.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 75; Nacos, Brigitte, Yaeli Bloch-Elkon, and Robert Y. Shapiro, Selling Fear: Counterterrorism, the Media, and Public Opinion (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011).
113.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 100.
114.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 105; Feaver, Peter D. and Christopher Gelpi, Choosing Your Battles: American Civil-Military Relations and the Use of Force (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004).
115.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, pp. 116–119.
116.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 125.
117.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 127.
118.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, pp. 127–128.
119.
Winkler, “Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric,” p. 308.
120.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 29.
121.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 129.
122.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, pp. 134–135.
123.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, pp. 136–137.
124.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 139.
125.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, p. 142.
126.
DiMaggio, Selling War, Selling Hope, pp. 144–145.
127.
Lynch, Marc, “Explaining the Awakening: Engagement, Publicity, and the Transformation of Iraqi Sunni Political Attitudes,” Security Studies 20: 1 (2011), pp. 36–72.
128.
Stuckey, Mary E. and Joshua R. Ritter, “George Bush, <Human Rights>, and American Democracy,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, 37: 4 (Dec 2007), p. 660.
129.
Stuckey and Ritter, “George Bush, <Human Rights>, and American Democracy,” pp. 659–660.
130.
Stuckey and Ritter, “George Bush, <Human Rights>, and American Democracy.”
131.
Ivie, “Fighting Terror by Rite of Redemption and Reconciliation,” p. 234.
132.
Rubin, Gabriel and Christopher Salvatore, “Spitting Bullets: Anger’s Long-Ignored Role in Reactions to Terror: An Examination of College Students’ Fear and Anger Responses to Terrorism,” International Social Science Review 95: 2 (September 2019).

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Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA
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Rubin, G. (2020). George W. Bush: Policy Selling and Agenda-Setting After 9/11. In: Presidential Rhetoric on Terrorism under Bush, Obama and Trump. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30167-5_2

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30167-5_2
Published: 22 March 2020
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
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