Confronting an Elite Identity

Abstract

During the 1970s and 1980s there existed, within the United States, a number of elections where candidates could advance themselves with a range of social and political identities, from those of a populist disposition to those considered part and parcel of elite culture. As highlighted in Chapter 2, particularly with respect to John F. Kennedy, although elite standing was not always actively advanced as a political asset, it was not always thought to be necessary to extensively remake the identity of a candidate so as to give them electoral credibility. By the time Reagan entered office it was clear that the political environment had changed. Although not as pronounced as the manufacturing and marketing of political identity discussed in later chapters of this text there was nevertheless a change to a series of positions which embraced the remaking and shaping of a candidate’s autobiographical past combined with the advocacy of populist identities and rhetoric, if not always populist policies.