A Way With Words? Communication Frames and the Potential for Presidential Leadership

Recent scholarly work suggests that communication frames are a potentially impor-tant element of presidential leadership. However, students of the presidency provide little evidence about whether presidents can use frames to change policy-relevant dis-course. This study develops a framework for testing this possibility, and applies it to an important rhetorical test case: George W. Bush’s campaign to build support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Using a Bayesian cluster analysis, we first identify frames in Bush’s public statements about Iraq and then evaluate these frames ’ prominence in media outlets that encapsulate the post-broadcast era. The results suggest that journalists and opinion columnists responded to changes in Bush’s Iraq rhetoric during the fall 2002 campaign, but this pattern did not continue in the face of an empowered opposition in the final months before the invasion. In terms of its contribution, this study produces evidence on the strengths and limitations of a president’s rhetorical leadership through framing. We thank B. Dan Wood for providing us with the Public Papers of the President, Michae