In the Name of Terrorism

Presidents on Political Violence in the Post-World War II Era

Carol K. Winkler

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780791466186, 9780791466179
• eBook ISBN: 9780791482537
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Traces the shifts in presidential discourse on terrorism since World War II.

Winner of the 2008 Outstanding Book Award presented by the Political Communication Division of the National Communication Association

The topic of terrorism has evolved into an ideological marker of American culture, one that has fundamentally altered the relationship between the three branches of government, between the government and the people, and between America and countries abroad. In the Name of Terrorism describes and analyzes the public communication strategies presidents have deployed to discuss terrorism since the end of World War II. Drawing upon internal administration documents, memoirs, and public papers, Carol K. Winkler uncovers how presidents have capitalized on public perceptions of the terrorist threat, misrepresented actual terrorist events, and used the term "terrorism" to influence electoral outcomes both at home and abroad. Perhaps more importantly, she explains their motivations for doing so, and critically discusses the moral and political implications of the present range of narratives used to present terrorism to the public.

Table of contents

• In the Name of Terrorism
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• 1. What’s in a Name?
• 2. The Vietnam War and the Communist Terrorists
• 3. The Iranian Hostage Crisis: An American Tragedy
• 4. Origins of Terrorism as an American Ideograph: The Reagan Era
• 5. The Persian Gulf Conflict of 1991: The Cold War Narrative in the Post–Cold War Era
• 6. Terrorism and the Clinton Era: A Prophetic Moment
• 7. America under Attack: George W. Bush and Noncitizen Actors
• 8. Terrorism and American Culture
• Notes
• Works Cited
• Index