Charismatic Leadership And U.s. Presidential Campaigns

Résumé: Charismatic leadership is a subject that has been widely discussed in politics, mainly, during and after the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Presidential Elections. The rise of the first African-American president Barack Obama prompted discussions over the charismatic quality of his rhetoric and brought more attention to his charismatic leadership. This dissertation sheds light on the role of charismatic rhetoric in the U.S. presidential campaigns. It investigates the use of charismatic rhetoric in presidential campaigns and its perception by the public and the media. In order to fully examine the use and importance of charismatic rhetoric in creating the image of a charismatic leader, the 2008 and 2012 campaigns of the presidential candidate Barack Obama were taken as a case study. The dissertation also addresses the development of the concepts of charisma, charismatic leadership, and charismatic rhetoric and their relevancy to the field of modern politics. Overall, the charismatic rhetoric of Barack Obama's political produce was high in the 2008 electoral campaign whereas it marked a remarkable partial absence of such quality in 2012. Also, media perceptions and popular opinion about Obama's charismatic rhetoric were more positive and enthusiastic in the 2008 election compared to 2012, mirroring the slight change in the charismatic quality of his rhetoric.

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