COOLIDGE AND PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP

In: Public opinion quarterly: journal of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Band 21, Heft 2, S. 265-278

Abstract

The communication revolution has been largely responsible for the 20th cent expansion of the `public image' of the Presidency as personification of the US gov. So-called `weak Presidents' like Coolidge, as well as 'strong Presidents', contributed to this trend by exploiting new communication media as they became available. Coolidge used radio so skillfully that he made his name a household word & won a smashing electoral victory only 16 months after Harding's death. He used the press conference similarly, holding them frequently & regularly with their publicity potential ever in mind, & thus hejping to put the Presidential press conference on a permanent basis. In other ways he showed a keen publicity sense beneath his shy reserve. Unlike `strong Presidents' he did not use publicity techniques to advance policies. He had none of signif to advance. He used them to gain popularity that could be turned to electoral advantage. AA.