The Rhetoric of Revisionism: Presidential Rhetoric about the V ietnam W ar since 9/11

This article examines presidential rhetoric about the V ietnam W ar since 9/11. It argues that both G eorge W . B ush and B arack O bama have faced a rhetorical dilemma when dealing with the legacies of V ietnam because of the potential harm that they believe these legacies may have on public perception of their own military policies. Therefore, although P residents B ush and O bama have often resisted making comparisons between contemporary conflicts and V ietnam, they have also developed a rhetorical strategy, built on the revisionism of R onald R eagan and others, which celebrates V ietnam as a “noble cause” in A merican history, while they have also selected other “lessons” from V ietnam that could be useful to their overseas interventions. This rhetorical strategy suggests that A mericans should continuously prepare to make long‐term military commitments.