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LBJ, Reagan, and the American Dream: Competing Visions of Liberty
Author(s) -
Medhurst Martin J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/psq.12253
Subject(s) - vision , rhetoric , dream , presidential system , narrative , political science , negative liberty , law , sociology , philosophy , art , politics , literature , theology , psychology , neuroscience , anthropology
This article advances the thesis that the narrative of the American Dream, as used in U.S. presidential discourse, is best understood as a rhetoric of competing visions over the nature and purposes of liberty. To test this position, the rhetoric of Lyndon Johnson—an advocate of positive liberty—is compared and contrasted to that of Ronald Reagan—an advocate of negative liberty. Competing visions of liberty are found to structure the contours of the American Dream narrative and to explain many of its inherent tensions.