The Presentation of Self in Presidential Life: Onstage and Backstage With Johnson and Nixon

Abstract

This is a dual case study of the strategic use of presidential rhetoric, drawing on sociological and social-psychological treatments of self-presentation and impression management. Comparison of the ''onstage'' and ''backstage'' language of Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon provides an unprecedented opportunity to analyze presidential impression management strategies. The primary question posed here is the extent to which the tendency to engage in impression management is observable in the two presidents' major public appearances. The secondary questions are whether the two presidents pursued different self-presentation strategies, projecting positive but distinctive personas, or converged toward a common presidential profile and the extent to which their distinctive personalities came through in their private conversations. On the three dimensions examined here, the onstage Johnson and Nixon projected more ''presidential'' personas than their backstage counterparts. Backstage, their personas differed considerably. Onstage, they appeared very similar.