Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1957 A Rhetorical Study of the Gubernatorial Speaking of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Paul Jordan Pennington Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Pennington, Paul Jordan, "A Rhetorical Study of the Gubernatorial Speaking of Franklin D. Roosevelt." (1957). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 222. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/222 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A RHETORICAL STUD* OP THE GUBERNATORIAL SPEAKING OP FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Meohanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech by Paul Jordan Pennington B. A., Henderson State Teachers College, 19U8 M. A., Oklahoma University, 1950 August, 1957 ACKNOWLEDGMENT The writer wishes to acknowledge the inspiration, guidance, and continuous supervision of Dr. Waldo W. Braden, Professor of Speech at Louisiana State University. As the writer1s major advisor, he has given generously of his time, his efforts, and his sound advice. Dr. Braden is in no way responsible for any errors or short-comings of this study, but his suggestions are largely responsible for any merits it may possess. Dr. C. M. Wise, Head of the Department of Speech, and Dr. Giles W, Gray, Professor of Speech, both of Louisiana State University, have been exceedingly help­ ful to the writer in their inspirational teaching and in their editorial guidance. Suggestions made by Dr. Owen Peterson, Assistant Professor of Speech at Louisiana State University, are responsible for some of the most valuable aspects of this study. The writer especially wishes to acknowledge the patience and inspiration of his wife, Doris Riley Pennington, and his two daughters, Paula Beth and Margaret Caryl. ii TABLE OP CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT....................................... il ABSTRACT ............................................. v INTRODUCTION ......................................... 1 CHAPTER I. ROOSEVELT THE M A N ........................... 11 His Philosophy............................... 11 Preparation of the Speeches................ 27 Delivery..................................... 36 II. THE NEW YORK AUDIENCE......................... 51 The Rural and Urban Residents.............. 52 Political Party Affiliation: The Legislature 5U Occupation or Profession..................... 61 W o m e n .............. 65 Religion..................................... 66 Racial and National Groupings .............. 67 A g e ......................................... 70 III. CAMPAIGN SPEAKING............................. 73 The Nomination............................... 73 The 1926 Campaign Tour....................... 76 The 1930 Campaign Tour....................... 69 The 1928 I s s u e s ............................ 9U The 1930 I s s u e s ............................ 9o Argument and Evidence....................... 100 Ethical Appeals ............................. 127 Enotlonal Appeals ........................... 13U Organization................................. 137 IV. THE OFFICIAL SPEAKING......................... II4I+ The Annual Messages.................... II46 The Inaugural Addresses.................... II16 Issues....................................... 152 Argument and Evidence....................... 157 111 CHAPTER PAGE Ethical Appeals .............................. 169 Emotional Appeals ............................ 17U Organization.................................. 179 V. SPECIAL OCCASION SPEAKING..................... 16^ Speeches to State Audiences ................. 185 Speeches to Audiences on the National Level . 189 Speeches to Conferences of Governors......... 19U Argument and Evidence ....................... 197 Ethical Appeals .............................. 210 Emotional Appeals ................. 217 Organization.................................. 221 VI. RADIO S P E A K I N G ................................ 226 Broadcast Facilities Used by Roosevelt. 229 The Broadcasts................................ 23U Argument and E v i d e n c e ........................ 21; 5 Emotional Appeals ............................ 255 Ethical Appeals .............................. 257 Organization.................................. 260 VII. SUMMARY AND APPRAISAL......................... 265 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................... 290 AUTOBIOGRAPHY........................................... 309 iv ABSTRACT This study considers the gubernatorial speaking of Franklin D. Roosevelt. It analyzes the background of the speaker, the physical aspects of his delivery, the prepa­ ration of his speeches, the New York audience, and the occasions on which he spoke. It evaluates the 228 guberna­ torial speeches in terras of the rhetorical concepts of invention and arrangement * Governor Roosevelt had three main goals: he wanted to be re-elected Governor; he wanted enactment of welfare legislation; and he wanted to be elected President. To gain support for these objectives, he spoke to the people of New York In his campaigns, on special occasions, over the radio, and on official occasions. In these speeches he specifically called for depression relief, state devel­ opment of hydro-electric power, laws regulating the hours of women and children in industry; aid to widows, aid to orphans, aid to the crippled, aid to the aged, reform of the state prison system, lowering of utility rates, tax reduction for farmers, and more regulation of the banking industry. Roosevelt faced a state audience consisting of ten million urban dwellers and two million rural residents. In the depression years of 1929-1932, he met the problem of a million and a half unemployed urban workers with a program of experimentation that culminated in creation of the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration* The T,E.R.A. served as a pattern for later national relief measures. In his campaigns RooBevelt spoke in all the large cities and towns in the state, campaigning in 1928 largely on the record of social welfare achieved by Alfred Smith, although he did promise the farmers more aid. In hiB 193° campaign, public concern over the depression overshadowed the issue of corruption in the Democratic administration of New York City and he won by the unprecedented plurality of 750,000. Since the majority in the legislature was hostile to , hiB program, Roosevelt directed his official speeches to the people. He soon discovered that the radio was his most effective weapon in enlisting the popular support needed to overcome the recalcitrant legislature. When he spoke at banquets, dedications, conventions, commencements, and commem­ orative exercises, Roosevelt stressed the similarities be­ tween his goals and those of the special interest groups he addressed. Roosevelt1s speeches were skillfully adapted to the Immediate audiences. Although his arguments and his evidence contained some weaknesses, when combined with the other appeals, they served to persuade the voterB* His ethical appeals were designed to prove to his listeners that he was their champion vi and that the Republicans were blocking legislation the people wanted and needed* He appealed to his listeners1 senses of J fair play when he asked them to urge their legislators to enact his proposals; he appealed to their desires for security with his welfare program; he appealed to the legislators' desires to relieve distress in others when he asked for aid to the people. The speeches were usually organized on a logical pattern. The most obvious measure of his effectiveness as a speaker was his success: he was twice elected Governor of New York, achieved most of his legislative goals, and finally, was elected President of the United States. vii INTRODUCTION Franklin Delano Roosevelt's election as Governor of New York in 1928 marked his return to public service after a seven-year struggle with poliomyelitis. The adjustments which he made to his physical handicap, the work habits which he evolved, and the philosophy of government which he developed before and during his years in Albany served as preparation for his years as President of the United States. The speeches, then, of Franklin D. Roosevelt as Governor are of special importance, for they are a prelude to his presidential utterances and reveal the emergence of many of his basic goals of later years. Roosevelt spoke of his years as Governor of New York as a period of education. In 1938, he wrote: The 1929*1933 period was well fitted to serve as an eduoatlon in soolal and economic needs for those who were willing to search out the underlying causes and not merely symptoms on the surface. • . The. • .group to which I belonged, believed that . • .strong vital government action was, therefore, a prerequisite in any program for material recovery. During my four years in Albany this prerequi­ site became more and more apparent. Samuel Roseman comments on the same point: After Roosevelt became President, writers and commentators expressed surprise at the rapid suooes- ^Franklln D. Roosevelt,