A Transitional Moment: William Mckinley's Foreign Policy
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A TRANSITIONAL MOMENT: WILLIAM MCKINLEY’S FOREIGN POLICY RHETORIC AND AMERICA’S OUTWARD TURN By Copyright 2017 Nicholas Winter Labinski Submitted to the graduate degree program in Communication Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Chairperson Dr. Jay Childers Dr. Scott Harris Dr. Beth Innocenti Dr. Robert Rowland Dr. Amy Devitt Date Defended: December 12, 2017 ii The Dissertation Committee for Nicholas Winter Labinski certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: A TRANSITIONAL MOMENT: WILLIAM MCKINLEY’S FOREIGN POLICY RHETORIC AND AMERICA’S OUTWARD TURN Chairperson Dr. Jay Childers Date Approved: December 14, 2017 iii Abstract: The Spanish-American War marked a turning point in American history. For the first time in U.S. history, American soldiers were fighting overseas. After the war, the United States gained its first imperial territories. America’s new position in the world created a new rhetorical exigence that called for a redefinition of the American people and the United States itself. This dissertation explores this transitional moment and the foreign policy rhetoric of William McKinley in three separate chapters—McKinley’s rhetoric about the Spanish-American War, the redefinition of the American people, and redefinition of the country. Defending his decision to enter the war, McKinley used the ideograph of civilization, framing the war in moral terms for the country. By winning the war and adopting a rhetoric of civilization, McKinley socialized the United States into the great power club. In redefining the American people, McKinley appealed to the values of patriotism and unity, employing the rhetorical trope of the citizen-soldier as the embodiment of these two values. The citizen-soldier trope privileged white males, while women and minorities were downplayed in McKinley’s conception of citizenship. In redefining the country, McKinley employed the trope of American exceptionalism. Here, McKinley redefined the nation from a primarily exemplarist nation to an interventionist state. Rewriting American history, McKinley demonstrated how the nation had always expanded and this latest expansion was America’s natural progression as God’s chosen people. The dissertation concludes by examining McKinley’s rhetorical legacy, how he set the discursive boundaries for future presidents, and his place in the rhetorical presidency. iv Acknowledgements There are a number of people I would like to thank. First, Dr. Jay Childers for chairing this dissertation and being my adviser during my time at KU. I cannot express how much admiration and respect I have for you. You have helped me grow as a scholar and as a person. You gave me the time I needed to find my way, to search, and try to find the table and conversation I belong in. Your patience with me is something I will always be grateful for. You have improved my writing and made me a better scholar in ways that I will continue to discover as I move on from KU. More than anything, I have always enjoyed and will cherish our conversations as we neared the end of a meeting. They usually wondered to some strange thing happening in my life or an update on your house construction or a minor story, but they always seemed to set me at ease and reassure me that everything was going to work out. Thank you. Dr. Rowland, you were the first person I talked to from KU when I was looking at Ph.D. programs. We talked on the phone for at a least an hour about rhetoric, history, and politics. It was at this point that I knew in my heart that KU was the school for me to attend. I will never forget the lessons I learned in 955 or how teaching COMS 235 made me a better instructor, and a more insightful critic. Your support throughout my years at KU are something I will look back fondly, along with our discussions about politics after a colloquium or in Bailey. Dr. Innocenti, your seminar was my first class on campus. Your warmth and inviting atmosphere made it easy to get acclimated to being a Ph.D. student. Furthermore, your insights into rhetoric and history helped me improve as a scholar. Along with studying essays for how they moved and were constructed, preparing me to write academic essays, your class taught me what it meant to be a scholar. Thank you for your time and effort in making me a better rhetorician. v Dr. Harris, your rhetoric of war class is still one of my favorite classes I have ever taken. Between the subject and the depth of knowledge you brought to every class, I loved attending every single day. I knew every day I attended I would either learn something new or rethink something I thought I knew. I would be remiss though if I did not mention noonball. Inviting me to play and giving me an outlet outside of academia has been a saving grace during periods of stress. And, no one, no matter where I go, will have as good of a turnaround in the post than you. Dr. Reiff and Dr. Devitt, I thank you for your support and help serving as my outside members. I have appreciated your insights, thoughtfulness, and support in my defenses. To the rest of the Department of Communication Studies, Suzanne Grachek, and John Fackler, thank you for all you have done to make me a better scholar and person in my time at KU. To my mother, father, sister, and Dusty, I cannot express how much each of you mean to me and how your love and support while I have been at KU has kept me going. Mom and dad, from my first day of school to today you have emphasized the importance of an education. I cannot tell you how much of an influence that has had on me and how much I value everything you have sacrificed so I could do this. To Lindsay Harroff, Emily Vietti, and Casi Bird, I thank each of you for reading different chapters of my dissertation, giving me feedback, and editing tips. Your kindness in telling me that while that page about coal’s influence on England’s imperialism is interesting, it could be cut down was greatly appreciated. Each of you helped improve my writing and thought process during this project. A special thank you to Casi, for all the support in every class (since we basically took all of them together) and throughout both the comps and dissertation process. vi To the rest of the KU grad students, especially Hailey Drescher, Chelsea Graham, Abbie Hodgson, Weston Wiebe, Gretchen Montgomery, Michael Kearney, Brendon Bankey, Liz Miller, Sean Kennedy, Matthew Kay, Gaby Bird, Josh Morgan, Allie Chase, Haley Vellinga, Chong Xing, Igor Ristić, and everyone else, your friendship and support has been invaluable throughout this process and every day. You all are truly a special group and I have been thankful each and every day to have met you all. vii Title Page………………………………………………………………………………………… ii Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………….. iii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………...iv Chapter 1 Setting the Scene: The United States in the 1890s………………………………...1 Presidential Rhetoric: A Review………………………………………………………...6 Rhetorical History and Close Textual Analysis: Tools to Uncover………………….15 America in 1896…………………………………………………………………………20 Chapter Previews……………………………………………………………………….27 Chapter 2 The Ideograph: Moralizing the Spanish-American War………………………...32 The History of Civilization in the Nineteenth Century………………………………36 From Washington to Cleveland: Civilization and the American Indian……………41 William McKinley: A Soldier from Ohio……………………………………………...46 The Ideograph: Building Blocks of Ideology………………………………………….49 Into the World: Civilization and the United States’ Destiny………………………...53 1897: A Year of Change………………………………………………………………..54 McKinley’s Inaugural Address …………………………………..……………………55 The Growing Unrest in Cuba: McKinley’s Rhetorical Shift in His “First Annual Message” …...57 1898: From Peace to War to Peace Again…………………………………………….60 McKinley’s Declaration of War……………………………………………………….63 1898-1899 Speaking Tours: McKinley’s Quest to Defend Expansion………………68 McKinley Takes the Offensive ………………………………………………………… 72 Toward a Better Tomorrow: The Progress of the World……….………………..……….. 77 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………83 viii Chapter 3 The Citizen-Soldier: Redefining Citizenship……………………………………...86 A Divided Nation: A Need for A New Definition of Citizenship……………………..88 Creating Rhetorical Community Through Epideictic Rhetoric……………………..92 An Era of Patriotism: The Beginnings of a New Citizen……………………………..96 An End to Sectionalism……………………………………………………………….102 The Citizen-Soldier……………………………………………………………………108 Non-White Males and Women: The Other Roles in American Society……………115 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..118 Chapter 4 American Exceptionalism and Interventionism: Redefining America………...122 A Special Nation: American Exceptionalism………………………………………..125 American Exceptionalism ……………………………………………………...…… 125 Exemplarism: An American Tradition ………………………………………………………….. 129 Manifest Destiney: From Sea to Shining Sea …………………………………….…………….. 131 After the Civil War: The World Comes Calling ………………………………….…………….. 134 America Enters the World Stage…………………………………………………….139 God’s Victory: The Spanish-American War and Its Consequences ……………………….140 China: Justifying Military Action in McKinley’s Fourth Annual Message……….147 Pay Heed All Who Do Nothing: The Prophet of Evil……………………………….156 Buffalo: Toward A New World………………………………………………………159 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..162 Chapter 5 Conclusion: McKinley’s Rhetorical Legacy……………………………………..166 Tracing