Rhetoric in Martial Deliberations and Decision Making

"Ronald H. Carpenter is simply our finest explicator of the rhetoric of martial engagements. In this book he extends and deepens our understanding of how, why, and when nations go to war. His scholarship is of great and singular importance, not just to our discipline but to those who bear the responsibility of practicing such rhetoric and responding to it."—Michael M. Osborn, Professor Emeritus, Department of Communication, University of Memphis

"Ronald H. Carpenter will give readers a new way of looking at military decision making. He allows the major players—including Douglas MacArthur, Winston Churchill, and many others—to speak for themselves, drawing on their correspondence, speeches, memoirs, and oral histories. For the armed forces, certain unfamiliar concepts such as Aristotelian agathon, 'gate-keeping,' 'communication mosaic,' 'orality,' and 'para-message persona' may merit careful consideration by those who participate in martial decision-making or maintain vital interests in its outcomes; it is well worth the effort."—Edwin Howard Simmons, Brigadier General, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired), Director Emeritus, Marine Corps History, and author of The United States Marines: A History and Dog Company Six

"This preeminent rhetorical scholar has done it again. In this fine volume Ronald H. Carpenter combines exhaustive research, extraordinary detail, and often eloquent explication to explore that most compelling of rhetorical exigencies: the conduct of war. The resulting insights expand our understanding not only of military decision-making but also of the power of rhetoric."—Kathleen J. Turner, Department of Communication Studies, Davidson College, and author of Lyndon Johnson's Dual War: Vietnam and the Press