Abstract

My paper will examine the methods by which Clint Eastwood and Bill Clinton spoke to their respective political conferences so differently, but with almost unanimous success. It will examine the audiences to whom they were speaking, the atmospheres (political and social) in which they spoke and the topics addressed in their presentation. I will look closely at their individual speeches, the content and delivery of those speeches and what rhetorical strategies made these two very different strategies equally effective in their respective locations. The “multimedia” presentation will include embedded videos of both speeches, my real-time reactions to those speeches and a complete, follow-up analysis for both speeches based on the merits of their rhetoric.