Since their inception, the presidential debates Americans have watched on television were carefully negotiated. This book closely examines a previously unexamined type of political communication, presidential debate negotiation. While it has been widely known that all general election presidential debates since 1960 have been negotiated by the participating candidates, no one has ever completed a systematic study of them. In particular, the 1960, 1976, 1980, 1984, and 1988 negotiations were examined in detail. For each of these election cycles, a comprehensive narrative of what occurred during the pre-debate negotiations was constructed based on primary source materials, media accounts, and other secondary sources. Comparisons across election cycles were made in order to draw some conclusions about presidential debate negotiation. Presidential debate negotiations are not just negotiations, but rather also a form of political rhetoric for several different players. The research concluded that that there are five contexts in which presidential debate rhetoric occurs and the rhetoric is aimed at two audiences. Within each context, the functions and strategies of the rhetoric were discussed and explained from the perspective of the sponsor of the debate(s), the candidates and their representatives, as well as the media.

This dynamic and richly layered account of mental health in the late twentieth century interweaves three important stories: the rising political prominence of mental health in the United States since 1970; the shifting medical diagnostics of mental health at a time when health activists, advocacy groups, and public figures were all speaking out about the needs and rights of patients; and the concept of voice in literature, film, memoir, journalism, and medical case study that connects the health experiences of individuals to shared stories. Together, these three dimensions bring into conversation a diverse cast of late-century writers, filmmakers, actors, physicians, politicians, policy-makers, and social critics. In doing so, Martin Halliwell’s Voices of Mental Health breaks new ground in deepening our understanding of the place, politics, and trajectory of mental health from the moon landing to the millennium.

The office of the President of the United States was plagued by scandals in the early 1970s. When Jimmy Carter ran for office in 1976, the nation was still struggling to process the Vietnam War and Watergate. Questionable presidential decisions prolonged a quagmire in Asia, Richard Nixon's illegal surveillance broke the people's trust, and Gerald Ford's subsequent pardon of Nixon irrevocably sullied his relationship with the American people. Jimmy Carter sought to be the transparent, trustworthy leader that the nation demanded. Based on archival research and government documents, this book explores the steps Carter took during his presidency and how Congress reacted to them. Though Carter was not elected for a second term, this detailed history makes the case that his legacy has been misrepresented, and that he should not be remembered as a failed president, but as a man who restored dignity to an office burdened by controversy.

Though he occupied the oval office for less than three years, Gerald Ford made several key political decisions that helped reunite the country following the divisions over the Vietnam War and helped restore the faith of Americans in their government following the Watergate scandal. This book provides a complete history of Ford's presidency from August 9, 1974, to January 20, 1977 (with two chapters on the Nixon administration events leading up to Ford's succession).

Based on reports from American repositories of manuscripts.