Cover -- The Performative Presidency -- Series Page -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Figures -- Acknowledgments -- 1 Introduction -- The cultural pragmatics of the Clinton years -- 2 Presidential leadership under the conditions of defusion -- The rise of the conditions of defusion and performative politics -- 3 Character formation: the rise of two Bill Clintons, 1992 -- Political campaigns as plot development -- Fusing narrative and candidate, part 1: the rise of "Slick Willie -- Fusing narrative and candidate, part 2: the rise of a presidential Clinton -- 4 The profanation of a president, 1992-1994: presidential character, the "climate of suspicion," and the culture of scandal -- The symbolic intermingling of character, scandal, and policy -- Clinton's character as a contested sign: populist or liberal elitist? -- The expansion of a counter-democratic framework: the budget, health care, and the Hill -- Symbolic pollution and the weakening of the presidential power -- 5 The conservative revolution as purification and its subsequent pollution: the rise and fall of Newt Gingrich, and the fall and rise of Bill Clinton -- Unsettling the political center: the rise of Newt Gingrich -- Character formation and access to the means of symbolic distribution: the Contract with America and the first 100 days of the Gingrich Congress -- Defining the other by exploiting defusion: Gingrich Republicans attack the Clintons -- Darkside of the mise-en-scène: Gingrich's meanness problem walks and talks -- Defusion as eroding legitimation: Clinton narrated as a one-term president -- The president as culture structure: character and role -- An infelicitous performative -- From defusion to fusion: from a hissing sound to a bomb blast -- 6 Birth of a symbolic inversion: Clinton (re-)fuses with the presidential character -- Performing events.

Return of the culture of scandal -- Showdown and the crystallization of Clinton's performative power -- (Re-)fused and re-elected: a prelude to Monicagate -- 7 The second term: the Republicans' polluting scandal and Clinton's successful performance -- Towards ritualization: Monicagate's first phase -- Dramatic erosion: Monicagate's middle phase -- Failed ritual: Monicagate's third and final phase -- 8 Conclusion -- Notes -- Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4 -- Chapter 5 -- Chapter 6 -- Chapter 7 -- References -- Index.

A cultural analysis of 1990s politics in the US, detailing the rise of performance oriented politics during Clinton's presidency.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.