Safire's Political DictionaryWhen it comes to the vagaries of language in American politics, its uses and abuses, its absurdities and ever-shifting nuances, its power to confound, obscure, and occasionally to inspire, William Safire is the language maven we most readily turn to for clarity, guidance, and penetrating, sometimes lacerating, wit. Safire's Political Dictionary is a stem-to-stern updating and expansion of the Language of Politics, which was first published in 1968 and last revised in 1993, long before such terms as Hanging Chads, 9/11 and the War on Terror became part of our everyday vocabulary. Nearly every entry in that renowned work has been revised and updated and scores of completely new entries have been added to produce an indispensable guide to the political language being used and abused in America today. Safire's definitions--discursive, historically aware, and often anecdotal--bring a savvy perspective to our colorful political lingo. Indeed, a Safire definition often reads like a mini-essay in political history, and readers will come away not only with a fuller understanding of particular words but also a richer knowledge of how politics works, and fails to work, in America. From Axis of Evil, Blame Game, Bridge to Nowhere, Triangulation, and Compassionate Conservatism to Islamofascism, Netroots, Earmark, Wingnuts and Moonbats, Slam Dunk, Doughnut Hole, and many others, this language maven explains the origin of each term, how and by whom and for what purposes it has been used or twisted, as well as its perceived and real significance. For anyone who wants to cut through the verbal haze that surrounds so much of American political discourse, Safire's Political Dictionary offers a work of scholarship, wit, insiderhood and resolute bipartisanship. |
From inside the book
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Page xvii
... Kennedy: Coinages Alliance for Progress ask not I am a Berliner life is unfair missile gap New Frontier profiles in courage rising tide lifts all the boats torch has been passed victory has a hundred fathers Descriptions Bailey ...
... Kennedy: Coinages Alliance for Progress ask not I am a Berliner life is unfair missile gap New Frontier profiles in courage rising tide lifts all the boats torch has been passed victory has a hundred fathers Descriptions Bailey ...
Page 13
... Kennedy what GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY had expressed for Franklin D. Roosevelt, Goodwin's eye caught the title of a Spanish-language magazine left on the bus in Arizona: Alianza. Progress?” But the Kennedy phrase continues to resonate: the ...
... Kennedy what GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY had expressed for Franklin D. Roosevelt, Goodwin's eye caught the title of a Spanish-language magazine left on the bus in Arizona: Alianza. Progress?” But the Kennedy phrase continues to resonate: the ...
Page 20
... Kennedy achieved his nomination in 1960, he sought to heal the wounds within the party, especially those of older Democrats Harry Truman and Averell Harriman, who would have preferred Stuart Symington or Adlai Stevenson. The nominee ...
... Kennedy achieved his nomination in 1960, he sought to heal the wounds within the party, especially those of older Democrats Harry Truman and Averell Harriman, who would have preferred Stuart Symington or Adlai Stevenson. The nominee ...
Page 34
... Kennedy to the assassination ten years before of South information is on the record but the news source cannot be revealed precisely. Theodore Sorensen explained the John F. Kennedy rationale for backgrounders: Vietnamese President Ngo ...
... Kennedy to the assassination ten years before of South information is on the record but the news source cannot be revealed precisely. Theodore Sorensen explained the John F. Kennedy rationale for backgrounders: Vietnamese President Ngo ...
Page 36
... Kennedy, who lost to Senator Estes Kefauver. Contrary to the Contingency belief at the time, the document was ... Kennedy's closest aide. The sixteen-page memorandum of statistics, quotations, analyses, and arguments sought to answer ...
... Kennedy, who lost to Senator Estes Kefauver. Contrary to the Contingency belief at the time, the document was ... Kennedy's closest aide. The sixteen-page memorandum of statistics, quotations, analyses, and arguments sought to answer ...
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Common terms and phrases
action Administration aide American appeared applied asked attack became become began bill Bush called campaign candidate century charge City civil columnist Communist Congress conservative convention criticism deal defense Democratic described early economic Eisenhower election expression forces foreign former George give Governor head House idea included interest issue John Johnson Kennedy known later leader liberal major meaning ment metaphor military never Nixon nomination noted original party peace person phrase play political politicians popular position Post President presidential referred reported Republican Robert Roosevelt rule Secretary Senator sense speech talk term thing tion told took turn United usage usually Vice vote voters Washington White House word writer wrote York