Disclosures of Character: Formal Aspects of Presidential Campaign Announcement Speeches

Abstract The presidential candidacy announcement or declaration speech represents a major political marketing effort. Much goes into its staging, text, and performance. Campaigns rely on this debut to stake out a strategic position with respect to their declared and expected competitors, one that will yield a prevailing share of votes from a coalition of voters the campaigns will try to assemble out of the eligible population. In this study I examine the rhetorical composition of these heralding events based on a quasi-literary analysis of speeches and debut alternatives (such as a video) by 37 major candidates who announced their candidacies in 2015 (for the 2016 nominations and election) and 2019 (for 2020). I review the historical development of the declaration speech and set out ten of its formal elements. I show how a rich sense of a candidate’s character –political orientation, style, and comparative strengths and weaknesses– can be discerned in these addresses. I contend that the choices behind and the qualities of the declaration speech reveal much about the aptness of a candidate for the office of president.