Imagery, Emotion, and Cause and Effect in Presidential Language

Abstract

The language of Presidents Reagan, Nixon, and Kennedy is examined for imagery, emotional, and cause-and-effect linguistics. Imagery and emotion are associated with the right hemisphere of the brain, and cause-and-effect language is associated with the left. Reagan's language is relatively high on imagery, slightly high on negative emotion, and low on cause and effect. Nixon's language is similar to Reagan's but generally lower in emotion. Kennedy's language profile is quite different from that of the other two Presidents, in that Kennedy is high on cause-and-effect language, low on imagery, and relatively high on positive emotion.The language one uses is normally assumed to be a useful indicator not only of what one thinks but also of how one thinks. In the political world, while one's thoughts are sometimes obtuse and often camouflaged in marketable rhetoric, the rhetoric chosen to serve as the carrier of the message still indicates the patterning of thought underlying the message. Words, therefore, do not merely carry the message; they also tell us about the crafter of the message.In this article I set forth findings on the use of imagery, emotion, and cause-and-effect language of Presidents Reagan, Nixon, and Kennedy. A computer analysis of the language used in four press conferences by each President shows that the three differ in their language use. Neurolinguistic research and research concerning the asymmetrical performance of the two hemispheres of the human brain provide a conceptual framework within which to understand what one's language signals about how one thinks.