The study of political tradition through rhetoric: The Bush Doctrine, how it relates to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and its comparison to Wilsonianism

Since the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks, the George W. Bush Administration's policy actions have been guided by a national security strategy known as the Bush Doctrine. These terrorist attacks were the focusing event that immediately and unexpectedly shifted the Bush presidency center of attention from domestic affairs to foreign policy. The subsequent media framing of the national security issue has involved questioning the intellectual rigor of the Bush Doctrine and whether or not by using it, President Bush ascribes to a legitimate American political tradition. This research examines first, if the Bush Doctrine is following the American political tradition of Wilsonianism, and second, whether or not Bush ascribed to this tradition as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.;Wilsonianism is the idea that the United States (U.S.) has a moral obligation to promote the American form of representative democracy across the world in order to curb the probability of war and to promote international stability (Ambrosius 2002, Gaddis 2002, Jervis 2003, Knock 1992). Subsequently, the Bush Doctrine has been labeled as virtually the same worldview; the idea that universal American ideals and U.S. leadership are essential to promoting democracy worldwide (Gaddis 2002, 2004, Jervis 2003).;The research conducted was a content analysis (using the software Diction) of rhetoric using major presidential speeches which allowed for the comparison of political traditions and of different presidents regardless of political party or political era. The hypotheses of this research are that Bush ascribed to the American tradition of Wilsonianism and that this change occurred as a direct result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In order to test these hypotheses, a content analysis of Bush's major foreign policy speeches before 9/11 and after 9/11 were tested and then compared to the foreign policy speeches of Wilson. Additionally, an oral history interview was conducted with Bush's former chief speechwriter Michael J. Gerson which provided additional insight on both hypotheses. The results of both the content analysis and the oral history revealed that although Bush's rhetoric changed as a result of 9/11, his rhetoric did not follow in the American tradition of Wilsonianism.