George Bush and the presidential catchphrase

The obituaries for George H.W. Bush are a reminder that, regardless of accomplishments or legacy, certain phrases spoken by a president tend to become well-remembered soundbites. The most memorable of these can blossom into catchphrases; emblems evoked as shorthand for the man, his times, and his personality.

To an extent, ’twas ever thus — more than 150 years after his death, Lincoln remains a highly quotable president. The advent of broadcast media, however, elevated the presidential soundbite to a higher status in the public consciousness.

In earlier days, people could only read a president’s words in the newspaper, a day or longer after they had been spoken. It was only when radio became widespread, around the early 1930s, that a large audience could hear a president’s words simultaneously, in real time. Presidential utterances then became a shared experience, which everyone could hear in the same context and remember together in the same way.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first Oval Office occupant to connect with a broadcast audience, and to generate multiple enduring soundbites. FDR’s 1933 inaugural speech was heard live by millions, and his Depression-era listeners picked up “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” as an inspirational epigram for hard times. Later, his description of December 7, 1941…