The Roots and Form of Obama's Rhetorical Pragmatism

Journalists and political pundits have described Barack Obama's beliefs and political style with the label pragmatism. This essay answers the following questions: What is the meaning of this label? What specific strands of the pragmatist tradition resonate through Obama's presidency? What effect does the label have on Obama's rhetorical practices? To answer these questions, this essay argues that Obama's rhetoric extends Jane Addams's political philosophy and Alain Locke's philosophy of race and that Addams and Locke are important resources for understanding Obama's pragmatism. Moreover, Obama develops a rhetorical pragmatism embodied in the form and style of his speeches.