Date of Award

Summer 8-2019

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Political Science

Advisor/Committee Chair

Timothy Weaver, Ph.D.

Abstract

This paper examines the traditional notion that President Obama and President Trump were polar opposites. It seeks to answer the questions of how are similar or different the Trump and Obama campaign communication strategies are and how these strategies have changed from campaigning to governing mode. The paper seeks to answer these questions by looking at six key communication strategies. These six communication strategies and explanations are known as the social media strategy, branding, engaging with the public, autonomy over the messaging, focus on personality, and rhetoric. This paper looked at the relationship between these strategies by first analyzing the strategies relative to the candidates which they were running against and then to themselves. Through this analysis it was found that Obama and Trump’s communication strategies were similar throughout both campaigning and governing. Analyzing the similarities between Obama and Trump helps show the public how social media has changed the ways in which communication is conducted and how elections are decided.

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