Presidential Rhetoric Scholar To Give Spring Lecture, ‘President Johnson’s War On Poverty’

Dr. David Zarefsky, a noted scholar in presidential rhetoric, will give the Spring Lecture on “President Johnson’s War on Poverty: The View from 50+ Years Later” on Thursday, March 5, at 6:30 PM at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Museum of San Marcos, 131 N. Guadalupe Street San Marcos.

The public is invited to attend the free event. A reception will be held at 6:30 PM, followed by Dr. Zarefsky’s talk about the impact and current status of some of President Johnson’s signature pieces of legislation.

Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., Dr. Zarefsky is the author, co-author, or editor of nine books and the author of over 100 articles in books and professional journals. 

Two of his books have won the Winans-Wichelns Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric and Public Address, an award of the National Communication Association (NCA): President Johnson’s War on Poverty: Rhetoric and History (University of Alabama Press, 1986) and Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery: In the Crucible of Public Debate (University of Chicago Press, 1990). 

He is one of only four individuals to have won this award twice.

In 1994 he was named to the ranks of NCA Distinguished Scholars and in 2015 he was named the Douglas Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar. 

He also has twice won the “Best Article Award” from the Southern States Communication Association.

At Northwestern, Zarefsky taught courses in the study of American public discourse, with a special focus on the pre-Civil War years and on the 1960s. 

He also taught courses in argumentation theory, persuasion, and public speaking. 

He received the NCA Lifetime Teaching Excellence Award in 2012. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Pennsylvania, Penn State University, Harvard University, and the University of Iowa. 

Zarefsky also has two video courses, “Abraham Lincoln: In His Own Words” and “Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning,” marketed by The Teaching Company.