Episode #4: On Presidential Deceit and Democracy with Guest John Schuessler

John Schuessler is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University. Previously, he taught at the Air War College. Schuessler received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago. In his analysis of presidential deception recently, Dr. Schuessler’s questions concern the visible depart that President Trump has marked in relation to the truth in the political arena. What is the relationship between democratic deception and self-deception? When does deception blur into self-deception? How does the current president differ from predecessors in the display of deception and/or self-deception? The host and guest analyze the current status of presidential rhetoric and what are the larger policy consequences stemming from these developments. They further undertake a historical perspective on the use of deception as a means to justify going to war, used by numerous presidents and administrations. Democratic deception in modern liberal democracies refers to leaders, who try to use deception or misinformation, or framing to change/swing public opinion in a certain way as a tool to shift the blame for war onto others. Referring to the theoretical framework developed in his book, Dr. Schuessler carries out a historical analysis of the use of deceit in foreign policy, starting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dr. Schuessler is the author of Deceit on the Road to War: Presidents, Politics, and American Democracy (Cornell University Press, 2015). More information on the book can be found in the following link: https://www.cato.org/events/deceit-road-war-presidents-politics-american-democracy?utm_content=buffera5317&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer To read Dr. Schuessler’s bio and publications follow the Bush School of Government and Public Service link: http://bush.tamu.edu/faculty/jschuessler/ To read Dr. Schuessler’s piece on the International Security Studies Forum titled Why does Donald Trump have so much trouble with the truth? Follow this link: https://issforum.org/ To read New York Time’s list of verifiable lies from President Trump follow this link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/23/opinion/trumps-lies.html?_r=0 For a list of journal articles written by Dr. Schuessler follow the link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=puTZj0IAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao To read more articles from International Security Journal follow this link: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/isec To read more articles from Perspective on Politics follow this link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics