February 16, 2006

LEAHY SELECTED IN D.C. CENTER FELLOWS PROGRAM

SMU junior Lauren Leahy is one of 65 undergraduate and graduate students selected to participate in the Fellows Program at the Center of the Study of the Presidency in Washington, D.C.

In D.C. she will study public policy, attend panels hosted by government officials and develop original papers on an issue of the modern presidency to be published by the center. Leahy has researched the common speech codes between Lyndon B. Johnson’s first televised speech and citizens’ condolence letters in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Her paper, “Speaking the Same Language: Elements of Shared Culture Among Lyndon B. Johnson and the Public,” enables a current president to identify the unifying cultural elements and rhetorical strategies of past presidents.

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