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1 R Presidential War Rhetoric: An Overview This is the people’s war, and to win it the people need to know as much about it as they can.1 Elmer Davis, Director of the Office of War Information (July 10, 1942) American war rhetoric includes a number of universal concepts—messages, audiences, etc.—that transcend specific administrations or conflicts. At the same time, however, this rhetoric is also dynamic, evolving to reflect changes in the relationships among powers within the United States and around the world. This chapter explores American war rhetoric from a number of differ- ent perspectives, beginning with a fundamental question: Why does a nation have to declare war at all? It then moves to an examination of the concept jus ad bellum, or Just War Theory, to review the conditions that are historically and internationally agreed upon as legitimate reasons for a nation to declare war. The chapter then moves from an international per- spective to an American one, examining the constitutional process through which the U.S. government formally decides and declares to go to war, focusing on the complex and delicate balance between executive and legislative powers. The chapter concludes with a summary of the audiences and themes central to the American tradition of presidential war rhetoric.