Epideictic Elements

            When responding to a perception of crisis already in place, we move into the realm of epideictic rhetoric.  In short, presidents responding to the perception of crises are expected to provide communal understanding.  I believe that an epideictic response functions to prevent disparate interpretations of the situation and to “promote continuity, restore communal feeling, and . . . reconcile the audience to a new situation."[13] Be that as it may, responses to crises can also have a deliberative edge.  This is to say, portions of the response are used to demonstrate that the policy being enacted in response to a crisis is “expedient, reasoned and prudent."[14]