DECLARING WAR ON THE HOME FRONT - METAPHOR, PRESIDENTS, AND THE WAR ON DRUGS

Presidents often declare war against foreign enemies and win public su pport for such initiatives. Presidents also define domestic issues, an d citizens look to presidents to construct a domestic agenda. Although successful in foreign applications, presidential invocations of the w ar metaphor have been less popular domestically. One exception is the war on drugs. Despite criticisms of drug control policies and use of t he war metaphor to define our problems with drugs, no alternate metaph ors have emerged to replace the bellicose perspective we apply to this social problem. By examining the nationally televised drug war declar ations of former presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, I find that the presidential perquisite to define issues and the fusion of war wi th illness metaphors provide a familiar perspective on this complex is sue-hence, its endurance. However, drug control policies became increa singly bellicose during the Reagan and Bush years, making the war on d rugs appear to be a war against American minorities. The war on drugs may have been designed not simply to control illegal substances but al so to help maintain an electoral coalition that endured for three pres idential, terms.