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An advantageous position, as for making one's views known or rallying support: “The presidency had been transformed from a bully pulpit on Pennsylvania Avenue to a stage the size of the world” (Hugh Sidey).
A bully pulpit is a public office of sufficiently high rank that provides the holder with an opportunity to speak out and be listened to on any matter. The bully pulpit can bring issues to the fore that were not initially in debate, due to the office's stature and publicity.
This term was coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to the American presidency as a "bully pulpit," by which he meant a terrific platform from which persuasively to advocate an agenda. Roosevelt often used the word bully as an adjective meaning "superb" or "wonderful" (a more common expression in his time than it is today). A pulpit is the elevated platform used by a preacher. The term has no relationship to the word bully in the sense of a "harasser".
Example: Cornell University's president, David Skorton, called for university presidents to use the "bully pulpit" to advance the humanities.[1]
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bully pulpit". Read more |
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