Olthof, Dr Jelte
Jelte Olthof is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Arts, specialized in history. His expertise lies in rhetoric, United States history (1750-1900), presidential rhetoric, the United States Constitution, and American politics.
Olthof conducts research into the rhetoric of United States presidents and the United States history. Among other things, he studies the rhetorical presidency of George W. Bush and the unpredictable presidency of Donald Trump. Specifically, Olthof is interested in the origins, functioning, and influence of the United States Constitution. Olthof has the following to say: ‘The Constitution largely determines the functioning of the political system in America, but in practice, it is the president who sets the tone. Through social media, Donald Trump mobilizes his supporters to such an extent that members of Congress feel pressured to go along with his policies. In addition, the United States Code is deliberately ambiguous, which today gives President Trump ample freedom. Joe Biden also pushed through a lot of policies that did not require congressional approval.’
DVHN Live: America-specialist Jelte Olthof from the UG
Biden's legacy: 'The man who ended Trump'
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Contact and further information
2025
Olthof,
J. (2025). An Appeal to the Tribunal of the World: The
Reception of the Timely and Timeless Messages of the Declaration in
1776 and Beyond. In M. E. Stuckey (Ed.), Used, Abused,
and Sidelined: Debating the Declaraton (pp. 13-29). (Rhetoric
and Democratic Deliberation; Vol. 36). Penn State University
Press.
Olthof,
J. (2025). “For Our Generation and the Ones to
Follow”: Intergenerational justice and the Child-as-savior
trope in Juliana v. United States and the Netflix documentary Youth
v Gov . European Journal of American
Studies, 20(2), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.4000/14ein
Lage
Venterink, S., & Olthof, J. (2025). The
Public's Premium: George W. Bush's Symbiosis of the Rhetorical
Presidency and the Unitary Executive. Presidential
Studies Quarterly, 55(2), 103-114. https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12899
Olthof,
J., & Postma, P. (2025).
“Wrâldfriezen”: De Amerikaanse Droom van
een Greater Fryslân tijdens en na de Tweede
Wereldoorlog. Paper presented at KFG-Sieperda-symposium
2025: Behoefte aan verbinding: Friese contacten, 1925-2025 / Ferlet
fan ferbining: Fryske kontakten, 1925-2025, Leeuwarden,
Netherlands.
2024
Zwiers,
M., & Olthof, J. (2024). Nederland,
Noaberland? De rurale idylle in de Nederlandse politiek.
De Nederlandse Boekengids, 9(4). https://www.nederlandseboekengids.com/20240621-jelte-olthof-maarten-zwiers/
2021
Olthof,
J. (2021). Projecting a future present: Greta
Thunberg's use of presence at the United Nations climate action
summit 2019. Res Rhetorica,
8(1), 66-82. https://doi.org/10.29107/RR2021.1.4
2020
Zwiers,
M., & Olthof, J. (Eds.) (2020).
Profiles in Power: Personality, Persona, and the U.S.
President. (Biography Studies; Vol. 2). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004422643
Zwiers,
M., & Olthof, J. (2020). The Personal
Presidency. In J. Olthof, & M. Zwiers (Eds.),
Profiles in Power: Personality, Persona, and the U.S.
President (pp. 1-8). (Biography Studies; Vol. 2). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004422643_002
Olthof,
J. (2020). Will the Real Trump Please Stand Up? Donald
Trump's Elusive Persona. In J. Olthof, & M. Zwiers
(Eds.), Profiles in Power: Personality, Persona, and the U.S.
President (pp. 192-208). (Biogrpahy Studies ; Vol. 2). Brill.
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004422643_013
2019
Olthof,
J. (2019). Oer 'Fryske frijheid': Fries en Vrij in
Revolutietijd. It Beaken. Tydskrift fan de Fryske
Akademy, 81(1/2), 15-30.
Olthof,
J. (2019). Oer Fryske Frijheid: Foarupwurd.
It Beaken. Tydskrift fan de Fryske Akademy,
81(1/2), 1.
2018
Olthof,
J. (2018). The End of Ethos as We Know It: Donald
Trump and the Present-day Politics of Persona. Paper
presented at Rhetoric Society of America: Reinventing Rhetoric,
Minneapolis, MN, United States.
Olthof,
J. (2018). Trump: De Ultieme Bluf-president. In
J. de Jonge, O. van Marion, & A. Rademaker (Eds.), Vertrouw
Mij!: Manipulatie van Imago (pp. 53-58). Amsterdam University
Press.
2017
Olthof,
J. (2017). Unity through Diversity: Comparing the
Rhetoric of Pluralism of John Dickinson and Simon Stijl,
1787-1797. Paper presented at Consortium of the
Revolutionary Era, Charleston,SC, United States.
2016
Olthof,
J. (2016). Paranoid of the People: Reining in "we
the people" in post-revolutionary America. Paper
presented at Reconsidering Democracy and the Nation State in a
Global Perspective, Leiden, Netherlands.
Olthof,
J. (2016). Sowing the Seeds of War: Conflict,
Conciliatory Rhetoric, and the Legacy of Jefferson’s Empire
of Liberty in the Missouri Compromise Debate. In A. Gilroy,
& M. Messmer (Eds.), America: War, Conflict, Justice:
European Views of the United States (Vol. 8, pp. 81-98).
Verlag Winter Edition S.
2015
Olthof,
J. (2015). Amerika als Anti-model: De rol van de
Nederlandse Opstand in het ontstaan van de Amerikaanse
Republiek. Paper presented at Amerika!, Amsterdam,
Netherlands.
Olthof,
J. (2015). Dealing with History: Exploring the Concept
of “Constitutional Culture in Revolutionary France and
America". In T. Kaleynska, & Z. Guo (Eds.),
Comparative Institutional Change: Theory and Practice (pp.
5-38).
Olthof,
J. (2015). "We the people of the Netherlands: On
the future and appeal of America's 18th century constitution in
21st century Europe". Paper presented at The U.S. and
the World in the 21st Century, Sofia, Bulgaria.
2014
Olthof,
J. (2014). Firebell of Friction: The MIssouri
Compromise Debate and the Challenge to Jefferson's Empire of
Liberty. Paper presented at EAAS 2014: America:
Justice, Conflict, War, The Hague, Netherlands.
Olthof,
J. (2014). Patchwork Republic: The rhetoric of
“we the people” in the United States constitutional
debates, 1765-1865. [Thesis fully internal (DIV),
University of Groningen]. s.n.
2013
Olthof,
J. (2013). An Act of the People: Constitutive
Rhetoric in the Ratification Debates of the U.S. Constitution,
1788-1789. Paper presented at Weapons of Mass
Seduction: Rhetoric and Political Discourse in the United States,
Ghent, Belgium.
Olthof,
J. (2013). History as our Guide?: The Past as an
Invisible Source of Constitutionality in the Legislative Debates on
the Alien Act in the United States (1798) and the Émigrés
Problem in France (1791). Saint Louis University
Law Journal, 57(2), 377 - 405. http://slu.edu/Documents/law/Law%20Journal/Archives/Olthof_Article.pdf
van
den Berg, P. A. J., Hollander, J., Olthof,
J., & Peters, R. G. P. (2013).
Omstreden grondwetten: Constitutionalisering in historisch
perspectief. In R. Aerts, & P. de Goede (Eds.),
Omstreden democratie: Over de problemen van een
succesverhaal (pp. 49-66). Boom.
2012
Olthof,
J. (2012). Een retorisch duel in de Amerikaanse
Senaat. De noodzaak van politieke unie in het Hayne-Webster debat
van 1830. Groniek, Historisch
Tijdschrift, 192, 215 - 226.
2011
Olthof,
J. (2011). The Price of Independence: Memory and
Identity in the Congressional Debate on the Revolutionary Debt of
1790. Paper presented at Amerikanistiekdag 2011,
Leiden, Netherlands.
2010
Olthof,
J. (2010). "We the people?": De Amerikaanse
Grondwet als uitdrukking van de identiteit van de politieke
gemeenschap. Paper presented at Voorjaarscongres van
het Koninklijk Historisch Genootschap, Den Haag, Netherlands.
2009
Olthof,
J. (2009). Closing the Gates of Time: History and
Identity in the Debate on the Déclaration des Droits of
1789. Paper presented at The future of the European
Constitution, Rome, Italy.
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