bully pulpit

[ bool-ee pool-pit, puhl-pit ]

noun

1. a position of authority or public visibility, especially a political office, from which one may express one's views.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bully pulpit¹

First recorded in 1905–10; from a remark made by President Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the U.S. 1901–09, in reference to the White House, “I suppose my critics will call that preaching, but I have got such a bully pulpit!”

Example Sentences

Biden told the American people what we already knew: He is giving up his bid for re-election and stepping away from the biggest bully pulpit in the free world.

From Salon

But U.N. officials and nongovernmental groups acknowledge that the secretary-general has little power beyond the “bully pulpit” — his perch at the head of the world body — to stir people, governments and business to change.

From Seattle Times

“Minister Fraser is using funding and a bully pulpit to push municipalities to make necessary changes, because the government sees fourplexes as a palatable immediate solution to the affordable housing crisis,” he says.

From BBC

The superintendent’s job, as Reykdal often notes, is one with a large bully pulpit but little actual power.

From Seattle Times

Free speech advocates say the court should use the case to draw an appropriate line between the government’s acceptable use of the bully pulpit and coercive threats to free speech.

From Seattle Times