Nicole Hemmer. Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016. 336 pp. $34.95, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8122-4839-5.
Reviewed by Seth Ofenbach
Published on H-1960s (April, 2017)
Commissioned by Zachary J. Lechner (Centenary College of Louisiana)
Nicole Hemmer’s Messengers of the Right grams. The individuals who founded these media demonstrates that a history book can be both outlets, such as William F. Buckley, Clarence Man‐ timeless and timely. This is a timeless book since it ion, and Henry Regnery, had the ultimate goal of provides invaluable insight for any specialist who laying the groundwork for a political movement studies the 1960s and the post-World War II con‐ that could help reshape American politics. These servative movement and will likely be referenced media activists “provided their audiences—read‐ and cited by scholars for many years. At the same ers, listeners, and viewers—with a diferent way time, nearly every page of this work is timely be‐ of weighing evidence: a diferent network of au‐ cause it can be related to contemporary issues. In thorities, a diferent conception of fact and accu‐ the Donald Trump era, with the rise of the so- racy, and a diferent way of evaluating truth- called alt-right (or racist right) and Breitbart claims” (p. xiii). These activists were able to help News, it is easy to see how "fake news” (or propa‐ shape a conservative identity that took root in the ganda) websites are a continuation of earlier gen‐ United States during the several decades follow‐ erations of conservative media. Messengers is the ing World War II. story of the frst generation of conservative me‐ Messengers focuses on the magazines Human dia, with the current crop of propaganda websites Events and National Review and the radio pro‐ serving as the third generation. There are numer‐ gram Manion Forum of Opinion. All three were ous connections between the diferent genera‐ founded between 1944 and 1955. Hemmer de‐ tions of conservative media, and many lessons scribes how the founders of these media organiza‐ from the past can be applied today. tions started their careers as politically active in‐ It is a cliché to point out that there has been a dividuals who viewed themselves as outsiders. tremendous growth of academic works which These individuals, primarily Manion, Regnery, have complicated the story of the postwar Right. and William Rusher (publisher of National Re‐ [1] Messengers demonstrates that despite this view), were active in GOP politics in the 1950s but cliché, there is still more to discover about the eventually broke with President Dwight Eisen‐ birth of modern conservatism. Hemmer’s book fo‐ hower’s moderate Republican administration. By cuses on “media activists” who produced newspa‐ the end of the 1950s, they were engaged in a clear pers, magazines, and television and radio pro‐ H-Net Reviews battle to pull the Republicans from the political mer argues, difered from previous generations of center to the right. conservatives. Because they were “national in Hemmer’s analysis shines brightest during aim, avowedly conservative in philosophy, and her discussions of the hurdles conservative media purportedly grassroots in nature, these organiza‐ activists had to jump over in order to make their tions attracted thousands of members and voices heard. Specifcally, she focuses on the “re‐ through their activism, won conservatism a place strictions on speech in midcentury America” (p. on the national stage” (p. 82). They were, in short, 50). These restrictions stemmed from the belief, more successful in organizing their movement, which was held by most members of the main‐ and they did this by mixing media and politics stream news media, that they were “objective.” more efectively than any previous conservative Since the mainstream media described them‐ group. selves as objective news-informers, this had the As conservatives gained political clout, the efect of delegitimizing the voices they deemed mainstream media began shinning a bright spot‐ beyond the pale of appropriate society. Hemmer light on the Right, which led to a national push- explains the challenges encountered by conserva‐ back. Specifcally, mainstream media outlets tives, both real and imagined, and how these con‐ wrote many alarming stories about groups such servative media activists were able to use their as the John Birch Society (JBS), which was a right- outsider status to their advantage—for instance, wing, anticommunist organization that saw con‐ using it as a tool to raise more funds from compa‐ spiracy in many corners of society (most famous‐ nies and right-wing philanthropists (think the ly, the founder of the group accused Eisenhower Koch brothers, but in the 1950s) who were ideo‐ of being a communist). This interest in the JBS, logically and economically aligned with the and the way the media tainted all conservatives Right’s political philosophy. Hemmer’s analysis of because of their association with it, created prob‐ the media’s perceived objectivity and the power lems within the conservative movement. The con‐ of the mainstream press is clearly applicable to temporary media’s intense focus on the alt-right today’s society, where alt-right fake news sites (or in the wake of Trump’s electoral success is similar racist-right propagandists) view themselves as to the focus on the JBS in the early 1960s. outsiders who are delegitimized by the main‐ While the mainstream press delegitimized the stream media. The analogy to the 1950s is part of Right by associating it with the JBS, Hemmer also what makes this work timely. describes the role of the federal government in By the end of the 1950s, Hemmer’s conserva‐ opposing the rise of conservatism. This is ex‐ tive media activists transformed themselves into plained in chapter 6, which is Hemmer’s best political activists. Hemmer dates this transition chapter, titled “The Muzzle.” It analyzes how the from Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev’s tour of Fairness Doctrine, which “sprouted from a tangle the United States in 1959. Conservatives of the era of legislative and regulatory roots, a labyrinthine were aghast at the welcome mat that Eisenhower history that bedeviled broadcasters, Congress, and Vice President Richard Nixon laid out for “the and the FCC,” made it harder for conservative butcher of Budapest” (p. 77). This event helped voices to be heard on the air (pp. 113-114). While convince grassroots activists to get more involved the practical logistics of implementation of the in conservative politics. Shortly thereafter, the Fairness Doctrine were a mystery, its purpose was media activists began founding groups such as to ensure that broadcasters covered important po‐ Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) and Intercol‐ litical and national issues from “multiple perspec‐ legiate Studies Institute (ISI). These activists, Hem‐ tives” (p. 114). In 1963, with many Americans
2 H-Net Reviews afraid of the rise of the JBS and other right-wing decision to visit the People’s Republic of China. organizations, the Federal Communications Com‐ Thus, they played a role in convincing Represen‐ mission (FCC) decided to issue a clarifcation rul‐ tative John Ashbrook (R-OH) to oppose Nixon in ing about the Fairness Doctrine. This clarifcation the primary campaign of 1972. Ashbrook was convinced several radio stations to drop the Man‐ sorely defeated. Messengers discusses the opposi‐ ion Forum and Dan Smoot Report (conservative tion to Nixon and Ashbrook’s fascinating cam‐ radio programs) from the air for fear that the sta‐ paign in about four pages, leaving future histori‐ tions would be required to give away free airtime ans room to expand on and analyze the topic to liberal groups to create “fairness.” Hemmer’s more fully. chapter is convincing, though it leaves much Finally, Messengers has two basic concluding room for future historical inquiry into how and chapters. The frst begins with chapter 11, “The why President John Kennedy and the federal bu‐ Contraction,” where Hemmer describes the de‐ reaucracy, including the FCC and Internal Rev‐ cline of the frst generation of conservative media enue Service, tried to silence the right in the early activists. She includes several interesting stories 1960s. about the decline of the Right along with detailed Despite these problems, the media activists circulation numbers. The problem, as she de‐ continued to expand their infuence and reach. scribes it, is that in the early 1970s the media ac‐ Specifcally, they gave Senator Barry Goldwater tivists were angry about the political climate in national recognition and then helped him win the the country and clear about what changes they Republican presidential nomination in 1964. wanted to see, but they had lost touch with both Hemmer describes how Goldwater’s campaign populist anger and Washington insiders. This idea was “one in which media activists emerged as that the frst generation of conservative activists powerful political brokers, advisers, sloganeers, struggled mightily in the early 1970s, despite hav‐ strategists, and intermediaries between the candi‐ ing a Republican president, requires more histori‐ date and the base” (p. 165). The passionate sup‐ cal attention. Hemmer’s analysis is interesting. port for Goldwater translated into a lot more Despite seeing much evidence of this problem in money for the rapidly growing pool of conserva‐ various primary sources, it is the frst time I can tive media activists. This was, as Hemmer de‐ recall reading about it within the secondary liter‐ scribes, both a blessing and a curse, as the mar‐ ature. I look forward to future scholarly debate ketplace of conservative media quickly became about the topic. saturated, which caused donations from the grass‐ Messengers’s other concluding chapter is roots to dry up. Hemmer’s research on the chapter 12, “The Comeback,” which describes the fundraising apparatus is top-rate, and her foot‐ rise of the New Right in the late 1970s and early notes will be of great use to scholars studying the 1980s. Hemmer identifes Richard Viguerie, Terry funds which underwrote postwar conservatism. Dolan, Howard Phillips, and Jerry Falwell as the The rise of modern conservatism was further leaders of the New Right and she defnes this complicated with the election of Richard Nixon to group as being an oppositional, pro-life, pro-guns the presidency in 1968. The media activists whom movement which helped propel Ronald Reagan to Hemmer analyzes were divided about whether to the presidency and then began criticizing many of support Nixon; however, Hemmer notes that he his decisions once in ofce. This, not surprisingly, was the frst major-party nominee to woo them, drove the frst generation of media activists, who which helped sway their support. But by 1972, are at the heart of Hemmer’s study, crazy, since they were enraged by his policies, especially his Reagan was the ideological president they had
3 H-Net Reviews long been craving. Unfortunately for them, they Hemmer’s work is mandatory historical reading no longer had the support or stature to oppose the for anyone putting together such a syllabus. New Right’s leaders. Notes Hemmer’s work does not explore the history [1]. Geofrey Kabaservice, Rule and Ruin: The of religious conservative broadcasters such as Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of Carl McIntire and Billy James Hargis. She does of‐ the Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea fer a useful explanation as to why they are absent, Party, Studies in Postwar American Political De‐ specifcally, that the media personalities rarely co‐ velopment (New York: Oxford University Press, ordinated or worked together. Still, as she de‐ 2012); Joyce Mao, Asia First: China and the Mak‐ clares, they shared many audience members and ing of Modern American Conservatism (Chicago: studying them would have made this a more com‐ University of Chicago Press, 2015); D. J. Mulloy, plete book.[2] Hemmer was able to include a fasci‐ The World of the John Birch Society: Conspiracy, nating number of lesser-known conservative ac‐ Conservatism, and the Cold War (Nashville, TN: tivists who are rarely mentioned in the secondary Vanderbilt University Press, 2014); Michelle M. literature. DB Lewis, the National Federation of Nickerson, Mothers of Conservatism: Women and Conservative Organizations, and Walter Har‐ the Postwar Right (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Uni‐ nischfeger are examples of just two individuals versity Press, 2012); Sandra Scanlon, The Pro-War and a group that Hemmer integrates into her Movement: Domestic Support for the Vietnam book but which few other historians have. War and the Making of Modern American Conser‐ Overall, Messengers is an excellent historical vatism (Amherst: University of Massachusetts account of how the conservative movement grew Press, 2013). from a fringe group of former political activists [2]. For more information on the rise of the into a mainstream movement that captured the religious Right, one could read: Ronald Lora and White House. Hemmer’s primary source research, William Henry Longton, eds., The Conservative which took her to numerous archives and ex‐ Press in Twentieth-Century America (Westport, posed her to large quantities of conservative me‐ CT: Greenwood Press, 1999); Daniel K. Williams, dia content, will propel the feld. The study is also God’s Own Party: The Making of the Christian important because it is a political work about con‐ Right (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010); servatives, written by a liberal academic, which and Neil J. Young, We Gather Together: The Reli‐ neither demonizes nor canonizes conservatives gious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics and their ideals. Hemmer’s analysis and writing is (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016). evenhanded throughout the manuscript, which is not always the case for scholars who study mod‐ ern conservatism. Additionally, Hemmer’s topic is very topical and will help people better understand the changes taking place in the United States today. Since Trump’s election in November 2016, many academic groups, including the Organization of American Historians and The Chronicle of Higher Education have begun putting together lists of works explaining the rise of “Trump’s America.”
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Citation: Seth Ofenbach. Review of Hemmer, Nicole. Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics. H-1960s, H-Net Reviews. April, 2017.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=48861
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