DOCSLIB.ORG

PROPAGANDA AGAINST PROPAGANDA: DECONSTRUCTING the DOMINANT NARRATIVE of the COMMITTEE on PUBLIC INFORMATION a Thesis by CHRISTO

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
PROPAGANDA AGAINST PROPAGANDA: DECONSTRUCTING the DOMINANT NARRATIVE of the COMMITTEE on PUBLIC INFORMATION a Thesis by CHRISTO PROPAGANDA AGAINST PROPAGANDA: DECONSTRUCTING THE DOMINANT NARRATIVE OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION A Thesis by CHRISTOPHER ERIC HOWARD Submitted to the Graduate School at Appalachian State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2014 Department of History PROPAGANDA AGAINST PROPAGANDA: DECONSTRUCTING THE DOMINANT NARRATIVE OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION A Thesis by CHRISTOPHER ERIC HOWARD May 2014 APPROVED BY: Judkin J. Browning Chairperson, Thesis Committee Michael L. Krenn Member, Thesis Committee Lynne M. Getz Member, Thesis Committee Lucinda M. McCray Chairperson, Department of History Edelma D. Huntley, Ph.D. Dean, Cratis Williams Graduate School Copyright by Christopher Eric Howard 2014 All Rights Reserved Abstract PROPAGANDA AGAINST PROPAGANDA: DECONSTRUCTING THE DOMINANT NARRATIVE OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION Christopher Eric Howard B.S., Appalachian State University M.A., Appalachian State University Chairperson: Judkin Browning This thesis examines how the World War I-era Committee on Public Information, created by President Woodrow Wilson and chaired by George Creel, has been presented as a case study in the dangers of government propaganda. A thorough examination of the secondary literature on World War I propaganda, an extensive survey of United States History textbooks, and a gleaning of relevant websites confirms that a dominant narrative of the Committee exist. This narrative relies on common persuasive techniques to cast the Committee, and by extension propaganda, in a negative light. The dominant narrative’s claims are substantially disproven through a careful study of the wartime correspondence between Wilson and Creel and through the application of current Department of Defense methodology for determining the effectiveness of Psychological Operations. By deconstructing this dominant narrative, this thesis argues in favor of a value-neutral interpretation of the Committee on Public Information. iv Acknowledgments I would like to thank my thesis committee chair, Dr. Judkin Browning, for his patience and expert guidance, as well as Drs. Michael Krenn and Lynne Getz for graciously agreeing to serve on my thesis committee. I would also like to thank those who have read my work and offered comment, to include Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) D.J. Weatherford and my fellow graduate students Nathan Widener and Dylan James. Finally, I could not have done this without the love, prayers, and unwavering support of my parents, Terry and Cheryl Howard, and of Mary. v Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgments................................................................................................................v Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................11 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................44 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................73 Chapter 4 ..........................................................................................................................104 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................139 Appendices .......................................................................................................................146 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................161 Vita ...................................................................................................................................172 vi INTRODUCTION We did not call it propaganda, for that word, in German hands, had come to be associated with deceit and corruption. Our effort was educational and informative throughout, for we had such confidence in our case as to feel that no other argument was needed than the simple, straightforward presentation of facts. George Creel How We Advertised America, 1920 Anyone consulting the Wikipedia article on the “Committee on Public Information” will find, as the article’s foremost image, a striking example of World War I propaganda. This image is a World War I-era propaganda poster portraying a mustachioed gorilla, mouth agape, fangs exposed, bearing a club labeled “Kultur” in one hand and a helpless, bare- breasted damsel in the other. The gorilla, crowned with a spiked helmet (pickelhaube) bearing the word “militarism,” is standing on a shore that is labeled “America.” Above the gorilla are the words “Destroy This Mad Brute.” Below this image, the poster reads “Enlist,” with “U.S. Army” superimposed over it. It is a stunningly vivid example of propaganda. It seems likely that this particular poster has proven to be such an enduring symbol of World War I propaganda because it is so overt. Its symbols are as clear as they are offensive to most modern eyes. Its message is so clear that it does not need interpretation—and yet there is so much going on. It takes some time to process all of the elements intellectually and yet its meaning is conveyed instantaneously. It is an image that has become synonymous with propaganda and, through a variety of both scholarly and non-scholarly sources, with the Committee on Public Information (CPI), America’s “propaganda ministry” during World War I.1 The problem is that “Destroy This Mad Brute” was not the work of the CPI. 1. “Committee on Public Information,” Wikipedia, last modified November 23, 2013, accessed November 23, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Public_Information. 1 Errors such as the misattribution of “Destroy This Mad Brute” to the CPI are not uncommon. In the century since the CPI’s brief existence (1917-1919), it has been the subject of misinterpretation as much as interpretation. Successive generations of schoolchildren have learned about the CPI through textbooks that use “Destroy This Mad Brute,” among other evidence, to convey the excessiveness of the CPI. Scholars seeking to prove the charge that the CPI resorted increasingly to appeals to hate and fear as the war progressed produce “Destroy This Mad Brute” as evidence. They also present the CPI Chairman George Creel as a one-man show, a tactless bumbler, a petty tyrant or, worse yet, a villain who almost single-handedly suspended civil liberties in the name of wartime necessity. Generations of scholars have also highlighted the CPI’s alleged excessiveness to make a broader point about the dangers of propaganda in a democratic society. Over time, a dominant narrative of the CPI coalesced around these key tenets. It feeds off of negative impressions of propaganda, exemplified by the CPI, and embraces the cautionary message that the CPI must be studied lest it, or something worse, be inflicted on the American people in the name of patriotism. This thesis argues that a dominant narrative of the CPI, as described above, exists and that it is not substantiated by the available evidence. The cautionary aspect of the dominant narrative hinges on assumptions of the CPI’s effectiveness that wither under scrutiny. Additionally, the singular focus on George Creel overlooks the working relationship between Creel and President Woodrow Wilson, meanwhile ignoring the role of the thousands of Americans who volunteered their often considerable talents to the work of the CPI. Finally, the dominant narrative excludes evidence of the CPI’s moderation because such evidence would undermine the cautionary message. Scholars should reject this narrative in favor of a 2 historical interpretation of the CPI that recognizes that it was a vast cooperative, progressive, and largely voluntary enterprise that was relatively moderate when compared with many of the other forces vying for the American mind during World War I. Methodology Chapter one traces the development of the three competing historiographical interpretations of the CPI that emerged during the 1920s and 1930s as part of a broader struggle over the usefulness, meaning, and moral implications of propaganda. The celebratory interpretation of the CPI was furthered mainly by those who had been directly involved in the work of the committee and is exemplified by the works of George Creel and Edward Bernays. The instructive interpretation emerged out of a desire to study propaganda, and later the CPI, from a value-neutral perspective. It is most thoroughly articulated in the works of James Mock and Cedric Larson, Stephen Vaughn, and David Kennedy. Finally, the cautionary interpretation resulted from the nascent revisionist movement of the 1920s and can be observed in the work of Charles H. Hamlin and Harry Elmer Barnes. More recently, this interpretation has been furthered by Stewart Halsey Ross and Thomas Fleming. Although the cautionary interpretation provides the cornerstone of the dominant narrative of the CPI, it is but one aspect of this narrative. Chapter one provides evidence of the dominant narrative’s other components, drawing heavily from the recent secondary literature. After establishing the characteristics of the dominant narrative
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Thrift, Sacrifice, and the World War II Bond Campaigns
    Saving for Democracy University Press Scholarship Online Oxford Scholarship Online Thrift and Thriving in America: Capitalism and Moral Order from the Puritans to the Present Joshua Yates and James Davison Hunter Print publication date: 2011 Print ISBN-13: 9780199769063 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2012 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199769063.001.0001 Saving for Democracy Thrift, Sacrifice, and the World War II Bond Campaigns Kiku Adatto DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199769063.003.0016 Abstract and Keywords This chapter recounts the war bond campaign of the Second World War, illustrating a notion of thrift fully embedded in a social attempt to serve the greater good. Saving money was equated directly with service to the nation and was pitched as a duty of sacrifice to support the war effort. One of the central characteristics of this campaign was that it enabled everyone down to newspaper boys to participate in a society-wide thrift movement. As such, the World War II war bond effort put thrift in the service of democracy, both in the sense that it directly supported the war being fought for democratic ideals and in the sense that it allowed the participation of all sectors in the American war effort. This national ethic of collective thrift for the greater good largely died in the prosperity that followed World War II, and it has not been restored even during subsequent wars in the latter part of the 20th century. Keywords: Second World War, war bonds, thrift, democracy, war effort Page 1 of 56 PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com).
    [Show full text]
  • The Allied War Exhibition in Chicago, the State Council of Defense, And
    PAPER 3B1 – JOSH FULTON PROCEEDINGS OF ARMISTICE & AFTERMATH: A MICHIGAN TECH SYMPOSIUM ON WWI • SEPT. 28-29 2018 Your Duty on Display’: The Allied War Exhibition in Chicago, the State Council of Defense, and the Role of the State in Defining American Identity Josh Fulton Northern Illinois University / Moraine Valley Community College They have Chicago sweethearts—until said C.S.’s see them in German uniforms. Then the stuff’s off. They just won’t be seen strolling around the place with German soldiers and the first thing the poor make-believe boche knows, his girl is strolling with some soldier in O.D.1 War trophies from the battlegrounds of the Western Front dominated the Allied War Exposition, which was held in Grant Park on Chicago’s lakefront from September 2 to 15, 1918. Demonstrating the “realities” of war for some 100,000 onlookers daily, army units from nearby Camp Grant performed re-enactments of trench warfare while faux artillery sounded and new- fangled warplanes flew overhead. In an article on September 6, 1918, the Chicago Daily News pointed out the displeasure of some participants. Six hundred enlisted men from Camp Grant had to play the role of the “’Fritzies,’” and the women of Chicago wanted nothing to do with them as a result. 2 Publicly emasculated for appearing in German uniform, the men from Camp Grant and the Allied War Exposition symbolize Chicago’s and Illinois’ engagement with the public in a display conveying the meaning of the government’s war effort. The Exposition was a joint venture between federal, state, and local officials originating with the U.
    [Show full text]
  • Coercive Voluntarism in Wartime Georgia, 1917–1919
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University History Theses Department of History Summer 8-2013 Patriotism And Dissent: Coercive Voluntarism In Wartime Georgia, 1917–1919 Bill Warhop Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_theses Recommended Citation Warhop, Bill, "Patriotism And Dissent: Coercive Voluntarism In Wartime Georgia, 1917–1919." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2013. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_theses/73 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PATRIOTISM AND DISSENT: COERCIVE VOLUNTARISM IN WARTIME GEORGIA, 1917–1919 by BILL WARHOP Under the Direction of H. Robert Baker ABSTRACT This thesis analyzes the culture of coercive voluntarism in Georgia during the First World War using studies of legislation and vigilance, the press, and the Georgia Council of Defense. Each of the themes studied demonstrates how organizations attempted to coerce support of the US war effort in Georgia. The study focuses on Georgia as a single state rather than simply as part of the South, as most other studies have done. The purpose is to challenge studies that have emphasized resistance only, which presents an incomplete picture of Georgia’s domestic scene during the war. In fact, many elements within Georgia—at the state, local, and citizen level— actively supported the war, often with the same level of intention, if not the same results, as did other areas of the country.
    [Show full text]
  • George Creel Papers [Finding Aid]. Library of Congress
    George Creel Papers A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Prepared by Katherine E. Brand and David Mathisen Revised and expanded by Sherralyn McCoy Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2002 Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2010 Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms010162 Collection Summary Title: George Creel Papers Span Dates: 1857-1953 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1896-1953) ID No.: MSS17210 Creator: Creel, George, 1876-1953 Extent: 500 items; 8 containers plus 22 oversize; 9.2 linear feet Language: Collection material in English Repository: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Abstract: Author, editor, and government official. Scrapbooks and bound volumes of writings by and about Creel form the bulk of the collection. Includes correspondence, notes, speeches, lectures, book reviews, and campaign material. A series on Woodrow Wilson and the United States Committee on Public Information contains correspondence with Wilson as well as his corrections of drafts of Creel's cables, letters, speeches, and other writings relating to the Wilson administration during World War I and subsequent peace negotiations. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965. Bates, Blanche, 1873-1941. Bean, Walton. Walton Bean doctoral dissertation. 1941. Bolling, Randolph. Byrd, Harry Flood, 1887-1966.
    [Show full text]
  • George Creel Miscellaneous Papers
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf2c600237 No online items Register of the George Creel Miscellaneous Papers Processed by: Aparna Mukherjee Hoover Institution Archives Stanford University Stanford, California 94305-6010 Phone: (650) 723-3563 Fax: (650) 725-3445 Email: [email protected] © 2007 Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved. Register of the George Creel 48013 1 Miscellaneous Papers Register of the George Creel Miscellaneous Papers Hoover Institution Archives Stanford University Stanford, California Processed by: Aparna Mukherjee Date Completed: 2005 Encoded by: ByteManagers using OAC finding aid conversion service specifications and Elizabeth Konzak © 2007 Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved. Descriptive Summary Title: George Creel Miscellaneous Papers Dates: 1912-1972 Collection number: 48013 Creator: Creel, George, 1876-1953. Collection Size: 4 manuscript boxes(2.4 linear feet) Repository: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace Stanford, California 94305-6010 Abstract: Correspondence, pamphlets, bulletins, clippings, and photographs, relating to American propaganda activities during World War I, and to the Golden Gate International Exposition. Includes publications of the Committee on Public Information. Also includes some papers of Winifred Gay, niece of George Creel, relating to her uncle. Physical location: Hoover Institution Archives Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English Access Collection is open for research. The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
    [Show full text]
  • George Creel and the Committee on Public Information 1917-1918 Chloe Maxwell Harding University, [email protected]
    Tenor of Our Times Volume 4 Article 8 Spring 2015 George Creel and the Committee on Public Information 1917-1918 Chloe Maxwell Harding University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.harding.edu/tenor Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Maxwell, Chloe (Spring 2015) "George Creel and the Committee on Public Information 1917-1918," Tenor of Our Times: Vol. 4, Article 8. Available at: https://scholarworks.harding.edu/tenor/vol4/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts & Humanities at Scholar Works at Harding. It has been accepted for inclusion in Tenor of Our Times by an authorized editor of Scholar Works at Harding. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GEORGE CREEL AND THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION 1917-1918 By Chloe Maxwell In September of 1916, a relatively unknown Kansas City journalist published a short book titled Wilson and the Issues.1 The short book, only 167 pages in length, was released deliberately in line with President Woodrow Wilson’s reelection. Within these pages, author George Creel systematically defends Wilson and his first term as president. Creel discusses events such as the German occupation of Belgium, the sinking of the Lusitania, and Wilson’s neutrality.2 Those familiar with Creel’s work called him a professional “muckraker” and an outspoken supporter of the Progressive agenda.3 Before war broke out in Europe, Creel advocated for child labor reforms, woman’s suffrage, and direct democracy. Over the course of World War 1, George Creel created an unprecedented propaganda machine that unified the United States behind the war.
    [Show full text]
  • Four Minute Men
    Four Minute Men I recently purchased a small card on eBay, which listed a Miss K.E. Blum as a “four minute man”, and since it was March, Women’s History Month, my interest was piqued – what was a “four minute man”, and how often was the man a woman? A little online sleuthing offered the following excerpts from Wikipedia: “In the year of 1917 the war in Europe had been raging for three years and America's involvement had not begun. Woodrow Wilson had just been re-elected president under the slogan "He Kept Us Out of War". Eventually on April, 6th 1917 the US Congress declared war on Germany. With a large number of German Americans in the United States, and many others with strong isolationist feelings, there was a strong need for a propaganda campaign to stir support for the war. Wilson needed to speak directly to the fragmented and spread out audience in the United States.” “One of the challenges of the effort was the fragmented audience of the United States. Many different heritages were represented in the United States, and the president needed their support for the war. To address each groups specific needs, the director of the Four Minute Men, William McCormick Blair, delegated the duty of speaking to local men. Well known and respected community figures often volunteered for the Four Minute Men program. This gave the speeches a local voice.” “The Committee on Public Information, headed by George Creel, appointed William McCormick Blair as director of the Four Minute Men. Blair appointed state chairmen of the Four Minute Men [in Washington, M.P.
    [Show full text]
  • The Portrayal of Germany, Germans and German-Americans by Three Eastern Iowa Newspapers During World War I Lucinda Lee Stephenson Iowa State University
    Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1985 Scapegoats, slackers and spies: the portrayal of Germany, Germans and German-Americans by three eastern Iowa newspapers during World War I Lucinda Lee Stephenson Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Journalism Studies Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Stephenson, Lucinda Lee, "Scapegoats, slackers and spies: the portrayal of Germany, Germans and German-Americans by three eastern Iowa newspapers during World War I " (1985). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 298. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/298 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Scapegoats. slackers and spies: The portrayal of Germany. Germans and German-Americans by three eastern Iowa newspapers during World War I .:Z5/-/ /9?~~ by _. ..t- .. ,/~-", ... J .... - j"' ... Lucinda Lee Stephenson A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Journalism and Mass Communication Signatures have been redacted for privacy Iowa State University Ames. Iowa Copyright (c) Lucinda L. Stephenson. 198~. All rights reserved. Ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1. INfRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER II. THE WAR REACHES lOW A 21 CHAPTER III. THE INVASION OF BELGIUM 29 CHAPTER IV. THE SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 40 CHAPTER V.
    [Show full text]
  • Propaganda As Public Relations Antecedent: the Complex Legacy of the Creel Committee Christopher J
    PAPER 1B3 – CHRISTOPHER J. MCCOLLOUGH PROCEEDINGS OF ARMISTICE & AFTERMATH: A MICHIGAN TECH SYMPOSIUM ON WWI • SEPT. 28-29 2018 Propaganda as Public Relations Antecedent: The Complex Legacy of the Creel Committee Christopher J. McCollough Columbus State University Wars are not won on battlefields alone. Logistics, strategy, resources, force strength, and technology have all played critical roles in determining outcomes in major conflicts throughout history. Yet, there are still two related factors that have much to say about the outcome of major conflicts: propaganda efforts to sell the war effort to the nation states that are a part of the conflict and its impact on public opinion around the participation of those nation states among its citizenry. History offers us some prominent examples that reinforce this point, and they consistently revolve around the ability of parties involved in the conflict to effectively leverage contemporary communication outlets to effective ends in order to shape and manage public opinion. Walter Lippmann’s iconic Public Opinion (1922) provides his perspective as a newsman and as a member of Woodrow Wilson’s collection of journalists, advertisers, early public relations practitioners, and education philosophers who worked from the United States’ involvement in World War I in April of 1917 through the effort to promote the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. He warns of the potential for manipulation of information to cultivate and maintain support for military and political action, and the need for objectivity in journalism and a refined study of public opinion to counter its effects. The father of modern public relations, Edward Bernays, offered two texts on the subject of propaganda and its effectiveness in shaping public opinion on behalf of organizations.
    [Show full text]
  • American Jewish Historical Quarterly
    m s h.׳.־vis•1,^ 1 VliTAU*® American Jewish Historical Quarterly Publication of the American Jewish Historical Society SPECIAL BICENTENNIAL ISSUE AMERICAN JEWS AND THE LABOR MOVEMENT VOLUME LXV MARCH, 1976 NUMBER 3 $15.00 A Year Single Number $4.00 THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE Blaustein library OBJECTS The objects of this Society shall be the collection, preser- vation, exhibition, publication and popularization of mate- rial of every kind having reference to the settlement, history and life of Jews on the American continent, and the promo- tion and encouragement of research in, and the study of, Jewish history in general, and particularly in its relation to American Jewish history, and in connection with the causes and nature of Jewish emigration from various parts of the world to this continent. Correspondence concerning contributions, books for review, and all editorial matters should be addressed to Nathan M. Kaganoff, Editor, American Jewish Histor- ical Society, 2 Thornton Road, Waltham, Massachusetts 02154. The American Jewish Historical Quarterly is published in September, December, March and June by the American Jewish Historical Society. Annual membership dues which include subscription to the Quarterly are $25.00 per year. Application for membership and inquiries covering the various types of membership available should be directed to Bernard Wax, Director, American Jewish Historical Society. Second class postage paid at Boston, Mass and additional mailing offices. The American Jewish Historical Society disclaims responsibility for statements of fact or of opinion made by contributors. Articles in the American Jewish Historical Quarterly are abstracted regularly in Historical Abstracts and in America: History and Life, publications of the American Bibliographical Center of Santa Barbara, California, and in Current Contents, published by the Institute for Scientific Information of Philadelphia.
    [Show full text]
  • Revisiting the Origins of Communication Research: Walter Lippmann’S World War II Adventure in Propaganda and Psychological Warfare
    International Journal of Communication 11(2017), 3721–3739 1932–8036/20170005 Revisiting the Origins of Communication Research: Walter Lippmann’s World War II Adventure in Propaganda and Psychological Warfare DOMINIQUE TRUDEL1 Concordia University, Canada Based on a close study of Walter Lippmann’s correspondence and publications, this article aims to critically reconsider his legacy in the field of communication. To this end, I focus on Lippmann’s involvement in propaganda and psychological warfare activities during the Second World War. Following a succinct overview of the history of the psychological warfare and propaganda agencies, I successively explore three different aspects of Lippmann’s involvement. First, this article examines Lippmann’s contribution to the activities of the Committee for National Morale. Second, the article focuses on the relationship between Lippmann and William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the director of the Office of the Coordinator of Information and the Office of Strategic Services. Third, the article turns to the relationship between Lippmann and Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy, and explores Lippmann’s role in the War Department’s Psychological Warfare Branch. Keywords: communication research history, propaganda, psychological warfare, Second World War Ex-Soviet agent Alexander Vassiliev, who was temporarily granted access to the KGB archives in the mid-1990s, recently revealed some interesting details about Soviet espionage activities in the United States during the Second World War. According to Vassiliev, Walter Lippmann, the famous columnist and communication research pioneer, was an important target for Soviet spies. They recruited his own secretary, Mary Price, as an agent (Haynes, Klehr, & Vassiliev, 2009). In November 1941, Price reported to her Soviet handlers that Lippmann was cutting short his newspaper articles and giving more of his time to secret meetings with government officials.
    [Show full text]
  • Arthur Bullard and American Propaganda in Russia
    Essays – peer-reviewed USAbroad – Journal of American History and Politics. Vol. 2 (2019) https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2611-2752/8549 ISSN 2611-2752 Exporting Americanism: Arthur Bullard and American Propaganda in Russia Stefano Livi Submitted: September 13, 2018 – Revised version: November 30, 2018; January 25, 2019 Accepted: January 28, 2019 – Published: March 1, 2019 Abstract The essay provides a broader understanding of American propaganda abroad during World War I and its aftermath by analyzing the role of the Committee on Public Information in revolutionary Russia through one of its directors, Arthur Bullard. While the main goal of the CPI was to keep Russia in the war, his view went beyond the conflict and looked at emphasizing the desire of friendly relations between the American and Russian peoples by appealing to the admiration that many Russians felt for the American lifestyle, in order to contain the spread of Bolshevism in Russian territories. Keywords: Bullard; Committe on Public Information; Public Diplomacy; Propaganda; Bolshevik Revolution. Stefano Livi: Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) [email protected] The author is a Ph.D candidate in History of Europe in the Department of History, Culture, Religions at Sapienza University of Rome. He graduated at the same university in International Relations with a dissertation on the image of Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia in American political thought. His current researches concern the development of the idea of containment of Soviet Russia in American political thought from the Bolshevik Revolution to the ascendancy of George F. Kennan in US foreign policy. Copyright © 2019 Stefano Livi Art.
    [Show full text]