Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1988 A Judicial Decision Under Pressure: A Dramaturgical Analysis of the Rosenberg Case. Kenneth C. Petress Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Petress, Kenneth C., "A Judicial Decision Under Pressure: A Dramaturgical Analysis of the Rosenberg Case." (1988). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 4531. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4531 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photo­ graph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the original text directly from the copy submitted. Thus, some dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from a computer printer. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyrighted material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are re­ produced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each oversize page is available as one exposure on a standard 35 mm slide or as a 17" x 23" black and white photographic print for an additional charge. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. 35 mm slides or 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. I Accessing theUMI World’s Information since 1938 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 8819972 A judicial decision under pressure: A dramaturgical analysis of the Rosenberg case Petress, Kenneth C., Ph.D The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col., 1988 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, M I 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A Judicial Decision Under Pressure? A Dramaturgical Analysis of the Rosenberg Case A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech Communication, Theatre, and Communication Disorders By Kenneth C. Petress B.S.Ed., Northern Illinois University, 1977 M.A., Northern Illinois University, 1979 C.A.S., Northern Illinois University, 1980 May 1988 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my mentor, Dr. Andrew A. King. His kind and enthusiastic support and patient guidance were invaluable to me as I pursued this study. A special thanks goes to Dr. Owen Peterson for encouraging me to pursue my interest in the Rosenberg case and for frequent assistance in securing data for my study. The support and encouragement of my other doctoral committee members, Drs. Harold Mixon, J. Donald Ragsdale, and Thomas Hosie, have also buoyed my spirits and made my work easier. I owe thanks to my fellow graduate students; they were all very encouraging and supportive. A special thanks goes to my good friend and colleague, Dr. Richard Douthit who suggested that I come to Louisiana State University to pursue my advanced studies. Without his insight, I would not have had the joy of being here. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ii Abstract ii Chapter One: Introduction 1 Statement of the Problem 2 Review of Relevant Literature 6 Methodology Used in the Study 16 Organization of Data 19 Significance of Study 21 Conclusion 22 Notes # 23 Chapter Two: Overview of the Scene 24 Naming the Scene 28 The Cold War Period 29 The Red Scare Period 39 The Korean War Period 58 Other Post War Problems 63 Images Created By the Scene 65 The Scene as the Dominating Element 67 Conclusion 68 Notes 69 Chapter Three: The Act and Agency 70 Overview of the Act and Agency 71 Atomic Spying in the 1940s 74 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Case of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg 81 Rhetoric of the Pre-Arrest Period 82 Rhetoric of the Arrest and Arraignment Period 88 Rhetoric of the Trial Period 99 Rhetoric of the Sentencing Period 125 Rhetoric of the Post-Sentencing Period 130 Conclusion 134 Notes 136 Chapter Four: The Agent 137 Kaufman's Upbringing and Education 139 Kaufman's Professional Career 144 Positions Held Prior to Becoming a Judge 144 Judicial Experience Before the Rosenberg Case 148 Kaufman's Performance in the Rosenberg Case 153 Conclusion 161 Chapter Five: The Purpose 163 Anti-Establishment Interpretations of Purpose 167 Pro-Establishment Interpretations of Purpose 178 Recent Interpretations of Purpose 183 Conclusion 186 Notes 189 Chapter Six: Conclusion and Implications 190 Judge Kaufman's Motives 192 The Government's Motives 195 The Rosenbergs' Motives 200 Implications of the Rosenberg Case 204 The Current Rise in Spy Case Arrests 205 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Public Death Penalty Support 209 Continued High Regard for the Federal Courts 210 Decreased Trust of the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. 211 Suggestions for Future Research 211 Final Reflections 213 Notes 214 Selected Bibliography 215 Vita 239 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract This study examines the 1951 death sentences imposed upon Ethel and Julius Rosenberg by Judge Irving R. Kaufman. The study's focus is discovering how these sentences came to be, rhetorically. The writer employs the dramatistic pentad suggested by Kenneth Burke. The scene is seen as the dominant, driving force behind the judge's sentences. The scene is labeled as "betrayal;" the name betrayal resulting from; (1) the Cold War; (2) McCarthyism; (3) the Korean War; and (4) other domestic post-World War II problems. The analysis pictures the American government using the Rosen­ bergs as scapegoats symbolically to cleanse away betrayal images. Thus, the government sought to purify itself and to regain some of the power and control it was perceived to have lost. Some of the concerns raised in the Rosenberg case have potential present-day relevance in America's handling of espionage cases. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter One Introduction This dissertation seeks to discover the motivational basis of the Rosenberg trial and sentencing. In order to do so, the writer employs the Burkean dramatistic pentad, a method uniquely suited through discourse analysis, to reveal a complete picture of the motives of the trial and sentencing. This methodology not only allows a focus on varying aspects of the genesis of the trial and sentence, but provides a means to determine whether one or more of these aspects guided, predetermined, or greatly influenced other aspects; these means being the pentadic ratios. Both the focus and method of this study are unique as the majority of the literature relevant to the atomic spy cases in general and to the Rosenberg trial and sentencing in specific have stressed on the rightness or wrongness, the goodness or badness, or on the justice or injustice of the case. Other literature focuses upon the national and international effects of the atom spies' deeds. This study has as its focal issue the genesis of the unique death sentences imposed on Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, the only spies in the entire post-World War II web to receive l Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 the death penalty for their deeds. The researcher anticipates that the results will have a bearing on many unresolved questions about the trial and sentences, and perhaps serve as a paradigmatic guide for the study of landmark cases of this type. The literature studied is divided into several types: trial transcripts; newspaper, magazine, and book interviews; published secondary accounts of participants in the case; periodicals and books recalling events and moods of the Rosenberg case period; and scholarly literature arguing various interpretations and consequences of the case. Statement of the Problem The atomic bomb signaled the end to World Waf II, but it also spawned a new danger, one as potentially threatening to human life as the one it ended. Treason and espionage involving atomic secrets were new phenomena for the world and for the United States system of justice. The unexpected defection of Igor Gouzenko, a Russian clerk in the Soviet Embassy, gave Canadian intelligence authorities their first evidence that cooperative British- Canadian-American atomic secrets had been compromised. Not until investigative agencies of all three nations exchanged information did the identities of those who spied for the Soviets become known. The trail of spies grew long and involved many nations. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were among the last in the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 ring of World War II spies to be arrested, tried, and sentenced.