The Rhetorical Presidency, Propaganda, and the Cold War, 1945-1955 (Praeger Series in Presidential Studies) [Hardcover]

Shawn J. Parry-Giles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0275974634 | ISBN-13: 978-0275974633

Parry-Giles challenges the scholarly assumption that the rhetorical presidency refers to presidential messages delivered from the bully pulpit only. By examining early Cold War discourse, she demonstrates how Presidents Truman and Eisenhower transformed the U.S. propaganda program into an executive tool reliant on presidential surrogates in the promulgation of a covert and monolithic Cold War ideology. Both Truman and Eisenhower combined bully pulpit activity with presidentially directed messages voiced by surrogates whose words were as orchestrated by the administration as those delivered by the presidents themselves. A Review of the private strategizing sessions concerning propaganda activity and the actual propaganda disseminated by the Truman and Eisenhower administrations reveals how they both militarized propaganda operations, allowing the president of the United States to serve as the commander-in-chief of propaganda activity. As the presidents minimized congressional control over propaganda operations, they institutionalized propaganda as a presidential tool, expanded the means by which they and their successors could perform the rhetorical presidency, and increased presidential power over the country's Cold War message, naturalizing the Cold War ideology that resonates yet today. Of particular interest to scholars and students of political communication, the modern presidency, and Cold War history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Mobilization of public opinion has been a central concern for 20th-century US presidents. Inspired especially by Jeffrey Tulis's The Rhetorical Presidency (CH, Apr'88), recent studies of the presidency have looked primarily at such "great communicators" as the Roosevelts, Kennedy, and Reagan. Parry-Giles (Univ. of Maryland) directs attention to the dark underside of the bully pulpit: the use of covert, camouflaged, and manipulative rhetorical practices intended to buttress the power of the office while shielding it from congressional scrutiny and public criticism. In so doing, the author makes a persuasive case for regarding Truman and Eisenhower as important institutional innovators. Making effective use of archival material (some of it only recently declassified), Parry-Giles documents the mid-20th-century shift of emphasis in national propaganda policy from news dissemination to psychological warfare, from openly debated to deeply clandestine initiatives, from legislative involvement to executive control. She discusses how members of Truman's Psychological Strategy Board (created in 1951) were confident that that board's "very existence" was unknown to most members of Congress, and how secrecy--rhetorical surrogates, "plausible deniability"--became hallmarks of the information initiatives implemented by better-known entities such as the CIA. Rekindled enthusiasm for such measures since 9/11 makes this fine book timely as well as relevant. All levels.”–Choice

“Shawn J. Parry-Giles has written a well-researched, carefully conceived book of interest to students of the U.S. propaganda apparatus and students of presidential rhetoric and communications strategies....Parry-Giles provides a useful guide to specific propaganda policy shifts within two administrations, and keeps presidential consolidation of control over U.S. information policies at its center.”–Journal of American History

“Shawn J. Parry-Giles has written and important work that every serious student of rhetoric, the presidency, and the Cold War should read...this book provides much food for thought even if one cannot accept all of the conclusions it contains...readership of this joural with research and teaching interests in relevant areas should have their home libraries purchase a copy of this study, read it, and contemplate the arguments contained on its pages.”–Rhetoric & Public Affairs

About the Author

SHAWN J. PARRY-GILES is Assistant Professor of Communication, Affiliate Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, and the Director of the Center for Political Communication Civic Leadership in the Department of Communication, University of Maryland.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (November 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275974634
• ISBN-13: 978-0275974633
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,648,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.