Total Cold War: Eisenhower’s Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad

522 Pages·2006·15.48 MB·English

by  Kenneth Osgood

Total Cold War
Eisenhowers Secret Propaganda
Battle at Home and Abroad
Kenneth Osgood
UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KANSAS

© 2006 by the University Press of Kansas
All rights reserved
Published by the University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas 66049),
which was organized by the Kansas Board of Regents and is operated and
funded by Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State
University, Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas, and Wichita
State University
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Osgood, Kenneth.
Total Cold War: Eisenhower's secret propaganda battle at home and abroad /
Kenneth Osgood,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7006-1445-1 (cloth : allc. paper)
1. United States—Foreign relations—Soviet Union. 2. Soviet Union—Foreign
relations—United States. 3. Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
»
—Political and social views. 4. Cold War. 5. United States—Foreign relations—
1953-1961. 6. Propaganda, American—History—20th century. 7. Psychological
warfare—United States—History—20th century. I. Title.
E183.8.S65082 2006
303.375097309045—dc22 2005027603
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is available.
Printed in the United States of America
109 87 6543
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials Z3 9.48-1984.

For Mom and Dad

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments, ix
Abbreviations, xiii
Introduction, 1
Part I: Theory and Practice
1. Regimenting the Public Mind: The Communications Revolution
and the Age of Total War, 15
2. A New Type of Cold War: Eisenhower and the
Challenge of Coexistence, 46
3. Camouflaged Propaganda: Psychological Warfares New Look, 76
4. Secret Empire: Psychological Operations and the
Worldwide Anticommunist Cmsade, 104
Part II: Global Themes and Campaigns
5. Spinning the Friendly Atom: The Atoms for Peace Campaign, 153
6. The Illusory Spirit of Geneva: Propaganda and the New Diplomacy, 181
7. Every Man an Ambassador: Cultural Propaganda and the
People-to-People Campaign, 214
8. Facts About the United States: The USIA Presents
Everyday Life in America,.253
viii Contents
9. A New "Magna Carta" of Freedom: The Ideological
Warfare Campaign, 288
10. The Power of Symbols: Psychological Strategy and the
Space Race, 323
Conclusion, 354
Notes, 371
Bibliography, 457
Index, 487
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
When I first began researching the history of U.S. propaganda and cultural
diplomacy ten years ago, the pertinent historical literature was dauntingly
thin. In dying to make sense of the thousands of declassified documents
on the subject, I occasionally felt like I was wandering through the woods
without a map or compass. Fortunately, as the years passed, more scholars
turned their attention to this aspect of American foreign relations. I there­
fore owe a special debt to my colleagues who forged a path and inspired
me, through their work, to move forward. I am especially obliged to Nancy
Bernhard, Shawn J. Parry-Giles, Walter Hixson, Scott Lucas, Robert Mc­
Mahon, Gregory Mitrovich, Frank Ninkovich, and Emily Rosenberg for
charting the course with their pioneering research. I have sought in the
pages that follow to build on what they have done, occasionally to chal­
lenge them, but mostly to provide others what they provided to me: a trail
marker that will lead to more and exciting inquiries into the role of propa­
ganda and cultural diplomacy in international relations.
Although space limitations—and undoubtedly my atrociously inad­
equate memory—prevent me from acknowledging everyone by name, I
would like to thank the many friends and colleagues who assisted and en­
couraged me as I worked on this project over the years. My Ph.D. advisors
at the University of California at Santa Barbara deserve special thanks for
their friendship and guidance. By their instruction and example, they set
a high standard of integrity, commitment, and dedication. Jane DeHart
encouraged me to think broadly about American culture, directing me to
important work beyond my field and enriching my thinking along the way.
Tsuyoshi Hasegawa pushed me to be rigorous and comprehensive in my
research, and he tolerated with good humor spontaneous “outbursts” in
seminar. Fredrik Logevall was a true mentor. From the first research paper
to the final manuscript, he replied thoughtfully to many long e-mails and
responded cheerfully to many ill-timed phone calls. He guided me with
sage advice, prodded me with critical commentaries, and, most important­
IX
X Acknowledgments
ly, inspired me with his boundless enthusiasm for the study of American
diplomacy. Thanks, Doc.
A long list of people read and commented on the manuscript at various
stages of completion. Nancy Jackson, my editor at Kansas, was a pleasure
to work with and was very understanding of everything that slowed me
down, from illness to hurricanes. Larisa Martin, Susan Schott, and Kar­
en Hellekson also deserve special thanks for their help in the production
process. Ken Moure, Jack Talbott, Ira Chernus, David Snyder, Gregory
Mitrovich, Stephen Whitfield, Jason Parker, Robert McMahon, Jeremi
Suri, Nate Citino, and H. W. Brands read proposals, drafts, and sections
of the book. Allan Winkler, Peter Hahn, Michael Krenn, John Prados, and
Jerald Combs contributed with their thoughtful comments on conference
papers drawn from the manuscript. Chester Pach and Brian Etheridge
were especially conscientious readers. Their critical commentaries pushed
the manuscript in new and better directions, and I am grateful beyond
words. Kathryn Statler and Andrew Johns made great research compan­
ions and on-call editors who made me reconsider everything from cliche
titles to ‘‘dark and stormy night” introductions.
Several scholars trusted me with advance copies of works in progress.
Their contributions, cited in the bibliography and in the notes, helped
tremendously. Special thanks to Wilson Dizard and Nick Cull for sharing
their work on the USIA. For research assistance, I am grateful to Mar­
tin Manning, who made available to me key documents from the USIAjs
Historical Collection. The Freedom of Information Act staff at the State
Department was extraordinarily responsive in locating missing and clas­
sified records from the USIA. The late Abbott Washburn helped arrange
interviews with several USIA veterans; I am grateful to him and to them
for their insights and perspectives. Ellen Fisher and Bill Schriver provided
me with images from the Advertising Council archives; Lori Allesee hunt­
ed down historic pictures of Project Hope; Melinda Schwenck graciously
shared her collection of USIA films; and Bob Allen scanned his Atoms for
Peace stamp. At the Eisenhower Library, Bonita Mulanax toiled through
my many mandatory declassification review requests, expeditiously declas­
sifying hundreds of pages of documents for this project. Archivist James
Leyerzapf guided me to numerous collections I might not have seen. The
Little Apple Brewing Company in faraway Manhattan, Kansas, provided
a much-needed culinary escape during long research stints in Abilene—
thanks for being there.