Borosak 1

Nicole Borosak
Kris Whorton and Seth Epstein
English 1150 and History 1120
11/22/16
Propagandas Effect on the American People During the Cold War
Propaganda has a negative connotation when first heard. If one dives deeply enough they
may find appropriate uses for it but right off the bat, people tend to stray away from the use at
all. Before the Cold War, propaganda was only used in times of war or extreme crisis. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt used his fireside chats to encourage the people and bring hope back to the
nation. During the Cold War, this definition was changed by Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.
They decided that during this time of the war of words, propaganda was a necessity.
Propaganda was used illicitly to sway peoples beliefs towards a common goal during peacetime,
especially during the Cold War era.
Before the Cold War, propaganda was only used during wartimes to rally troops but
during the Cold War, that limitation was eradicated. In his book, The Rhetorical Presidency,
Propaganda, and the Cold War, 1945-1955, Shawn J. Parry-Giles states, Although Presidents
Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt relied on government propaganda during wartime,
Truman and Eisenhower were the first two presidents to introduce and mobilize propaganda as
an official peacetime institution (Parry-Giles xvii). For example, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt used his fireside chats to bring his stance on how to recover from such an impactful
crisis like the Great Depression and World War II into the home. He made the citizens of the
United States feel included in the process of governmental decision-making. In Wolfgang
Schivelbuschs Three New Deals, Only in periods of crisis may the legislative branch of

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government grant the executive the right to intervene in either area (Schivelbusch 73). President
Truman changed the use of propaganda. Instead of only being used to rally the troops so to
speak, at this point propaganda shifts to be used for political popularity . Parry-Giles goes on to
say, Beyond influencing mass communication research, the institutionalization of propaganda as
a primary Cold War device also influenced the practice of the rhetorical presidency, whereby the
presidential administrations increasingly relied on the public platform (e.g. bully pulpit) for
political gain (Parry-Giles xviii). The former Presidents Truman and Eisenhower were able to
turn propaganda into a presidential tool because of the move to define it in militaristic rather than
journalistic terms (Parry-Giles xx). This shift worked at the time because the Cold War and
communism were such a threat to American society. United States citizens would do just about
anything to prevent communism from infiltrating their homes. To understand propagandas
influence is to grasp the means by which Americas Cold War messages were produced and the
overall impact that such strategizing had on the ideological constructions of the Cold War
(Parry-Giles xvii). Propaganda is now defined as ideas or statements that are often false or
exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc
(Merriam-Webster).
Some people of the Cold War era argued that propaganda does not necessarily need to
have a negative connotation attached to it. Parry-Giles tells that, Assistant Secretary of State
Benton and Congressman Mundtexplained the difference between good and bad
propaganda in terms of the contrasting metaphors of a mirror and showcase Benton
explained that in holding up a mirror, [it] showsthe basic goals and attitudes of this country,
with the real imagereflected, including the bad as well as the good (Parry-Giles 16). These
two political figures argued the use of propaganda during peacetime. They tried to prove that the

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direction they wanted to go in was not the same as that of the Soviet Union. In contrast, Mundt
agreed, the showcase approach resembled a department store, which placed the best items in
the front window that would have the biggest appeal to the passers-by. According to Benton
and Mundt, this was the method employed by most other countries, including the Soviet Union
(Parry-Giles 16-17). Benton and Mundt try to prove that the Soviet Union only shows the people
enough to get them through the door rather than the whole truth about what the government is
doing. The Secretary of State and Congressman argue that instead of this half-truth approach, the
United States propaganda is like a mirror. The population sees both the good and the bad in the
country.
There are many different aspects of propaganda that most people dont even realize; some
are more subliminal than others but ultimately they reach the same destination. During World
War 2, President Roosevelts fireside chats were a subliminal way to get directly into the homes
and minds of citizens. Who wouldnt want to hear the president speak to them almost directly.
These were how these radio sessions were fashioned. FDR also fashioned political radio shows
to seem more home-like. They took place in small town meeting where everyone had a say in
what would happen in the government. That is how FDR wanted the entire country to feel about
his political viewpoints. More obvious propaganda used during the Cold War was that of the
poster of Martin Luther King Jr. supposedly attending a communist rally. The poster was of
Martin Luther King Jr. sitting with other African American. The caption of the poster states
Martin Luther King at Communist Training School and point Dr. King out in the picture.
During the Cold War, communism was such a real threat that McCarthyism and The Red Scare
actually affected how people viewed political leaders.

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Another form of propaganda used in the Cold War was that of the House in the Middle.
This was a commercial that showed two different houses. One was clean picked up after, the
other was not. The producers of the commercial blew up the two houses and tried to show that
the house not picked up after was more affected than the house that was clean and tidy. This
commercials main goal was to scare families into domestic consumption so that their houses
wouldnt be destroyed as fast by the communists. It seems like a ridiculous notion now, but the
government played to the fears of the people in order to boost consumption and get a head start
against the Soviet Union.
Did the plan to use propaganda in times of peace actually work? It is hard to quantify
since one cannot see the results of a decision that was never made but like most things, some
forms did and some didnt. Other congressional leaders were similarly outraged by the overall
content of the Know North America series. Senator Carl A. Hatch (D-NM), for example, stated
that while he had been one of the strongest supporters of a peacetime propaganda program, he
demanded an end to the drivel, nonsense and downright falsehoodsset forth in the Know
North America broadcasts (39). The Know North America broadcasts was a series of television
shows highlighting the great parts of America. This ultimately failed when false information was
put into these shows. At first, the population quite liked being able to see many parts of the
country, but ultimately some got offended when their hometowns were depicted as something
other than they were. The show was apparently Acting as the vanguards of U.S. truths, in
congressional critics concluded that any information that contradicted democratic values should
be replaced by stories celebrating the countrys culture and past (41). This also shows that even
though Benton and Mundt said that America would only use mirror propaganda, the line
between mirror and showcase propaganda is an easy one to cross. President Truman, as

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earlier stated, justified the use of propaganda by moving to define it in militaristic rather than
journalistic terms (Parry-Giles xx). Unfortunately, that move was never complete and the
propaganda used did go back to the journalistic side. The failure of the journalistic paradigm
combined with heightened congressional intrusion and the new Soviet attacks against the
United States to convince the Truman administration to rethink propaganda aims and techniques
(Parry-Giles 41-42). There were also aspects of propaganda that did work. Shawn Parry-Giles
says, Mark A. May, chair of the Advisory Commission, testified before the Hickenlooper
committee that the commission recommended taking the propaganda program out of the State
Department in order to give full recognition to[the] use of propaganda as a major instrument
for winning the cold war (Parry-Giles 132). There were major political leaders that believed
that propaganda was influential to the victory in the Cold War. If the government gives the
people enough evidence that what they are doing is for the good of the country, there is nothing
to stand in their way. In the novel, It Cant Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, President Berzelius
Windrip managed to accumulate an entire army, The Minute Men, to support him and his cause.
These citizens truly believed that what they were doing was for the greater good and therefore
had no problem doing whatever was necessary to protect the country. Windrip gave a speech
depicting the purpose of the Minute Men and their importance to society. In Lewiss novel,
Windrip states The Minute Men are not Fascist or Communist or anything at all but plain
Democraticthe knight-champions of the rights of the Forgotten Menthe shock troops of
Freedom (Lewis 94). The Minute Men fully believed and supported this speech. Through the
welter, before Doremuss eyes, jabbed a flying wedge of Minute Men, led by what he was later
to recognize as a cornet of M.M.s. They were not on duty, and they were not belligerent; they
were celebrating, and singing Berzelius Windrip went to Wash. (Lewis 94). This clearly shows

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that even when not on duty, the Minute Men would follow Berzelius Windrip anywhere and
further addresses the fact that people can get behind any cause if they are made to believe
strongly enough that it is for the common good.
From the period of World War II to the Cold War, the use and definition of propaganda
shifted. The political leaders at the time often used propaganda to sway people into believing and
supporting their cause by making it seem like the good of the people no matter of its actual use.
Even though altogether some aspects failed, the propaganda used during the Cold War ultimately
brought the American citizens to a place where the government could essentially make them do
or buy whatever they wanted to in the name of preventing or stopping communism. Propaganda
used in the Cold War, even with its initial good intention all together turned to a place where the
American population was unnecessarily being manipulated for political popularity.

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Bibliography
Lewis, Sinclair. It Can't Happen Here. Doubleday, 1935.
Merriam-Webster. "propaganda." n.d. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 21
November 2016. <http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/propaganda>.
Parry-Giles, Shawn J. The Rhetorical Presidency, Propaganda, and the Cold War, 1945-1955.
Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2002.
Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. Three New Deals. Henry Holt and Company, 2006