Manipulating the Masses tells the story of the enduring threat to
American democracy that arose out of World War I: the establishment
of pervasive, systematic propaganda as an instrument of the state.
During the Great War, the federal government exercised
unprecedented power to shape the views and attitudes of American
citizens. Its agent for this was the Committee on Public
Information (CPI), established by President Woodrow Wilson one week
after the United States entered the war in April 1917. Driven by
its fiery chief, George Creel, the CPI reached every crevice of the
nation, every day, and extended widely abroad. It established the
first national newspaper, made prepackaged news a quotidian aspect
of governing, and pioneered the concept of public diplomacy. It
spread the Wilson administration's messages through articles,
cartoons, books, and advertisements in newspapers and magazines;
through feature films and volunteer Four Minute Men who spoke
during intermission; through posters plastered on buildings and
along highways; and through pamphlets distributed by the millions.
It enlisted the nation's leading progressive journalists,
advertising executives, and artists. It harnessed American
universities and their professors to create propaganda and add
legitimacy to its mission. Even as Creel insisted that the CPI was
a conduit for reliable, fact-based information, the office
regularly sanitized news, distorted facts, and played on emotions.
Creel extolled transparency but established front organizations.
Overseas, the CPI secretly subsidized news organs and bribed
journalists. At home, it challenged the loyalty of those who
occasionally questioned its tactics. Working closely with federal
intelligence agencies eager to sniff out subversives and stifle
dissent, the CPI was an accomplice to the Wilson administration's
trampling of civil liberties. Until now, the full story of the CPI
has never been told. John Maxwell Hamilton consulted over 150
archival collections in the United States and Europe to write this
revealing history, which shows the shortcuts to open, honest debate
that even well-meaning propagandists take to bend others to their
views. Every element of contemporary government propaganda has
antecedents in the CPI. It is the ideal vehicle for understanding
the rise of propaganda, its methods of operation, and the threat it
poses to democracy.
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