Selling the American way : U.S. propaganda and the Cold War / Laura A. Belmonte.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Belmonte, Laura A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Propaganda, American--History--20th century.

Propaganda, American.

Nationalism--United States--History--20th century.

Nationalism.

Cold War.

United States--Foreign relations--1945-1953.

United States.

United States--Foreign relations--1953-1961.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (272 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2010], c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 1955, the United States Information Agency published a lavishly illustrated booklet called My America. Assembled ostensibly to document "the basic elements of a free dynamic society," the booklet emphasized cultural diversity, political freedom, and social mobility and made no mention of McCarthyism or the Cold War. Though hyperbolic, My America was, as Laura A. Belmonte shows, merely one of hundreds of pamphlets from this era written and distributed in an organized attempt to forge a collective defense of the "American way of life."Selling the American Way examines the context, content, and reception of U.S. propaganda during the early Cold War. Determined to protect democratic capitalism and undercut communism, U.S. information experts defined the national interest not only in geopolitical, economic, and military terms. Through radio shows, films, and publications, they also propagated a carefully constructed cultural narrative of freedom, progress, and abundance as a means of protecting national security. Not simply a one-way look at propaganda as it is produced, the book is a subtle investigation of how U.S. propaganda was received abroad and at home and how criticism of it by Congress and successive presidential administrations contributed to its modification.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Abbreviations

Chronology

Introduction

Chapter One. The Truman Years

Chapter Two. The Eisenhower Years

Chapter Three. Defining Democracy: Images Of The American Political System

Chapter Four. Selling Capitalism: Images Of The Economy, Labor, And Consumerism

Chapter Five. "The Red Target Is Your Home": Images Of Gender And The Family

Chapter Six. ''A Lynching Should Be Reported Without Comment": Images Of Race Relations

Conclusion: The Costs And Limits Of Selling ''America"

Notes

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [187]-241) and index.

ISBN:

9780812201239

081220123X

OCLC:

756583473