Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency

by David Greenberg

Overview

The most powerful political tool of the modern presidency is control of the message and the image.

In Republic of Spin—a vibrant history covering more than one hundred years of politics—presidential historian David Greenberg recounts the rise of the White House spin machine, from Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama. His sweeping, startling narrative takes us behind the scenes to see how the tools and techniques of image making and message craft work. We meet Woodrow Wilson convening the first White House press conference, Franklin Roosevelt huddling with his private pollsters, Ronald Reagan’s aides crafting his nightly news sound bites, and George W. Bush staging his “Mission Accomplished” photo-op. We meet, too, the backstage visionaries who pioneered new ways of gauging public opinion and mastering the media—figures like George Cortelyou, TR’s brilliantly efficient press manager; 1920s ad whiz Bruce Barton; Robert Montgomery, Dwight Eisenhower’s canny TV coach; and of course the key spinmeisters of our own times, from Roger Ailes to David Axelrod.

Greenberg also examines the profound debates Americans have waged over the effect of spin on our politics. Does spin help our leaders manipulate the citizenry? Or does it allow them to engage us more fully in the democratic project? Exploring the ideas of the century’s most incisive political critics, from Walter Lippmann and H. L. Mencken to Hannah Arendt and Stephen Colbert, Republic of Spin illuminates both the power of spin and its limitations—its capacity not only to mislead but also to lead.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393067064
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	01/11/2016
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

David Greenberg is a historian of American politics and a professor of history and of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University. He is the author of the prize-winning Nixon’s Shadow: The History of an Image, among other books. Currently a columnist for Politico, he has been an editor at Slate and the New Republic and has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and other popular and scholarly publications. He lives with his family in New York City.

Table of Contents

Cast of Characters xiii

Introduction: A World of Spin 1

Part I The Age of Publicity 11

1 Theodore Roosevelt and the Public Presidency 13

2 William McKinley and the Passing of the Old Order 24

3 The Rise of Public Opinion 35

4 "The Fair-Haired" 45

5 Muckraking and Its Critics 51

6 The Passion of Upton Sinclair 59

7 The Dawn of Public Relations 67

8 Wilson Speaks 78

9 Pitiless Publicity 87

10 The Press Agents' War 95

11 The Journey of George Creel 106

12 Disillusionment 118

Part II The Age of Ballyhoo 127

13 Return to Normalcy 129

14 Walter Lippmann and the Problem of the Majority 138

15 The Likes and Dislikes of H. L. Mencken 145

16 Bruce Barton and the Soul of the 1920s 151

17 "Silent Cal" 161

18 The Overt Acts of Edward Bernays 167

19 Master of Emergencies 176

Part III The Age of Communication 187

20 Tuned to Roosevelt 189

21 Nazism and Propaganda 199

22 The Dark Side of Radio 206

23 Campaigns, Inc. 214

24 The Wizard of Washington 223

25 The Road to War 230

26 The Facts and Figures of Archibald MacLeish 238

27 Propaganda and the "Good War" 243

Part IV The Age of News Management 251

28 The Underestimation of Harry Truman 253

29 George Gallup's Democracy 260

30 Psychological Warfare 270

31 Eisenhower Answers America 276

32 Salesmanship and Secrecy 286

33 The TV President 294

34 "Atoms for Peace" 301

35 Vance Packard and the Anxiety of Persuasion 308

Part V The Age of Image Making 317

36 The Unmaking of Presidential Mystique 319

37 The Great Debates 327

38 The Politics of Image 334

39 The Kennedy Moment 340

40 News Management in Camelot 347

41 Crisis 355

42 "Let Us Continue" 364

43 The Credibility Gap 374

44 The New Politics 384

Part VI The Age of Spin 395

45 The Permanent Campaign Arrives 397

46 The Reagan Apotheosis 408

47 Spinning Out of Control 416

48 George W. Bush and the "Truthiness" Problem 427

49 Barack Obama and the Spin of No Spin 437

Acknowledgments 449

Notes 453

Image Credits 509

Index 511

Editorial Reviews

…David Greenberg's sound, judicious and dispassionate volume, which draws on primary sources as well as the existing academic literature, shows, from the standpoint of history, why being skeptical about how presidents try to sell themselves is, mainly, a good thing. Citing the lessons and interventions of Hannah Arendt, Vance Packard and others, including the adman Rosser Reeves, Greenberg…shows us the arc, from William McKinley campaigning from his front porch to the melodramatic Theodore Roosevelt to the present…The core of Greenberg's fine, nuanced book is how the language of presidents and those who want the job has transformed into the intensely premeditated communications of our time.

The New York Times Book Review - Michael Beschloss

11/23/2015
In this underwhelming history of the modern presidency, Rutgers historian Greenberg (Nixon’s Shadow) examines the position through the lens of news management and image making. Starting his tale around 1900 with Teddy Roosevelt and ending with the Obama administration, Greenberg provides plenty of gritty details—based on deep and extensive knowledge—to back up his assertion that “just as rhetoric was an inherent part of ancient politics, spin is a permanent part of ours.” Remarkably un cynical, Greenberg takes the manipulation of language and news to be a necessary feature of presidential governance, even when, as he believes, it distorts the political process and “leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.” Unfortunately, like too many historians of modern America, he seems to think everything started at the dawn of the 20th century. An uninformed reader might come away believing that the Declaration of Independence didn’t address a “candid world,” Jefferson’s party didn’t put journalists and editors on its payroll, and Lincoln didn’t understand the reach of words. More importantly, Greenberg never clarifies for readers how political spin differs from, say, corporate public relations, and seems satisfied with stories about a single political office when there’s much more to say about the effect of spin on everything. Deeper analysis, improved context, and less narrative would help. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"In Republic of Spin, David Greenberg opens a new and revealing window on the modern American presidency by showing how the effort to manipulate public opinion has long been a central obsession in the Oval Office. Vivid characters, some very famous and some obscure, bring this important story to life and enlighten us about what presidents can and cannot accomplish."

Jeffrey Toobin

"From Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama, David Greenberg has written a brilliant, fast-moving narrative history of the leaders who have defined the modern American presidency. More than that, Republic of Spin shows that behind the power to persuade is the power to inform—and also to mislead."

Bob Woodward

"An utterly engrossing and deeply authoritative examination of spin and the American presidency—its origins, its vital role over the past century, its enduring importance. Greenberg’s elegant narrative brings this history vividly alive, as he weaves individual lives and broader societal forces into a major reassessment of modern American political culture. Spin has always been a part of politics, and it always will be; read this gem of a book to find out why that is, and what it means for our democracy."

Fredrik Logevall

04/01/2016
Greenberg traces political spin's checkered past from Theodore Roosevelt through Barack Obama, introducing important, if little known, spinmeisters and the rapidly improving technology that has made spin such a powerful tool on which all politicians rely to enhance their reputations and promote their platforms. (LJ 11/15/15)

Library Journal

★ 2015-09-30
From William McKinley to Barack Obama, a prizewinning historian looks at the tortured marriage of public relations and the modern presidency. Woodrow Wilson loathed all the " ‘campaign mummery' of shaking hands and sweet-talking supporters." Adlai Stevenson called merchandising candidates for high office "the ultimate indignity to the democratic process." Both can blame Theodore Roosevelt for transforming the presidency and for recognizing the power of "the bully pulpit" to shape and mobilize public opinion. Since Roosevelt, all aspirants to and occupants of the Oval Office have taken elaborate pains to construct and nourish their public images, carefully crafting their own versions of events and presenting them to voters as "truth-telling" or "transparency." Opponents reliably label their efforts as mere publicity, advertising, ballyhoo, news management, propaganda, or, in today's fashionable locution, "spin." Greenberg (History/Rutgers Univ.; Calvin Coolidge, 2006, etc.) cruises chronologically through more than 100 years of spin, packing his narrative with minibios and sharp commentary on the journalists, pundits, and intellectuals who've closely observed the spin machine through the years. He chronicles the succession of speechwriters, press secretaries, pollsters, admen, consultants, TV gurus, and campaign managers, each of whom gave the machine a distinctive whirl. And, of course, he assesses the presidents, gold-standard spinners like FDR, JFK, and Reagan, chief executives who were surprisingly good at it—Coolidge, Truman—some who were surprisingly bad—Harding, Wilson—and some, like Hoover, Johnson, and Carter, whose presidencies began well and then spun out of control. As Greenberg chronicles the evolution of spin, noting the technological innovations that have caused the machine to revolve ever faster, piling up colorful, informative stories about the notable spinmasters, charting the dizzying effect of the constant campaign and the supercharged executive on the voters, readers will wonder whether to cry at the implications for our republic or to simply laugh at the spectacle of it all. At once scholarly, imaginative, and great fun.

Kirkus Reviews

"Greenberg neatly weaves a history of public relations into his political tale."

Washington Post - H. W. Brands

"Greenberg is a terrific storyteller. . . . An education and an engrossing read."

National Interest - Christopher Buckley

"Fine, nuanced."

New York Times Book Review - Michael Beschloss

"This essential book is going to wind up on every politico’s shelf."

Washingtonian - Matthew Cooper

"Anyone wishing to understand how our politics evolved from the era of Teddy Roosevelt’s bully pulpit to the exquisitely calibrated constructions of today’s publicists, pollsters, speechwriters, and snakes needs to read Republic of Spin. David Greenberg’s book is everything that a political history should be—vivid, comprehensive, and important."

Daniel Okrent