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Republic of spin : an inside history of the American presidency / David Greenberg.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, N.Y. : W.W. Norton & Company, [2016]Copyright date: ©2016Edition: First editionDescription: xvii, 540 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780393067064
  • 0393067068
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
A world of spin -- The age of publicity. Theodore Roosevelt and the public presidency ; William McKinley and the passing of the old order ; The rise of public opinion ; "The fair-haired" ; Muckraking and its critics ; The passion of Upton Sinclair ; The dawn of public relations ; Wilson speaks ; Pitiless publicity ; The press agents' war ; The journey of George Creel ; Disillusionment -- The age of ballyhoo. Return to normalcy ; Walter Lippmann and the problem of the majority ; The likes and dislikes of H.L. Mencken ; Bruce Barton and the soul of the 1920s ; "Silent Cal" ; The overt acts of Edward Bernays ; Master of emergencies -- The age of communication. Tuned to Roosevelt ; Nazism and propaganda ; The dark side of radio ; Campaigns, Inc. ; The Wizard of Washington ; The road to war ; The facts and figures of Archibald MacLeish ; Propaganda and the "good war" -- The age of news management. The underestimation of Harry Truman ; George Gallup's democracy ; Psychological warfare ; Eisenhower answers America ; Salesmanship and secrecy ; The TV president ; "Atoms for peace" ; Vance Packard and the anxiety of persuasion -- The age of image making. The unmaking of presidential mystique ; The great debates ; The politics of image ; The Kennedy moment ; News management in Camelot ; Crisis ; "Let us continue" ; The credibility gap ; The new politics -- The age of spin. The permanent campaign arrives ; The Reagan apotheosis ; Spinning out of control ; George W. Bush and the "truthiness" problem ; Barack Obama and the spin of no spin.
Scope and content: "The most powerful political tool of the modern presidency is control of the message and the image. The Greeks called it 'rhetoric, ' Gilded Age politicians called it 'publicity, ' and some today might call it 'lying, ' but spin is a built-in feature of American democracy. Presidents deploy it to engage, persuade, and mobilize the people-- in whom power ultimately resides. Presidential historian David Greenberg recounts the development of the White House spin machine from Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama. His sweeping narrative introduces us to the visionary advisers who taught politicians to manage the press, gauge public opinion, and master the successive new media of radio, television, and the Internet. We see Wilson pioneering the press conference, FDR scheming with his private pollsters, Reagan's aides hatching sound bites, and George W. Bush staging his extravagant photo-ops. We also see the past century's most provocative political critics, from H.L. Mencken to Stephen Colbert, grappling with the ambiguous role of spin in a democracy-- its capacity for misleading but also for leading"--Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 973.099 G798 Available 33111008352219
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 453-507) and index.

A world of spin -- The age of publicity. Theodore Roosevelt and the public presidency ; William McKinley and the passing of the old order ; The rise of public opinion ; "The fair-haired" ; Muckraking and its critics ; The passion of Upton Sinclair ; The dawn of public relations ; Wilson speaks ; Pitiless publicity ; The press agents' war ; The journey of George Creel ; Disillusionment -- The age of ballyhoo. Return to normalcy ; Walter Lippmann and the problem of the majority ; The likes and dislikes of H.L. Mencken ; Bruce Barton and the soul of the 1920s ; "Silent Cal" ; The overt acts of Edward Bernays ; Master of emergencies -- The age of communication. Tuned to Roosevelt ; Nazism and propaganda ; The dark side of radio ; Campaigns, Inc. ; The Wizard of Washington ; The road to war ; The facts and figures of Archibald MacLeish ; Propaganda and the "good war" -- The age of news management. The underestimation of Harry Truman ; George Gallup's democracy ; Psychological warfare ; Eisenhower answers America ; Salesmanship and secrecy ; The TV president ; "Atoms for peace" ; Vance Packard and the anxiety of persuasion -- The age of image making. The unmaking of presidential mystique ; The great debates ; The politics of image ; The Kennedy moment ; News management in Camelot ; Crisis ; "Let us continue" ; The credibility gap ; The new politics -- The age of spin. The permanent campaign arrives ; The Reagan apotheosis ; Spinning out of control ; George W. Bush and the "truthiness" problem ; Barack Obama and the spin of no spin.

"The most powerful political tool of the modern presidency is control of the message and the image. The Greeks called it 'rhetoric, ' Gilded Age politicians called it 'publicity, ' and some today might call it 'lying, ' but spin is a built-in feature of American democracy. Presidents deploy it to engage, persuade, and mobilize the people-- in whom power ultimately resides. Presidential historian David Greenberg recounts the development of the White House spin machine from Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama. His sweeping narrative introduces us to the visionary advisers who taught politicians to manage the press, gauge public opinion, and master the successive new media of radio, television, and the Internet. We see Wilson pioneering the press conference, FDR scheming with his private pollsters, Reagan's aides hatching sound bites, and George W. Bush staging his extravagant photo-ops. We also see the past century's most provocative political critics, from H.L. Mencken to Stephen Colbert, grappling with the ambiguous role of spin in a democracy-- its capacity for misleading but also for leading"--Provided by publisher.

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