Republic of spin : an inside history of the American presidency /

"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 de...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Greenberg, David, 1968-
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York, N.Y. : W.W. Norton & Company, [2016]
Edition:First edition.
Subjects:
Table of 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.