Defending a way of life: American propaganda and the Cold War, 1945-1959

Few historians have examined how U.S. information strategists presented the United States to the world. They have not explored how international information campaigns became an integral part of U.S. foreign policy. They have not scrutinized the images of family life, race relations, consumerism, and democracy contained in U.S. propaganda. They have not assessed the linkages between the information campaigns and U.S. strategy in the Cold War.;This dissertation draws such connections. It illustrates how U.S. propagandists articulated the advantages of democratic capitalism in America's struggle against communism. It demonstrates how visions of race and gender, notions of work and play, and conceptions of freedom and free enterprise infused America's ideological response to communism. It integrates feminist and cultural theory into traditional foreign policy analysis. It suggests ways in which diplomatic historians can incorporate social history and produce richer narratives of interest to all scholars of American history.;This study explains how and why U.S. officials sought to define the American way of life. Faced with communist propaganda which continually derided the United States as culturally barbaric, racist, imperialistic, and materialistic, U.S. information strategists publicized the advantages democracy and capitalism afforded individuals and families. They stressed the standard of living enjoyed by the typical American worker. They emphasized the egalitarian nature of the U.S. political system. They celebrated the vibrancy of American culture. Without such a propaganda campaign, U.S. policymakers feared, the United States would lose the Cold War.;The project is organized in two major sections, "The Messengers" and "The Messages." "The Messengers" explores the development of propaganda as a tool in the U.S. foreign policy arsenal. It also demonstrates how U.S. information leaders persuaded a reluctant Congress to support propaganda activities. "The Messages" examines the content and creation of the U.S. information campaigns. It illustrates the images of gender, democracy, race, labor, and consumerism presented abroad.;In formulating America's ideological response to communism, U.S. propagandists created a compelling vision of the United States. They defined America as a nation in which families, workers, and freedom flourished. While acknowledging the imperfections of democratic capitalism, they enunciated its finest qualities. They articulated a way of life worth defending.