Selling War in a Media Age: The Presidency and Public Opinion in the American Century

"This excellent book is required reading for anyone interested in how American presidents have tried to sell war."---Steven Casey, author of Selling the Korean War

"A deeply penetrating and instructive volume. Osgood and Frank have assembled a stellar cast of scholars to address a topic of critical interpretive importance: how U.S. presidents over the past century have sought to manipulate public opinion in support of America's wars. The conclusions are sobering---for our understanding of the past and the implications for tomorrow."---Fredrik Logevall, Cornell University

"American history at its best---insightful and revealing about the past, yet at the same time illuminating the vital questions of our own day."---Jeffrey A. Engel, Texas A&M University

During the early years of the Iraq War, George W. Bush drew attention to the ways in which American presidents try to "sell" war to the public. The "Mission Accomplished" banner in 2003 and the misleading linkages of Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 terrorist attacks awoke many Americans to the techniques used by the White House to put the country on a war footing. Yet Bush was simply following in the footsteps of his predecessors, as the essays in this standout volume reveal in illuminating detail.

Ever since William McKinley led the country to war with Spain in 1898, presidents have pioneered new methods for manipulating the media to manufacture consent for costly military and diplomatic ventures abroad. From the Spanish-American War to the War on Terror, each chapter in Selling War in a Media Age explores how modern presidents have attempted to influence, orchestrate, and coerce public understanding of matters of war and peace. The essays also demonstrate that these efforts often inspire skepticism and doubt among the public.

Like the war in Iraq, Korea and Vietnam were hard wars to sell---as was the largely forgotten yet terribly brutal campaign for the Philippines in McKinley's day. The Cold War---essentially a fifty-year war---likewise required constant selling by every American president from Truman to Reagan. Even Franklin D. Roosevelt toiled to maintain public morale during World War II.

This impressive collection assembles original contributions from some of the most preeminent American diplomatic historians working today. It also features the last written reflections of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam, whose early work covering the war in Vietnam made him an enemy of presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

Written in a lively and accessible style, Selling War in a Media Age is a fascinating, thought-provoking, must-read volume that reveals the often brutal ways that the goal of influencing public opinion has shaped how American presidents have approached the most momentous duty of their office: waging war.

Kenneth Osgood, associate professor of history at Florida Atlantic University, is the author of Total Cold War: Eisenhower's Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad, winner of the Herbert Hoover Book Award.
Andrew K. Frank, associate professor of history at Florida State University, is the author of Creeks and Southerners: Biculturalism on the Early American Frontier.