In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

111 The Division of Information’s Programs and Management March–December 1941 I n 1941, during its existence as an independent agency within OEM, DOI was at its fullest flowering as a government PR department when the United States was not at war. The preceding chapter recounted the traditional government PR activities of press relations and public reporting, as well as some of DOI’s persuasion-oriented activities. But DOI was more than that, with a scope comparable to a full-service PR, marketing, and advertising agency. It offered a full panoply of external communication product lines. This chapter presents the rest of the story, of how Horton pushed his agency to the limits of permissible PR when the country was formally at peace. Contrary to Catton’s melodramatic telling, Horton wanted to shape public opinion , not just inform it. But there were political risks in doing so too overtly. Speeches Horton knew that speechmaking by senior OEM officials was an important method of communication, mostly for the indirect audience that would learn about the speech from newspaper, radio, and even newsreel coverage. In that sense, these speeches were an element of Horton’s press relations strategy. In this pre-TV and pre–bowling alone era, many citizens were active in civic and religious groups.1 That meant there was an almost bottomless demand for public speakers to address gatherings. At first, Horton tried to fill the need for local speakers by developing an exclusive relationship with the Junior Bar of the American Bar Association. The group already had in place a speakers’ bureau on subjects related to the legal profession (such as the legal process, chapter 5 112 Promoting the War Effort the judicial system, and the Constitution). It also provided speakers to discuss current affairs. Reflecting the culture of the legal profession, these talks relied on factual and dispassionate presentations. The Junior Bar’s “Public Information Program” was well-organized, with volunteer state directors in all forty-eight states (plus DC and Puerto Rico) and, under them, at the beginning of 1941, more than three hundred volunteer speakers.2 For Horton, this group represented a blue-ribbon membership of educated and fact-oriented civic leaders located throughout the United States. They were perfect for Horton’s approach to public information. In March 1941, DOI designated the Junior Bar as its official network for responding to local requests for public speakers on the national defense effort. By fall, Horton reported: “These gentlemen are serving entirely without compensation and with a minimum [of] administrative direction from this office. There are four hundred public information directors scattered throughout the country acting as field officers in this phase of our work. Their services have been highly satisfactory. . . . [T]he Junior Bar is working out so nicely.”3 However, given international developments, even a speakers’ bureau of (now) four hundred energetic young lawyers around the country wasn’t enough to fill the demand. For highly specialized technical audiences, DOI began arranging for lower-level OPM officials, who were experts in those specific areas, as speakers. DOI then recruited officials of the Federal Reserve Bank regional districts (who were doubling as contacts for the effort to subcontract portions of large defense contracts to small businesses) as local speakers.4 This added about thirty-six more speakers evenly distributed around the country. But that still wasn’t enough. Next Horton suggested recruiting younger businessmen who were active in their local Junior Chamber of Commerce.5 This provided him not only with another national network of highly motivated and responsible speakers, but also helped negate the ongoing hostility of some business audiences to FDR. By late summer, an in-house memo indicated that the speakers from the Junior Bar and Junior Chamber of Commerce along with the in-house sources still weren’t enough. DOI began contacting other groups to identify more volunteer speakers.6 Each of DOI’s regional information officers was given the assignment to develop a local speakers’ program as a way of reaching more people in person, rather than through mass media.7 This was an ongoing effort. For example, an update in late November noted that the regional PIOs were in the midst of “lining up a roster of field speakers.”8 113 The Division of Information’s Programs and Management DOI’s standard operating procedure for its speakers was to supply each sponsoring organization with background information and skeleton speeches.”9 This evolved into a more formal “speaker’s kit...

Share