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13: Celebrations of Heroism and Power
- University of New Mexico Press
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281 chapTer ThirTeeN Celebrations of Heroism and Power NewSpaperS, CaBleS, aNd CorreSpoNdeNTS provided a steady stream of headlines and front-page stories that depicted the triumphs of the U.S. armed forces in the Caribbean and the Philippines. The public response to battlefield heroics was adulatory, and the market for publications was vigorous. In the afterglow of these victories several writers used the medium of the printed word to carry on an extended celebration. Journalists shared these stories with politicians, political commentators, and military and naval officers . Celebratory publications spanned in the information system, taking the form of everything from telegraphed reports and editorial cartoons in newspapers to large, profusely illustrated books. The criticism of the Roosevelt administration’s conduct in Panama in 1903 by a portion of the press had dissipated, and the thrust of opinion in the popular media became triumphalist as the U.S. government succeeded in the construction of the canal where the French had failed. Two large, interconnected themes emerged in this explosion of patriotic prose: the heroic actions of men in uniform and the expansive power of the United States. Victory in combat translated as power in peacetime. Heroism easily merged with concerns about the longer view—the roles of the United States and its armed services in the postwar environment. Heroic men became symbols of a powerful nation capable of competing with the European nations and Japan in the imperial age. The public purchased these publications in great quantities. The information system reflected these values. Concerns about the political pressures created 282 chapter thirteen by yellow journalism waned, and the idea that careful diplomacy and calm policy making called for discretion in the use of telegrams came to carry less weight. The armed services took the moment to make the case for upgrading their material and human resources, and individuals—most notably Theodore Roosevelt—exploited their personal popularity. The cultural values that supported triumphs on the battlefield and the creation of a U.S.-dominated empire rested on the ideal of vibrant, virile manhood. Kristin Hoganson’s seminal work draws heavily from newspapers , magazines, and speeches that stressed the importance of an expansive foreign policy that advocated a martial approach—an emphasis on the capacity to use war or the threat of war—in international issues. These same masculine ideals served in defense of the commercial and political domination of Cuba, the outright annexation of Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and the taking of the canal zone in Panama. Hoganson emphasizes the connection between gender history and foreign policy. It was men who enacted these aggressive policies in the Caribbean and the Philippines and defended them in the print media and in public speeches in the United States. The jingoes saw war as a means of building national character and espoused empire as a means of extending national power. Strengthening “American manhood” was a matter of national security, and it also sold newspapers and books.1 celebraTions of heroic deeds and imperial possessions Newspapers from coast to coast abandoned objectivity to boast of the accomplishments of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army in the war with Spain. William Randolph Hearst, editor and owner of the New York Journal, led the nation in patriotic exposition in his New York newspaper and also on the other side of the continent in the San Francisco Examiner. He claimed that the defeat of the Spanish in Cuba meant that “July 1st will live in the world’s history as the date of a splendid achievement.”2 The usually circumspect New York Times headlined the story of the Spanish surrender in Santiago with “Our Flag Flies Over Santiago,” “A Thrilling Ceremony,” and “Bands Played ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’”3 The Philadelphia Ledger noted the growing number of warrior-celebrities: “We are making heroes so fast now that fame will soon have to lay aside her roll and start a directory.” The New York Sun opined: “Our capture of Santiago [is] . . . an achievement of extraordinary brilliancy.” And the Pittsburgh Post claimed that the Spanish defeat served as vengeance for the deaths of the Virginius crew and passengers in 1873.4 [54.227.104.229] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 14:56 GMT) 283 Celebrations of Heroism and Power Books took a large share in the field of patriotic publications, and politicians joined with journalists to draw attention to the heroics of the returning veterans. J. Hampton Moore, a reporter for the Philadelphia Ledger for over a...